Japan’s Idemitsu to shut Chiba cracker for maintenance in March

28 January 2011 07:18  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan plans to shut its 374,000 tonne/year naphtha cracker in Chiba for a turnaround in March, said a company source on Friday.

The cracker was expected to be shut from 27 March to 18 May, he said.

The source added that a joint olefins conversion unit (OCU) at the site, in which Idemitsu has a 50% share, would be taken off line from March-August.

The OCU can produce 150,000 tonnes/year of propylene.

“The refinery in Chiba has a maintenance shutdown in spring so we do not have C4 [butadiene], while Mitsui Chemical’s plant [cracker] will be having a turnaround in July and there will be no ethylene feedstock for the OCU,” he said.

Mitsui runs a 617,000 tonne/year naphtha cracker in Chiba.

The two Japanese producers had integrated their operations in October last year to optimise the feedstock selection for their crackers.

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By: Peh Soo Hwee
+65 6780 4359

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