Ineos Styrolution, the daughter of a major European petrochemical producer Ineos, declared force majeure on supplies of polystyrene (PS) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) to Italy and Switzerland on September 5 due to transport problems, ICIS reported citing the company’s letter to customers.

The letter said that on August 12, 2017, the railway tracks in the city of Rastatt, Germany, were seriously damaged due to repair of the tunnel under them. Rail transport through Rastatt, Germany’s most important railway route, connecting the northern part of Europe with the southern part, was stopped.

The letter says: “Since almost all the company’s cargo from all European production sites for clients from Italy and Switzerland is sent by these railroad tracks, our company suffered a lot from this situation because of their repair.”

“To date, we will be able to supply only about 20% of our normal supply, but we do not guarantee even that volume, so we are forced to declare force majeure with immediate effect on these supplies and for our polystyrene and Terluran ABS plastics, “- said in a letter to the company.

According to the Price Review of ICIS-MRC, in July, ABS imports to Russia amounted to 2.83 tons against 2.75 tons a month earlier. According to the results of seven months of this year, ABS imports to the Russian market amounted to 16.9 thousand tons, which is 16% higher than the same period a year earlier.

In January 2016, Styrolution decided to change the name to Ineos Styrolution. As MRC previously reported, in June 2014, Ineos closed the deal to acquire a 50% stake in BASF in the joint venture of the two companies – Styrolution. The transaction cost was EUR1,1 billion. Thus, upon completion of the transaction Ineos became the full owner of Styrolution. The sale of BASF’s stake in Styrolution is part of the shareholder agreement concluded in 2011.