KP Chemicals restarts PET lines after turnaround

20 September 2007 08:09  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--South Korean producer KP Chemicals has restarted two of the three polyethylene terephthalate (PET) production lines it shut down last week for checks on its power grid equipment, a company official said on Thursday.  

 

The No 2, No 3 and No 4 PET bottle chip production lines located in Ulsan were shut down last Tuesday but only the No 2 and No 3 lines were restarted after the turnaround.

 

“We will only restart the No 4 line when our customers come back,” the source said, reflecting the lacklustre demand of recent weeks.

 

PET bottle chip sales have slumped to the seasonal lull in plastic bottle consumption.

 

Rising upstream monoethylene glycol prices have also squeezed the margins of PET bottle chip makers, making it unprofitable for them to sell below $1,300/tonne FOB (free on board) Korea. However, buyers were seeking $1,270-1,280/tonne FOB Korea. The $20-30/tonne price gap had hampered sales.

 

KP Chemicals, South Korea’s largest chip producer, has four PET chip production lines, with a total capacity of 400,000 tonnes/year. Other major PET producers in Asia include Far Eastern Textile, Shinkong Synthetic Fibres, SK Chemicals and Indorama Polymers.

By: Jeremiah Chan
+65 6780 4359

< previous article(ICIS Podcast: Chemical News Central 2 November 2009)

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