Since 18 April 2021, production of polybutylene terephthalate base polymer has been down at the domestic Hamm-Uentrop site of Lanxess (Leverkusen / Germany; www.lanxess.com). The same was confirmed by a company spokesperson on 26 April, on Plasteurope.com’s enquiry. Lanxess has now also declared force majeure, with deliveries largely stopped, and compound production has also been affected. The reason stated is the outage of an unnamed raw material supplier. The raw material in question is probably purified terephthalic acid; as was the case with competitor BASF, who declared force majeure on PBT for the same reason (see Plasteurope.com of 20.04.2021).

The DuBay Polymer plant in Hamm-Uentrop, in which Lanxess and DuPont (Wilmington, Delaware / USA; www.dupont.com) each hold a 50% share, has a capacity of 80,000 t/y, according to PIE’s Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net). The base polymer line is likely to supply not only Lanxess’ compounding facility in Uerdingen (10,000 t/y), but also the 30,000 t/y plant of partner DuPont in Hamm-Uentrop. It is not clear to what extent Lanxess’ other PBT compounding lines around the world will be affected. In total, their capacity adds up to 85,000 t/y.

PBT is produced from about 70% PTA and 30% butanediol. Other forces majeures include the aromatics unit of Ineos (London / UK; www.ineos.com), with plants in Geel / Belgium.