Dow's Louisiana amines plants operating again

By Liz White, UT staffMidland, Michigan-Dow Chemical Co. said its Union Carbide Corp. subsidiary has restarted ethanolamine and ethyleneamine production at St Charles in Hahnville, Louisiana. The facility was shut down as a result of hurricane Katrina.Both ethanolamines and ethyleneamines are used in the production of polyurethanes. "We are thankful that the ethanolamines production equipment was not impacted by the hurricane and that we were able to resume operations this week," says Ken Bromfield, marketing manager, Dow Ethanolamines. "Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we expect to return to normal operations over the next several days."In ethyleneamines, Dow's 31 Aug force majeure remains in place. "Production equipment at the site was not damaged as a result of hurricane Katrina," said John Maniscalo, marketing manager, Dow Ethyleneamines. "We have resumed low-level production and are now making some bulk shipments. Again, Maniscalo said the unit expect to return to normal production levels soon. Dow said the force majeure will be removed "when the business is able to operate safely at normal levels in terms of production and shipping." Availability of specific products will depend, for example, on inventory levels before the hurricane and the speed at which normal production can be resumed. .Continuing transport and logistics difficulties on the Gulf Coast and in the Southeastern states following the hurricane are likely to disrupt supply for the coming months-at least till the end of October, Dow says. "