NPRA '11: India's Supreme Petrochem fears PBR shortage

27 March 2011 18:24  [Source: ICIS news]

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ICIS)--Supreme Petrochem, India’s biggest polystyrene producer, is closely monitoring developments in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami, which could lead to a reduction its supply of feedstock polybutadiene rubber (PBR), a senior company executive said on Sunday.

“We are watching how it will affect PBR supply,” Supreme Petrochem executive director for styrenics, Nageswaran Gopal, told ICIS on the sidelines of the International Petrochemical Conference (IPC).

Gopal, however, said that the disaster has not dented supply coming from suppliers such as Asahi Kasei and Nippon Shokubai.

Japan’s overall production is expected to take a strong hit because of the resulting fuel and electricity supply shortages following the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeastern part of the country last month.

The Indian company procures a monthly supply of 200,000-300,000 tonnes of PBR from Japan, accounting for 20% of its requirement, said VT Nandkumar, senior general manager at Supreme Petrochemical.

But the company is currently comfortable with its PBR inventory, said Gopal.

With just a fifth of the company’s feedstock needs coming from Japan, its other suppliers may be able to fill the slack in case Japanese supply falters, he said.

Hosted by the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA), the IPC continues through Tuesday.

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By: Pearl Bantillo
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