Thailand's IPRC restarts Grp I base oils refinery after shutdown

31 January 2011 08:46  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Thailand’s Integrated Integrated Refinery Petrochemical Complex (IRPC) restarted its 320,000 tonne/year Group I base oils refinery in Rayong province over the weekend after halting production for more than 10 days of maintenance, a company source said on Monday.

The company is unlikely to have any spot supply in February and March as it would have to rebuild its stocks and fulfill its term supply commitments, the source said.

Meanwhile, market players said base oil supply has tightened in Asia, as several producers have started to build up their inventories ahead of the scheduled turnaround at their refineries.

At least three refineries in the region would be taken off line towards the end of the first quarter. Shell’s 380,000 tonne/year Group I base oils unit and ExxonMobil’s 900,000 tonne/year Group II facility in Singapore would be shut for about three weeks to a month of maintenance, while JX Energy & Nippon Oil’s 246,000 tonne/year Group I refinery in Mizushima, Japan, is slated for around 50–60 days of maintenance, beginning from the middle-to-second-half of March.

The tightened supply caused Group I base oil prices to rise by $20–30/tonne (€15–22/tonne) to around $1,080–1,420/tonne CFR (cost & freight) northeast (NE) Asia in the week ended 25 January, ICIS data showed.

($1 = €0.74)

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By: Yeow Pei Lin

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