Lanxess fire slows ABS production

A fire at Lanxess' Tarragona, Spain, production facility on Aug. 18 damaged parts of the firm's acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene operations. As a result, the firm has partially shut down ABS production. Lanxess says it is allocating available supplies under the force majeure clause of contracts with customers in Europe and Latin America.

Though the extent of the damage and the cause of the fire are still being investigated, the firm says the constrained supply situation will likely continue for the next few weeks. "We will make every effort to minimize the effects of this incident on our customers," says Stefan Michel, head of Europe and Latin America regions in the styrenic resins business unit.