Petrochemicals: Mitsubishi Chemical to close ethylene plant

18 June 2012 00:00  [Source: ICB]

Japanese producer Mitsubishi Chemical plans to permanently shut its 390,000 tonne/year No.1 naphtha cracker and 90,000 tonne/year No.1 benzene plant at Kashima as part of its structural reform, the company said.

Both plants were expected to close at the time of scheduled maintenance at the Kashima complex in 2014.

In accordance with the closures of these facilities, Mitsubishi Chemical plans to increase the production capacity of its 490,000 tonne/year No.2 cracker at Kashima by 50,000 tonnes/year.

At the same time, the company will upgrade its olefins conversion unit (OCU), which produces 150,000 tonnes/year of propylene, as well as relocating and installing the necessary pipework.

Estimated costs for these measures are a total of yen (Y) 9.8bn ($123m, €98m).

All construction work was ­expected to be finished by the time Mitsubishi Chemical's maintenance shutdown of its plants at Kashima in 2013 is completed, it said.

The planned structural reform at Kashima would cut the producer's fixed costs by about Y4bn/year and enable it to maintain high operating rates at the cracker even when ethylene demand is low, Mitsubishi Chemical said.

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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