Shell likely to delay Singapore cracker restart to May - sources

11 April 2011 04:25  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Shell is likely to delay the restart of its 800,000 tonne/year mixed-feed cracker in Bukom, Singapore, to May because of ongoing technical issues, market sources said on Monday.

“We are hearing that [restarting the cracker in] April is not possible,” said one source who declined to provide further details.

Company officials were not available for comment.

Other sources said the cracker had failed to restart as scheduled on 10 April. The cracker was shut on 18 March, which prompted Shell to declare a force majeure on ethylene and monoethylene glycol (MEG) shipments.

Traders said the producer could be on the lookout for propylene and ethylene spot cargoes if the plant outage is prolonged.

Ethylene spot prices were up $20/tonne (€13.8/tonne) at $1,320-1,400/tonne CFR (cost & freight) southeast (SE) Asia last week, while propylene gained $40/tonne to $1,500-1,560/tonne CFR SE Asia over the same period, according to ICIS data.

($1 = €0.69)

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By: Peh Soo Hwee
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