Huntsman restarts Florida MA plant

14 March 2008 23:33  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--Huntsman has restarted its 110,000-tonne/year maleic anhydride after a partial shutdown, a source close to the company said on Friday.

About half of the producer’s MA plant production was shut down on 3 March for scheduled maintenance. It was restarted on Tuesday, the source said.

Huntsman had prepared inventories ahead of the maintenance programme to meet contractual obligations, but indicated that stocks would be low following the shutdown.

Huntsman also said that its new 100m lb (45,000 tonne)/year MA plant at Geismar, Louisiana, was expected to start operations by year-end as planned.

MA availability in the US was deemed ample to cover current market requirements, given that demand from the key unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) segment remained soft.

Despite downstream weakness, March MA prices were stable at 78.00-82.00 cents/lb FOB USG, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

For more on maleic anhydride visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Gabriela Wheeler
+1 713 525 2600

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