UpdateYNCC cracker restart at least 2 days away

04 August 2008 09:55  [Source: ICIS news]

(Adds details about restart in 1st and 2nd paragraphs)

 

SINGAPORE--South Korea’s largest ethylene producer Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Center (YNCC) shut down its 550,000 tonne/year No 2 cracker over the weekend due to compressor problems and it will take at least two more days to repair, a company source said on Monday.

 

“We found problems in the compressor’s steam pressure control valve. The company can only restart the cracker after we replace the parts and this will take more than two days,” the source said in Korean.

 

"We shut the No 2 cracker yesterday [Sunday] at 4pm. We are repairing the compressor now," he added.

 

However, the downstream polymer plants were still running at normal rates, he said.

 

“The No 2 cracker produces about 1,700 tonnes of ethylene a day. We are currently planning to delay some term cargoes in order to maintain the supply to our integrated polyethylene (PE) producers, Hanwha Chemicals and Daelim Industries,” the source added.

 

The No 2 cracker was shut down in mid-June for a short period due to leakages.

 

YNCC’s three crackers in Yeochun have a combined capacity of more than 1.8m tonnes/year.

 

Steve Tan contributed to this article

 

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By: Brian Myung
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