On September 8, Afton Chemical advised customers that it lifted the previously announced Force Majeure (FM) related to the flooding event that sidelined its Sauget, IL additive manufacturing plant on July 26, 2022. Lifting the FM comes after Afton’s manufacturing and operations team tirelessly working nonstop to restore the plant’s production capabilities.

Afton communicated to its customers that production in the most severely impacted units has returned to pre-flood levels. Supply, however, may continue to be constrained by raw material availability, network logistics and ongoing planned plant maintenance, and because of this sales controls will remain in place for engine oil additive packages. Further, that Afton continues to focus on improving reliable supply throughout its global network and that supply capabilities across all its other product lines were unaffected by the flooding event.

While blenders express a sigh of relief in hearing that Afton’s is well on its way to returning back to normal, it’s difficult to tell these days what “normal” really means.  Because Afton, along with other additive and raw material suppliers continue to face supply line challenges brought on by the pandemic, and for some, this could be the “new” post-Covid normal for a least the next year.