Japan's Nippon Oil to run Kawasaki IPA plant at 70% in H2 April

15 March 2010 08:04  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Japan’s Nippon Oil Corp will run its Kawasaki-based 85,000 tonne/year plant at 70% operating rate for a month from the second half of April, a company official said on Monday.

The plant would be down, in line with the turnaround schedule at its upstream 460,000 tonne/year naphtha cracker, the source said.

The IPA unit is currently running at about 90% of capacity due to high feedstock cost and slight technical issues, he said.

Nippon Oil is the largest isopropanol (IPA) producer in Japan.

IPA prices could be supported by a string of plant shutdowns that would tighten supply in the market, the source said.

Last Friday, IPA spot prices were assessed at $1,230-1,270/tonne (€898-927/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) NE (northeast) Asia, underpinned by bulk transactions for March shipments and buy sell indications/ideas for April parcels, market players said.

Other IPA producers in Asia include Lee Chang Yung Chemical (LCY), LG Chem, Isu Chemical, Tokuyama and Mitsui Chemicals.

($1 = €0.73)

For more on IPA, visit ICIS chemical intelligence
Please visit the complete ICIS plants and projects database
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Ong Sheau Ling
+65 6780 4359

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