NewsFlashMitsubishi cuts Kashima cracker rates

18 April 2007 10:52  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Mitsubishi Chemical, Japan’s largest olefins producer, has reduced both its cracker operating rates slightly at Kashima due to an unspecified problem at its downstream monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant, company sources said on Wednesday.

 

“We have cut operating rates at our Kashima crackers slightly by about 4-5% due to problems at our downstream derivatives plant,” a company source said, referring to the two Kashima crackers which have a combined ethylene (C2) capacity of 978,000 tonnes/year.

 

“We are still monitoring the situation and our supply-demand balance. But for now, we will have to run our crackers at slightly lower rates,” he said.

 

Separately, another company source confirmed that the 280,000 tonne/year MEG plant was down this week and is likely to restart only next week. The plant takes in an estimated 15,000 tonnes/month ethylene as feedstock from the cracker.

 

Mitsubishi Chemical operates three crackers of which two are located in Kashima and one in Mizushima. Its 450,000 tonne/year Mizushima cracker is running at full capacity and is scheduled to shut for about 40 to 45 days in May for maintenance.

 

(Salmon Aidan Lee also contributed to this article)

By: Nurul Darni
65 6789 4359

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