Thailand's IRPC shuts base oils unit for a week

21 August 2007 03:37  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Thailand’s IRPC has shut its 300,000-tonne/year base oils plant at Rayong for a week to repair a technical problem, a company source said on Tuesday.

The plant was shut on Monday and will re-open only a week later, the source said, adding that the shutdown would not affect its term contract supplies.

“However, it could be difficult for us to sell in the spot market as we are already running low on inventories,” the source added.

Term contract supplies account for 80% of IRPC’s total monthly Group I base oils output of about 26,000-27,000 tonnes.

“On a monthly basis, we have about 5,400 tonnes for spot sales. With the domestic demand higher these days, up to 2,000 tonnes of base oils are being sold locally and only the rest is available for exports,” he added.

The company produces up to 15,000 tonnes of Solvent Neutral (SN) 500, and about 6,000 tonnes each of brightstock and light neutral grades.

By: Shibu Itty Kuttickal
+65 6780 4359

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