UpdateJapan PP shuts Mizushima unit after fire

14 November 2008 11:04  [Source: ICIS news]

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TOKYO (ICIS news)--Mitsubishi Chemical Co affiliate Japan Polypropylene shut its 100,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) unit at Mizushima in Okayama prefecture after a fire on Friday, a company spokesman said.

“The fire broke out at 12:10am Friday local time [15:10 GMT Thursday], and it’s now as small as a flame of a lighter,” the spokesman said as of 18:30.

“Because we can’t use water to extinguish the fire due to the character of the chemical content [PP], we are using nitrogen and waiting until it goes out naturally,” he added.

The fire was believed to have been caused by the chemical, which was leaking from a pipe of the PP plant, but details were yet to be investigated by local authorities, the spokesman said, adding only a part of the pipe was damaged.

The company did not yet know how long the unit would be shut until investigations start after the fire is extinguished, the spokesman said.

Deliveries of the product to the customers would not be affected because the company had enough stocks, he added.

Propylene feedstock to the PP plant supplied by Mitsubishi Chemical’s naphtha cracker at the same complex was unaffected, a source close to the company said.

Steve Tan contributed to this article
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By: Tomomi Yokomura
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