Dow No 2 Terneuzen cracker runs at full capacity

19 May 2010 11:37  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Dow Chemical’s No 2 cracker at Terneuzen, the Netherlands, is back up and running at full rates following an unexpected shutdown, a company source said on Wednesday.

“The restart went well and [the plant] is running at capacity,” the source added.

The cracker, one of three operated by Dow at the site, tripped on 5 May, but was in restart mode by the end of last week.

The No 2 cracker has the capacity to produce 590,000 tonnes/year ethylene and 295,000 tonnes/year propylene, according to ICIS plants and projects data.

As a result of this outage and other industry-wide production issues, ethylene in Europe had tightened considerably. Spot levels had soared with deals recorded at $1,350/tonne (€1,107/tonne) CIF (cost insurance freight) NWE (northwest Europe) and at €1,060/tonne FD (free delivered) on the pipeline, well above the May contract price of €960/tonne FD, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

June contract discussions were due to get under way this week. No specific figures were divulged, but sellers were expected to look for an increase.

($1 = €0.82)

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By: Nel Weddle
+44 20 8652 3214

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