Mitsubishi Chemical to keep No 2 Kashima cracker off line

12 February 2009 11:30  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical has begun to dismantle part of the fire-hit furnace at its Kashima No 2 cracker and plans to keep the facility off line indefinitely, a company official said on Thursday.

The company was dismantling the upper part of the No 8 furnace, which has remained shut since the December 2007 fire, the official said.

The fire started in the No 8 furnace and severely damaged it, which made it difficult to fix that part of the facility, the official said.

The official said the lower part of the unit was working without problems. If the upper part is reconstructed, the furnace could be restarted, the official said.

“But with petrochemical demand being down, we don’t know when we can construct the upper part,” he said.

The No 2 cracker normally produces 475,000 tonnes/year of ethylene. But with the No 8 furnace shut, its capacity has decreased to 453,000 tonnes/year, according to the official.

Mitsubishi Chemical also operates a 450,000 tonne/year cracker in Mizushima, Okayama prefecture.

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By: Tomomi Yokomura
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