Sumitomo Chem to raise Niihama capro unit op rate

22 March 2007 09:45  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Sumitomo Chemical planned to ramp up the operating rate at one of its caprolactam lines at Niihama, Japan, to full by early next week after its restart, a company source said on Thursday.

The company restarted the 90,000 tonne/year unit on Monday, he said, adding that it was shut for about a week due to mechanical problems.

Its other unit at Niihama, Ehime prefecture, with the same capacity was operating normally, he added.

The company lost 1,500 tonnes of its output during the one-week outage, which limited its already tight supply, he added.

Low inventory levels prevented Sumitomo from offering spot material in March, but the company expects to sell spot cargoes in April after the unit resumes full production.

Caprolactam spot prices in northeast Asia slipped $20-30/tonne this week from last week to $2,250-2,300/tonne CFR (cost and freight), according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

By: Hsin Hun Wan
+65 6780 4359

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