Idemitsu’s 623,000 tpa Tokuyama naphtha cracker running at full throttle

03-Apr-09

After the 4 week maintenance and repair shut down at its 374,000 tpa Chiba cracker, Japan's Idemitsu Kosan is to augment run rates at Tokuyama to run the 623,000 tpa naphtha cracker at full throttle. This will aid the company meet the shortfall in production at Chiba from Tokuyama. Once the shutdown is accomplished, and the Tokuyama unit comes on stream, the two units are expected to run at about 85% capacity, an increase in run rates by about 10% until this month. Domestic demand seems to be on the path to recovery in Japan, prompting cracker operators to increase run rates. Demand for petrochemicals is recovering, particularly from the automobile industry. Currently several producers have increased run rates to about 90%. These include Nippon Oil’s 404,000 tpa Kawasaki cracker, Sumitomo Chemical’s 380,000 tpa Chiba cracker, Showa Denko, Mitsui Chemicals and Maruzen Petrochemical.