S Korea’s Aekyung Petrochemical cuts DOP rate to below 50%

21 October 2011 07:06  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--South Korea’s Aekyung Petrochemical has cut the operating rate at its 150,000 tonne/year dioctyl phthalate (DOP) plant at Ningbo in Zhejiang province to below 50% of capacity because of weak demand, a company source said on Friday.

Aekyung Petrochemical has been operating the plant at 50% of capacity since mid-September.

“The situation is dire. We have resorted to operating the plant on some days and completely shutting the plant [on other days],” said the source.

Under normal circumstances, a DOP plant has to operate at around 80% of capacity in order to break even.

DOP is used as a plasticiser for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The demand for PVC has been weak because China’s housing industry has been badly hit by the government’s tightening monetary policy. PVC is a polymer used in the production of pipes, window frames and door frames.

For more information on DOP and PVC, visit ICIS chemical intelligence
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By: Quintella Koh
+65 6780 4372

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