Abstract
Heavy rain that pelted the Houston area and much of southeastern Texas early last week forced at least two chemical plants to shut down and temporarily halted traffic on the Houston Ship Channel—the major shipping artery for the many chemical plants and refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast. High water on roadways and railways also caused major delays for chemical shipments. These problems aggravate already tight markets for some basic petrochemicals and plastics. On Oct. 18, Chevron Chemical was forced to shut down its entire chemical plant at Baytown when nearby Cedar Bayou flooded the facility, according to Paul F. Reilley, manager of petrochemical sales for the company's olefins division. Amoco Chemical's Cedar Bayou polypropylene plant—which shares the same site and receives power, steam, and propylene feedstock from Chevron—also was forced to close. The water had begun to recede at press time. But at one point last week, Reilley tells C&EN, Chevron had 2 ...
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