A Canadian court has ordered Nova Chemicals (Calgary, Alberta; www.novachem.com) to pay Dow (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) CAD 1.43 bn (EUR 978m) as a settlement in a dispute about the companies’ cracker JV in Joffre, Alberta / Canada. The Court of the Queen’s Bench in Alberta ordered Nova to make the payment on 11 October 2019 for damages Dow incurred through 2012 relating to the JV asset, Dow said in a statement.

The court, which initially ruled in June 2018, found that Nova failed to operate the ethylene asset at full capacity for more than 10 years and that Nova violated several contractual agreements related to Dow receiving its share of the asset’s ethylene production. “These actions resulted in reduced productivity and sales for Dow,” the company added.

Dow said it anticipates receiving an additional judgment for damages owed by Nova for the post-2012 period. Additionally, the ethylene asset is now running at a higher utilisation rate and giving Dow more ethylene from an advantaged feedstock position, it added.