S Korea’s SKC shuts Ulsan HPPO unit on fire at upstream plant

03 December 2010 06:36  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--South Korea’s SKC Corp on 2 December shut its 100,000 tonne/year hydrogen peroxide-to-propylene oxide (HPPO) facility in Ulsan because of feedstock shortage, a company source said on Friday.

The shortage was caused by a fire that broke out at one of its upstream hydrogen peroxide units on Monday, the source added.

“The fire only affected one [hydrogen peroxide] line, which represents only 20% of the [plant’s] total nameplate capacity. So, the loss is minimal,” said the source.

“A detailed investigation is still underway for the cause of the fire,” he said without providing further details.

The shutdown of the HPPO facility should only last for around two to three days, the source from SKC said.

“The outage is only for a couple of days. It should not have much impact on the market,” a South Korean-based PO buyer said.

For more on propylene oxide, visit ICIS chemical intelligence
Please visit the complete ICIS plants and projects database
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry, go to ICIS connect

Author: Sheau Ling Ong

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly