Braskem (São Paulo / Brazil; www.braskem.com.br) has declared force majeure on PP production at its site in Schkopau / Germany, according to a customer letter dated 6 May 2019. This is due to "unforeseen circumstances" at a supplier that have impacted Braskem, which is left with not enough inventory to fulfil its deliveries. The company says all outstanding orders, including those already confirmed, should now be considered as unconfirmed. There is no estimate given as to how long the measure will last.

According to Plasteurope.com's Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), Braskem operates a PP plant that uses "Spheripol" technology in Schkopau, with a capacity of 375,000 t/y. Currently, more than 10% of all European PP capacity is offline.