Czech Unipetrol’s cracker shutdown to affect Q4 profits

11 December 2008 12:10  [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--Unipetrol's fourth-quarter operating profit will be reduced by koruna (Kc) 229m ($11.6m/€8.8m) due to the extended October repairs shutdown of its ethylene cracker, the Czech petrochemical company said on Thursday.

The negative impact from the 25-day shutdown of the 560,000 tonne/year ethylene cracker in Litivinov, Czech Republic, which was originally scheduled for 21 days, included both lost margin and maintenance costs, Unipetrol said.

Investment bank Wood & Co said the company could now expect a 2008 fourth-quarter net profit of Kc331m.

In the same quarter of last year, Unipetrol sustained a net loss of Kc557m and an operating loss of Kc657m after absorbing charges related to extensive planned and unplanned shutdowns exacerbated by a fire in a hydrogen unit.

This year's repairs restored the turbine in the cracker's ethylene cooling compressor and overcame problems that affected injection-grade high density polyethylene (HDPE) output, said Unipetrol, which is the only cracker operator in the Czech Republic.

($1 = Kc19.80, €1 = Kc25.76)

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By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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