Dow Chemical likely to Announce Maintenance Turnaround on its MMA unit in Texas, during Q1 2022

As per the recent information, Dow Chemicals may announce maintenance turnaround on its Texas based 475,000 tons/annum Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) unit during this quarter. However, no official announcement has been done by Dow yet, nevertheless the turnaround might come into effect soon in USA. As per ChemAnalyst sources, due to this plant turnaround, hike of around 2-3% might appear in US market during forthcoming months.

Discussing current market scenario, Methyl Methacrylate price has been tumbling since September, on the back of demand dullness and ample availability in the country. However, marginal hikes were observed during January, due to minor rebound in demand from domestic downstream sectors. MMA is primarily utilised to produce Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA), which is a highly used polymers in automotive sector due to its high durability and light weight property. The demand fundamentals for MMA from downstream automotive sector showcased overall dullness during Q4 2021, as the global shortage of semiconductor chips are not yet resolved completely. Furthermore, since previous quarter, pandemic related turmoil also resisted procurers to procure more cargoes, which was another reasonable factor behind overall demand dullness in the country.

Talking about global Methyl Methacrylate market trend, Methyl Methacrylate production rate has been low in China since December, due to several reasons. The major reason was dual energy policy restrictions and later production cuts imposed by government in order to reduce emission for Beijing Olympics. Furthermore, February month will also bring series of plant shutdowns on the occasion of Lunar holidays. In addition, there are several other maintenance turnarounds are expected, which have not been announced yet.

As per ChemAnalyst analysis, forthcoming month may induce temporary shortage of Methyl Methacrylate across global market despite demand dullness. Thus, price may take 2-3% jump in forthcoming months in USA, however, price hikes would vary country over country on the basis of demand and pandemic related restrictions.