Typhoon Megi may disrupt petchem shipments from Hainan, China

18 October 2010 07:13  [Source: ICIS news]

By Judith Wang

SHANGHAI (ICIS)--Petrochemical players in Hainan, China are bracing for the onslaught of super typhoon Megi, which might halt shipping activities in the island province for a few days, industry sources said on Monday.

The typhoon was coursing through the northern part of the Philippines on Monday and was expected to head towards southern China on Tuesday, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC) of China.

As of noon, the typhoon had killed one in the Philippines.

“We are requiring companies to take some measures to cope with the impending typhoon, but I think the impact on the production will be limited,” said an official from Hainan Yangpu Economic Development Zone.

Megi was packing winds of more than 72 metres per second at its centre, NMC said.

Torrential rains had started to lash out at Hainan in the southern tip of China on Monday, which forced the evacuation of about 140,000 people, according to state media Xinhua news agency.

Hainan Refining and Chemical Co (HRCC), which operates an 8m tonne/year refinery in the island at the southern tip of China, was taking some precautionary measures for the typhoon but has no plans to cut production, said a company source.

“The strong winds will hinder transport for a few days,” the source said, adding that the company had started shipping out more products before the typhoon hits.

HRCC, a subsidiary of China’s state-owned petrochemical giant Sinopec, also operates a 200,000 tonne/year polypropylene plant and other chemicals plants on the island, according to its website.

“The petrochemical operation in our company is running very well. We don’t have a plan to cut operating rates,” the source said.

China BlueChemical, which has a 600,000 tonne/year methanol plant in Hainan, was not expecting any operational disruption to production, said a company source, but added the heavy rains from the typhoon may pose logistical problems in shipping out products, said a company source.

The company is a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC).

Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s blog – Asian Chemical Connections
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By: Judith Wang
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