Three China SM plants due for turnarounds

10 April 2008 08:58  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--Three styrene monomer (SM) plants in China plan to undergo turnarounds in April and May, company sources said on Thursday.

 

Fushun Petrochemical, a PetroChina subsidiary in Liaoning province, will shut down its 60,000 tonne/year SM plant on 12 April for a 20-30 day turnaround.

 

Another PetroChina subsidiary in Liaoning province, Jinzhou Petrochemical, has scheduled a shutdown at its 80,000 tonne/year facility from mid-April for no fixed period.

 

These two turnarounds were likely to push up SM prices in northern China on limited market supply, traders said.

 

“If prices in north China soar higher than those in east China, then the arbitrage window will open,” a trader said, adding that transport fees were at about yuan (CNY) 150-200/tonne ($21.43-28.57/tonne) from east to north China.

 

Meanwhile, Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical planned to shut down its 550,000tonne/year SM plant in early May for 7-10 days, a company source said.

 

“Supply volumes to traders will decline but [the turnaround] will not impact on market prices as the period is short,” the source said.

 

SECCO is a joint venture of Sinopec, Shanghai Petrochemical and BP.

 

Latest SM prices were assessed at CNY11,650-11,700/tonne DEL (delivered) N China (north China), while prices in east China were at CNY11,500-11,540/tonne ex-tank.

 

($1 = CNY7.00)

 

Keny Jin from CBI contributed to this article

 

By: Judith Wang
+65 6780 4359

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