Zhejiang Yisheng plans PTA shutdown on low uptake

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

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)—Major China purified terephthalic acid (PTA) producer Zhejiang Yisheng Petrochemical Co plans to shut down its PTA plant for two months amid sluggish downstream demand, a company source said on Thursday.

 

While the exact date of the turnaround was not fixed yet, traders were building up stocks upon hearing the news, hence pushing up PTA prices, market players said.

 

Prices of PTA had increased by yuan (CNY) 70/tonne ($10/tonne) to CNY7,800-7,830/tonne ex-warehouse (EXWH) east China on the news, traders said.

 

Hualian Sunshine, another major PTA producer, with a capacity of 1.8m tonnes/year, was also planning a turnaround or to reduce operating rates if downstream demand did not improve, a company source said.

 

For the first time in the past year, futures trading of PTA on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange was suspended after rising past its daily limit. July PTA contracts were at 8,090 points, up by 250 points from Wednesday.

 

Zhejiang Yisheng has the capacity to produce 600,000 tonnes/year of PTA.

 

Doris Huang of CBI China contributed to this story

 

($1 = CNY6.98)

 

For more on PTA visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Tina Liu
+65 6780 4359

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