US media report that refineries and petrochemical downstream plants located along the Mississippi between New Orleans and Baton Rouge have resumed normal operations or lifted the restrictions under which they had been operating during the height of hurricane “Isaac” – for most recent coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 30.08.2012. Despite the occasional report of problems with electricity supplies, North America’s petrochemical sector weathered the storm without sustaining any significant damage.

The only facility that remains off stream is ConocoPhillips' refinery in Alliance, located in the Plaquemine parish south of New Orleans, an area that has been particularly hard hit by flooding and electricity outages. It remains unclear how long the clean-up works will take, but it will likely be several weeks until the refinery, which includes an FCC propylene line, is brought back on stream again.