Mechanical problems persist at Polyprima PTA plant

26 October 2007 08:33  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--Indonesia’s Polyprima Karyakesa will keep its 480,000 tonne/year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) facility in Cilegon shut for a further two weeks, after cancelling plans to restart the plant this week following mechanical problems, company sources said on Friday.

 

“The mechanical problems persist and PTA economics is so bad for us now anyway,” said one of the sources.

 

Polyprima shut down its plant in early October, after experiencing unspecified mechanical problems. The company had seen intermittent shutdowns in the past year, due to squeezed margins and a dearth of feedstock paraxylene (PX).

 

PTA spot prices were weak at $820-825/tonne CFR China, while feedstock PX prices have strengthened to $1,070/tonne CFR and above. Based on such numbers, this would translate into losses of at least $30-40/tonne for Polyprima.

 

Mahua Mitra contributed to this article.

 

By: Salmon Aidan Lee
+65 6780 4359

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