Bad weather causes shutdown at Farsa MEG plant

14 February 2008 11:55  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Iran’s Farsa Petrochemical shut down its new 400,000 tonne/year monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant in Assaluyeh earlier this week, after feedstock supplies were disrupted by bad weather, said a source close to the company.

  

It remained unclear when the company would attempt another start-up but “it would likely try again next week”, said another source.

 

“The plant actually started up in the earlier part of this month but had to stop again when feedstock supplies were reduced sharply,” said a third source.

 

The extremely cold weather in Iran had affected gas supplies to petrochemical units and that had in turn disrupted ethylene supply to Farsa’s MEG plant, the source added.

 

The new plant attempted several start-ups last year but had to shut down each time due to a series of mechanical and feedstock problems.

  

Extreme cold in Iran had cut gas supplies to petrochemical plants in the country by as much as 40% from normal levels late last year, said another source.

 

Supplies were gradually being restored, with the current cut estimated around 25% of normal levels.

 

“A full restoration could come only in March or April,” said the source.

 

For more on MEG visit ICIS chemical intelligence

 

Prema Viswanathan contributed to this article

 

By: Salmon Aidan Lee
+65 6780 4359

< previous article(ICIS Chemical Business podcast November 2, 2009)

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