KP Chem extends Ulsan PX shutdown to end-August

09 June 2006 06:02  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--KP Chemical, the South Korean petrochemicals producer, will keep its 200,000 tonne/year paraxylene (PX) unit shut until end-August instead of early August, a source close to the company said on Friday.

It shut the Ulsan line on 1 June and had planned to keep it offline for two months to limit the purchase of isomer xylenes, whose prices has risen steeply since April.

At the same time, the company switched from producing purified terephthalic acid (PTA) to purified isophthalic acid (PIA) at a 250,000 tonne/year line. This is a swing facility that can produce either PTA or PIA using different feedstocks.

By: Salmon Aidan Lee
+65 6780 4359

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