Mitsubishi Chem to turn around Japan oxos unit

14 April 2008 11:02  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical will shut down its 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH)/n-butanol (NBA) unit for maintenance starting 13 May, adding further upward pricing pressure in the Asian oxo-alcohols market, a company official said on Monday.

The Mizushima plant would be shut down till 6 June for a 25-day turnaround.

The unit has a capacity of 145,000 tonnes/year of 2-EH, 95,000 tonnes/year of NBA and 28,000 tonnes/year of isobutanol (IBA).

The Asian oxo-alcohols market would face a very tight supply in May due to numerous shutdowns and unexpected outages.

Fellow Japanese producer Kyowa Hakko was on a 50-day shutdown while South Korean producer Hanwha Chemical had reduced export volumes due to an outage in early April.

2-EH was at over 12-year highs at $1,820-1,845/tonne CFR (cost and freight) east Asia while NBA climbed $20-40/tonne this week to $1,550-1,570/tonne CFR east Asia, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

For more on 2-EH and NBA visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Kew Jia Hui
+65 6780 4359

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