China’s Tai Zhou Petchem to shut MEK lines for month's maintenance

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--China’s Tai Zhou Petrochemical plans to shut its two methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) lines at Jiangsu for a month-long maintenance period in late March or early April, an industry source close to the company said on Monday.

The two lines have a total nameplate capacity of 40,000 tonnes/year, the source added.

"This is a good news for us, as the oversupply could be eased," a local trader based in eastern China said in Mandarin.

A key producer in China said: "Domestic prices have been softening after the Lunar New Year due to excess supply in the country. We are trying really hard to export more volume to balance the supply-demand, so this turnaround may aid to support the prices."

Inventories were heard at a record-high of 10,000 tonnes in eastern China and 7,000-8,000 tonnes in southern China, exceeding 20-30% compared with the local demand, market players said.

MEK domestic prices were negotiated at yuan (CNY) 8,200-8,300/tonne ($1,201-1,215/tonne) ex-tank in eastern China and CNY8,300-8,400 ex-tank in southern China on 26 March, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

Other MEK producers in Asia include TASCO, Tonen Chemical (an affiliate of the ExxonMobil group), Idemitsu Kosan and Maruzen Petrochemical.

($1 = CNY6.83)

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