MEGlobal declares MEG force majeure after Texas storm

Major mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) producer MEGlobal America has declared force majeure (FM) on MEG and diethylene glycol (DEG) supplies from its plants in the US because of last week's winter storm.

The FM took effect on 15 February but was only announced by MEGlobal America yesterday. The company's MEG and DEG production facilities in Freeport, Texas "experienced extraordinary equipment and supply conditions" because of a severe storm in mid-February, it said.

"The expected duration of this FM, caused by extremely low, freezing temperatures preventing our facility from receiving raw materials, power and energy, is unknown and this force majeure would be in effect until further notice," said the company.

MEGlobal America, a fully-owned subsidiary of Kuwaiti petrochemical producer Equate, started its 750,000 t/yr MEG unit in Texas in October 2019. The company operates another two MEG units in Canada, giving it the capacity to produce up to 1.5mn t/yr from North America.