Mitsubishi to restart fire-hit cracker next week

14 March 2008 04:20  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Mitsubishi Chemical Corp (MCC) plans to restart part of its fire-hit cracker in Kashima early next week, a company source said on Friday.

"We have permission to start five of the eight furnaces and it would probably take about two days for the start-up to be complete," the source added.

The local fire department had lifted its suspension order on the five functional furnaces in early March and the company now expected to restore 67% or 320,000 tonnes/year of the plant’s capacity of 476,000 tonnes/year before the fire occurred, he said.

The fire which broke out in the No 2 plant on 21 December claimed 4 lives and damaged 2 out of 8 furnaces in the plant.

The cracker’s start-up should provide some reprieve from the expected tight olefins supply as Japan entered its cracker turnaround season.

Mitsubishi Chemicals will shut down its Kashima 1 and Mizushima crackers as scheduled in April and May.

By: Kew Jia Hui
+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