Corrected: Qapco eyes ethylene exports to Asia

22 February 2007 09:16  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined "Qapco eyes ethylene exports to Asia by March" dated 12 February, 2007, please read in the first paragraph …at Mesaieed from the fourth quarter… instead of …at Mesaieed by early March…. Please also read in the fourth paragraph …end of January for a turnaround. The official said it will be restarted in the first week of March and work on the expansion will be carried out in the third quarter… instead of …end of January for a month-long maintenance turnaround, during which the cracker would be debottlenecked. A corrected story follows.

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Qatar Petrochemical Co (Qapco) plans to export ethylene from its newly-expanded cracker at Mesaieed from the fourth quarter, turning the country into a net exporter for the first time in years, a company official said on Monday.

"Qapco plans to export most of the excess ethylene to southeast and northeast Asia. A small portion of the expanded capacity will also be directed at the Middle East market," a source close the company said.

The cracker would be expanded by 200,000 tonnes/year to 725,000 tonnes/year, but the source declined to say the quantity slated for export.

The cracker, as well as Qapco's 400,000 tonne/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant at Mesaieed were shut down at the end of January for a turnaround. The official said it will be restarted in the first week of March and work on the expansion will be carried out in the third quarter.

The cracker expansion was originally intended to support the debottlenecking of the LDPE plant by 40,000-50,000 tonnes/year and a parallel expansion of Qatar Vinyl Co's (QVC) ethylene dichloride (EDC) and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plants at the same site.

However, the expansion of the downstream plants was deferred to 2008-09 due to economic considerations.

The EDC plant will be increased to 500,000 tonnes/year from 200,000 tonnes/year, while the VCM capacity will be expanded by 50,000 tonnes/year to 350,000 tonnes/year.

The additional ethylene cargoes would go to alleviating some of Asia’s ethylene shortages, especially in Indonesia, Taiwan and China.

Prices had surged close to $1,400/tonne (€1,080/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) southeast Asia in January, on par with downstream polymer prices.

However, recent spot prices have been softened to $1,250/tonne CFR southeast Asia, according to global pricing agency, ICIS pricing, due to expectations of increased supply from regional producers.

($1=€0.77)

By: Prema Viswanathan
+65 6780 4359

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