The closure has not yet had an impact on values but has slowed barge trade, and market participants say the impact will be minimal if the bridge is repaired in a short time. But a prolonged lockdown would have a severe impact on the market.
Boat and barge traffic on the Mississippi remains suspended because of a damaged bridge across the river, and a prolonged blockade could put additional pressure on an already constrained supply chain.
“It’s the arteries of the United States,” Lidback said. “The amount of chemicals, refined products and agriculture-related products that are transported along the waterway is huge.”
It was not immediately clear when officials would reopen the channel, but a market source said officials hoped to get an answer “in the next day or so” on when it would be safe to open it to barge traffic.
The Mississippi River is an important link between chemical production in the Gulf and industrial activity in the Midwest of the United States.
Most PS producers with resin plants in the Midwest obtain styrene monomer (SM) by barge from styrene producers near the U.S. Gulf.
Participants in the ethylene glycol (MEG) market say barges to the Midwest are three days late so far.
An acetone source said they have barges coming in from both directions and are now making contingency plans based on the length of the closure.
The closure has not yet had an impact on values but has slowed barge trade, and market participants say the impact will be minimal if the bridge is repaired in a short time.
But a prolonged lockdown would have a severe impact on the market.