INEOS still producing polymers despite shutdown

29 May 2007 21:12  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Polyolefin production continued on Tuesday at INEOS Polyolefins’ Grangemouth facility in the UK despite an unscheduled maintenance shutdown at an olefins cracker at the site, company sources said.

“High-density polyethylene (HDPE) production is running normally but we will be looking at the situation carefully over the next few days,” said a company source.

INEOS Olefins declared force majeure on supplies of ethylene, propylene and butadiene from its Grangemouth facility on Tuesday, due to unexpected maintenance work on its G4 cracker.

“Polypropylene (PP) is running but we are reviewing the impact of the force majeure on PP output at Grangemouth,” another said on Tuesday.

INEOS Olefins’ G4 cracker, the smaller of the company’s two crackers at the site, has an annual ethylene capacity of 330,000 tonnes/year.

The larger KG cracker, with an annual output of 690,000 tonnes/year of ethylene, was thought to be running normally.

The company identified additional work during a scheduled maintenance shutdown of the G4 unit, which put the cracker out of action for an extra three months. The cracker had initially been brought down on 14 April for seven weeks of planned maintenance.

INEOS Polyolefins makes HDPE, linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and PP at the site.

By: Linda Naylor
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly