Despite production issues at its Hopewell, Va., complex, which have required force majeure to be called on some products, ammonium sulfate continues to be produced, though at reduced rates, the company has told Green Markets. The company said it is managing its existing inventory and working with customers to mitigate the impact. When asked about ammonia production, the company said it is purchasing raw materials that it normally produces.
K+S Group, Kassel, Germany, said Jan. 17 that it has commissioned the new kainite crystallization and flotation facility (KCF) at the Hattorf site in Germany. The facility will enable additional reusable resources to be obtained from saline solutions that could not be used until now and will simultaneously reduce the wastewater volume at the Werra plant by 1.5 million cubic meters, or about 20 per cent, annually. The company said with the related volume of capital expenditure at 180 million euros, the KCF facility is the largest individual water protection project to date.
K+S said the process allows for additional reusable resources to be obtained from saline solutions that could not be used in the past and which had to be disposed of. It will be possible to produce about 260,000 mt of saleable products (potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate) from them.
AdvanSix announced Jan. 17 that it has experienced a temporary production issue at its Hopewell, Va., facility related to the recent severe winter weather. As a result of this unplanned interruption, caprolactam and resin production have been reduced at their respective Hopewell and Chesterfield, Va., facilities. The company expects to incur an approximately $30 to $35 million unfavorable impact to pre-tax income in the first quarter of 2018, including the unfavorable impact of fixed cost absorption, lost sales, maintenance expense and incremental raw material costs. AdvanSix has informed its customers of this force majeure event and is actively working to mitigate the impact of the reduced output on its customers’ operations.
“We have been safely and diligently working to navigate through and address the effects of significant weather volatility,” said president and CEO Erin Kane. “We are confident in our action plan to resolve this issue and expect the required mechanical work to be completed in approximately two to three weeks.”
The unplanned interruption has no adverse impact on fourth quarter 2017 financial results. In the fourth quarter of 2017, the company said its operational performance was robust including completion of its planned plant turnaround on time and on budget. AdvanSix will provide an update and announce its fourth quarter and full year 2017 financial results in its earnings release and conference call scheduled for Feb. 23, 2018.
