China’s Qilu Petchem shuts down AF plant

06 June 2008 10:13  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--Sinopec subsidiary Qilu Petrochemical shut down its 54,000 tonne/year acrylic fibre (AF) plant on Wednesday for a 20-day scheduled maintenance to align with a scheduled power rationing, which began in late May, a company source said on Friday.

"However, its upstream acrylonitrile (ACN) plant with a capacity of 45,000 tonnes/year will keep normal operation during the period," the source said declining to give further details.

Domestic ACN prices in China have fallen by yuan(CNY)400-500/tonne ($58-72/tonne) from late May to CNY16,400-16,500/tonne ex-tank east China amid ample supply, traders said.

There was an excess supply of over 10,000 tonnes of ACN, prompting traders to sell it at CNY16,500/tonne in anticipation of a further price decline, a Chinese trader said.

In mid-May, the government began to restrict power supply in Shandong province due to a shortage of coal, which has impacted the operating rates of some local chemical plants.

Qilu Petrochemical is located at Zibo city in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong.

($1=CNY6.95)

Helen Yan contributed to this article

By: Judith Wang
+65 6780 4359

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