Polymirae, Daelim mull PP cuts on weak demand

21 August 2008 05:00  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--South Korean polypropylene (PP) producer Polymirae is considering cutting production in response to weak Asian demand, sources close to the company said on Thursday.

“Polymirae is expected to cut production by the end of this week,” one of the sources said, adding that the extent of the reduction was not known yet.

Polymirae runs a 630,000 tonne/year plant at Yeosu.

It  received propylene feedstock from Korea’s largest cracker operator YNCC, which recently lowered propylene production at all three of its crackers due to a spate of technical and economical issues.

It is unclear if YNCC’s recent cracker cutbacks are related to the PP maker's decision to mull production cuts.

GS Caltex was running its 180,000 tonne/year PP plant at Yeosu at normal rates but it was concerned that its inventories would rise to critically high levels if demand did not pick up, a company source said.

“Our inventories are now about 10% higher (than the typical levels) but it is not critical yet,” the source said.

Other PP producers in South Korea are Honam Petrochemical, Korea Petrochemical Industry Co, LG Chemical, Samsung Total and SK Energy.

South Korea is a major PP producer with a capacity of around 3.8m tonnes/year, exporting to various markets including China and South America.

For more on PP visit ICIS chemical intelligence

To discuss issues facing the chemicals industry visit ICIS connect

By: Chow Bee Lin
+65 6780 4359

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly