Siam Mitsui to keep overall PTA op rate at 50% for 2009

09 January 2009 02:55  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Thai purified terephthalic acid (PTA) producer Siam-Mitsui will run only two of its three plants in Mab Ta Phut in 2009 and keep their operating rates low due to difficult market conditions, a company official said on Friday.

“We aim to keep operating rates around 50% of our [nameplate] capacity,” said the source.

It was not clear if the company would be idling one of the three lines in turns this year.

The producer had been shutting down its lines intermittently in the past year as sales proved tough and margins for PTA makers were squeezed.

Siam-Mitsui’s 450,000 tonne/year unit had been down since December.

The company operates another unit with 450,000 tonnes/year capacity and a slightly bigger 500,000 tonne/year unit on the same site.

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By: Salmon Aidan Lee
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