Asahi Kasei to reduce operating rate at 443,000 tpa ethylene plant

30-Jun-08

Asahi Kasei Corp has decided to bring down operating rate at a 443,000 tpa ethylene plant in western Japan to 95%, early next month. Record high crude prices have led to diminishing margins, increasing costs that the company has been unable to pass downstream. This is the first time in about 10 years that the company has cutback production at this unit, and it may be the first in a list of other Japanese petrochemical firms were also likely to move to cut production.