Hanwha Total Declares Force Majeure on Paraxylene Supply

According to a customer letter obtained by S&P Global Energy's Platts Energy Information, Hanwha Total Petrochemicals has declared force majeure for its paraxylene (PX) product effective from April 13.

The company's Daesan, South Korea production base has two production lines with annual capacities of 1.2 million tons and 760,000 tons.

The Korean letter dated April 13, translated, reads: "Since late February, armed conflicts and hostile actions have continued in the Middle East, seriously disrupting maritime logistics through the Strait of Hormuz. This situation is beyond our reasonable control and has significantly affected the supply and/or delivery of raw materials required for production." The letter was disclosed by two mainland Chinese traders and one Singapore trader.

The letter states that, to mitigate the impact of the conflict, Hanwha Total Petrochemical has maintained a low operating load since March and continued to ensure supply through existing inventory.

But with the continued disruption in raw material supply, production capacity has been continuously declining, and existing inventory is gradually being depleted. According to this, our side expects a significant reduction in para-xylene supply starting from May 2026.

On April 14, the company did not respond to Platts’ formal request for comment. However, an internal company source confirmed the force majeure event and stated that there is currently no clear timeline for its termination.

Platts assessed the paraxylene Taiwan/China CFR benchmark at $1,182.67/mt on April 13, up $14/mt from the previous day.