Solvay restarts Rheinberg ECH plant amid tight market

05 October 2009 15:47  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Belgian producer Solvay has successfully restarted its epichlorohydrin (ECH) plant in Rheinberg, Germany, following a week-long shutdown, a company source said on Monday.

“We had a one-week shutdown at the ECH unit and the restart has gone fine. We’re now running at full speed,” the source said.

The Rheinberg facility has a 56,000 tonne/year capacity, according to ICIS plants and projects.

This was welcome news to some players in the ECH market, who had been plagued by short supply in recent weeks.

“The restart should now improve availability and prices should hopefully stabilise,” a buyer said.

Producers, however, were not so sure. “No one is currently sitting on stocks and there is not enough [ECH] in the chain, as there are several producers with reduced [production] rates. Material will be tight for the time being,” one said.

Producers were looking to increase ECH prices in October due to tight availability, short chlorine supply and a need to improve margins.

For more on ECH visit ICIS chemical intelligence
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry visit ICIS connect

By: Stuart Moir
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly