Mitsubishi targets 95% capacity at fire-hit cracker

24 March 2008 12:08  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical is targeting to restart two of the three remaining furnaces at the fire-hit No 2 Kashima cracker and restore up to 95% of the total capacity by the end of this year, a company spokesman said late on Monday.

Furnace No 6 was currently undergoing repairs, which were expected to be completed by early May, he added.

While no date had been fixed for the furnace’s restart, the unit could resume operations once the local fire department gave its approval, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the producer was currently inspecting furnace No 7, which it expected to repair and bring on stream by the end of the year, he added.

Once both furnaces were operational, the company would be able to restore its capacity to 453,000 tonnes/year ethylene, the spokesman said.

Mitsubishi Chemical has restarted operations of furnaces 1-5 of the 475,000 tonnes/year ethylene unit at Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture last Wednesday, as reported in ICIS news.

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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