On August 28, 2025, Aster Chemicals declared force majeure on supplies from its ethylene cracker complex on Bukom Island, Singapore, citing unexpected operational issues, industry sources said on Thursday.

The disruption follows an unplanned extension of the ECC’s scheduled turnaround, which has delayed the restart of the facility and its downstream derivative units. Compounding the issue, the outage has cut off normal feedstock supply from the cracker to dependent downstream operations, including those producing polyether polyols.

No details were provided on the specific product streams affected or the expected duration of the disruption. Market sources anticipate supply tightness in the coming weeks, alongside delivery delays, reductions, and interruptions across multiple product lines.

The Southeast Asian polyols market has already been under steady demand pressure in recent months, and traders say the outage could push prices higher in the near term. “Even a short delay in production restart will have a knock-on effect on the availability of polyols,” one market participant told PUdaily.

While Aster Chemicals has not commented publicly on the matter, it is understood that work is ongoing to resume operations. The timeline for a restart remains uncertain.