Equate declares force majeure on Kuwaiti SM

Equate Petrochemical, which operates The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC), has declared a force majeure on its styrene monomer (SM) supplies to its affected customers.

The TKSC 450,000 t/yr unit was forced to halt operations after encountering a tower leak at its ethylbenzene unit on 5 July. The company issued the force majeure on 8 July. The shutdown is expected to last two weeks.

About 20,000t of August-arrival SM into China is expected to be affected by the TKSC shutdown. But shipments to India are unlikely to be affected as supplies have mostly already been loaded on to vessels.