Japan’s Mitsui, Idemitsu set up joint venture to operate crackers

01 April 2010 11:07  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals and Idemitsu Kosan have formed a joint venture company that would operate their naphtha crackers at Ichihara in the Chiba prefecture, the companies said in a joint statement.

The 50:50 joint venture company called Chiba Chemicals Manufacturing LLP would help optimise the operations of Mitsui Chem’s 553,000 tonne/year cracker and of Idemitsu Kosan’s 374,000 tonne/year ethylene plant.

Integrating the two crackers would help Chiba Chemicals Manufacturing compete with huge petrochemical plants in the Middle East and China, they said.

This was the first step of the production optimization strategies at the Chiba petrochemical complex agreed by the two companies in May 2009, Mitsui Chemicals and Idemitsu Kosan said.

What feedstock would be used at the crackers would be decided by the new company, said Mitsui Chemicals spokesperson Hiromichi Hori.

Apart from naphtha, the crackers can use ethane, butane and condensate as feedstocks, Hori said.

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By: Tomomi Yokomura
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