PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 19 - Rohm and Haas Company today said that an unexpected power outage damaged
production equipment at its Deer Park, Texas,
methyl methacrylate (MMA) facility and caused the company to temporarily reduce its supply of that raw material. The company said it expects to restore production within the week and return to full supply levels within 8 weeks.
Customers are being informed that, because of
events beyond the company's control, Rohm and Haas will supply them with 85 percent of the average monthly quantity of MMA, or products containing MMA, received during the three-month period ending July 2002. The company said that those affected by the
sales allocation include some of its
monomers customers, as well as those who purchase selected products from the Architectural and Functional
coatings,
plastics Additives, and Consumer and Industrial Specialties businesses.
The Deer Park facility supplies external customers and other Rohm and Haas businesses with MMA monomer. The MMA ultimately is used to make consumer products including
paints, varnishes, house siding, floor polishes,
paper coatings,
textiles, vinyl pipe and acrylic resin and sheet.
J. Michael
Fitzpatrick, President and Chief Operating Officer, said that, while it is too soon to know the ultimate financial impact of the production outage, he said it could approach $.04 to $.05
earnings per share during the second half of the year.