Japan's Showa Denko looks at other cracker feeds

02 September 2008 12:42  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s Showa Denko aims to increase the input of non-naphtha feedstocks for the production of ethylene at its crackers in Oita prefecture due to the the former's recent high costs, a spokesman from the chemical producer said on Tuesday.

The company’s use of non-naphtha feedstocks - liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) such as butane and condensate - reached 20% of the total in 2007, the spokesman added.

“How much non-naphtha feedstocks we use depends on the difference in the prices of naphtha and LPG," the spokesman said. "When the price of LPG is cheaper than naphtha, we’ll use more non-naphtha.”

“We currently use 20% of non-naphtha feedstocks, but most other Japanese chemical producers aren’t able to have such a high percentage (of non-naphtha feedstocks),” the spokesman added.

Showa Denko, which produces a total of 695,000 tonnes/year of ethylene at Oita, runs crackers that can use diversified feedstocks other than naphtha as well as a 40,000 tonne butane storage tank, according to the spokesman.

The spokesman said that the company aimed to take a maximum advantage of these facilities.

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By: Tomomi Yokomura
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