APIC ’14: Philippines’ first cracker starts up on 21-24 May

Tahir Ikram

16-May-2014

Interview article by Tahir Ikram

JG Summit Petrochemicals executive vice president (EVP) and senior managing director Patrick GoSINGAPORE (ICIS)–JG Summit Petrochemical is expected to start operating its naphtha cracker – the Philippines’ first – in Batangas by 21-24 May, a senior company executive said on Friday.

“It looks like we will be starting up by the end of the month, on May 21st to 24th,” JG Summit Petrochemicals executive vice president (EVP) and senior managing director Patrick Go told ICIS.

The naphtha cracker is expected to produce 320,000 tonnes/year of ethylene and 190,000 tonnes/year of propylene.

“Ethylene should be produced in June…as long as everything goes well,” he said at the sidelines of the annual Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) being held in Pattaya on 15-16 May.

The start-up of the cracker has been delayed from an earlier schedule of end March/early April primarily because of some technical issues, Go said.

The cracker will require three cargoes of 20,000-30,000 tonnes of naphtha each month, Go said, adding that JG Summit had procured three cargoes and is in talks to obtain more.

The company intends to seek naphtha through tender from the fourth quarter of this year, he said.

Meanwhile, JG Summit also plans to conduct feasibility studies through the year for downstream expansion of the cracker, which uses Lummus technology, once the unit is running smoothly, Go said, but added that there is no specific timeframe for the expansion.

The cracker will provide 100% feedstock to JG Summit’s polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plants in Batangas, Go said.

“Pygas and mixed C4s [from the cracker] will also be exported as there is no domestic demand for them,” Go said.

JG Summit will look at southeast (SE) Asia and China as possible markets for its exports, and will also consider arbitrage opportunities in eastern Europe at an appropriate time, Go said.

He expects the combined PE and PP demand in Philippines to be around 550,000 to 600,000 tonnes a year, which will likely grow in tandem with the country’s GDP.

The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, with a GDP growth of 7.2% recorded in 2013.

The expected growth in the country’s polymer demand will mostly come from packaging, and the agricultural sector, Go said.

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