Shin-Etsu plans turnaround at Kashima PVC plant

12 March 2008 09:34  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical will shut down its 550,000 tonne/year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Kashima, Japan, “from the middle of May to early June”, for a maintenance turnaround, a company source said on Wednesday.

 

The source said the turnaround might affect the company’s PVC exports to China during the period but declined to give further details.

 

Industry players said Shin-Etsu’s exports to China totalled anywhere from 20,000-45,000 tonnes of PVC per month, although this could not be confirmed.

 

The turnaround was just one of several scheduled in Japan for the first half of this year and could aggravate the tight supply situation in Asia, prompting sellers to raise their April PVC offers, some market participants said.

 

The price of PVC in Asia has been hovering above $1,000/tonne since mid-January and was last assessed at $1,060-1,080/tonne FOB (free on board) Northeast Asia (NE Asia) on Friday, according to global market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

 

For more on PVC visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Hun Wei Ng
+65 6780 4359

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