Thailand’s PTTGC declares FM on benzene supply from Map Ta Phut

16 December 2011 07:03  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Thai producer PPT Global Chemical (PTTGC) has declared a force majeure (FM) on benzene supply from its Map Ta Phut-based aromatics plant on 15 December, said a company source on Friday.

The company was forced to shut its No 3 aromatics unit, which produces 360,000 tonnes/year of benzene and 616,000 tonnes/year of paraxylene (PX), early this week due to technical glitches.

PTTGC expects to restart the plant in about two weeks’ time in end-December, the source said.

Benzene availability in southeast Asia was lower this week because of the outage, supporting spot prices in the region, said traders.

Demand might increase as PTTGC would not be able to deliver cargoes it sold earlier to regional traders and supply to end-users in Singapore and Taiwan may be affected, said a Korean trader.

Spot benzene prices in Asia were hovering at about $1,030-1,040/tonne (€793-801/tonne) FOB (free on board) Korea on Friday afternoon, up $15/tonne from Thursday’s close, according to ICIS.

($1 = €0.77)

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By: Mahua Chakravarty
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