Brunei Methanol Company runs 850,000 t/y plant at high rates

03 November 2010 01:27  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Brunei Methanol Company (BMC) is running its 850,000 tonne/year methanol plant in Sungai Liang Industrial Park at high operating rates since the first half of October after a 7-10 day shutdown, a company source said on Wednesday.

The plant was shut due to mechanical problems in end September, the source said on the sidelines of the 13th International Methanol Producers and Consumers Association (IMPCA) 2010 Asian Methanol Conference, which runs from 2-4 November in Singapore.

The source did not specify the current operating rate but added that the company had lost more than 20,000 tonnes of production during the shutdown and would not have additional spot cargoes in the near term.

The plant started commercial production in the last week of April and had made its first shipment in mid-May this year.

BMC has contracts to sell the material to China, Taiwan, Korea, southeast Asia, Japan and India.

The plant is a joint venture of Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (MGC) 50%, Itochu Corp 25% and Brunei National Petroleum Company (Petroleum Brunei) 25%.

Methanol goes in making of formaldehyde, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), methyl chlorides, mono methacrylate (MMA) and acetic acid.

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By: Heng Hui
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