South Korea’s YNCC shuts No 3 cracker indefinitely

19 November 2008 08:50  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--South Korea’s largest cracker operator Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Center (YNCC) shut the smallest of its three naphtha crackers as planned on Wednesday, a company source said.

The 400,000 tonne/year No 3 cracker in Yeocheon was taken offline indefinitely and no decision has been made regarding the restart date, he said.

YNCC was running its two other naphtha crackers at the same site at around 80% but ethylene production as a whole was unchanged at close to 70%, the source added.

The No 1 cracker has an ethylene capacity of 850,000 tonnes/year while the No 2 cracker can produce 550,000 tonnes/year of ethylene. Both units were previously operating at 70%.

The South Korean producer joins a growing list of cracker operators in the region such as SK Energy and Formosa Petrochemical Corp that have decided to keep their crackers shut due to weak demand.

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By: Peh Soo Hwee
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