Mechanical fault causes China's Super Chemical to shut IPA plant

20 April 2012 10:16  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS) --China’s Super Chemical shut its 50,000 tonne/year acetone-based isopropanol (IPA) plant in Yancheng, Jiangsu on 18 April for a second time in a month because of a mechanical problem, sources in China said on Friday.

An upstream unit that supplies hydrogen to the plant stopped working unexpectedly because of a technical glitch, a source said.  

Super Chemical halted production late in March for two weeks in tandem with a turnaround at the same feedstock unit, and production was resumed on 9 April.

Sources in China said Super Chemical may restart the plant by 22 April.

The disruption to production does not have a major impact on the domestic IPA market because of weak derivative demand, the sources added.

There has been no comment from Super Chemical on the matter.

By: Yeow Pei Lin

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