Japan's June ethylene output falls 5% amid steam cracker problems

13-Jul-11

Japan's June ethylene production fell 5.2% from May to 524,400 tons, on shut down of several naphtha-fed steam crackers due to technical problems, as per data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Platts reported that compared with June last year, ethylene production was up 3.1%. Tonen Chemical restarted its naphtha-fed steam cracker at Kawasaki in eastern Japan on June 25 after an emergency shutdown on June 9. With capacity to produce 515,000 tpa of ethylene, the cracker was shut due to a compressor problem. Maruzen Petrochemical restarted its naphtha-fed steam cracker at Chiba on June 26. The 550,000 tpa ethylene cracker was shut on June 20 due to a compressor glitch. JX Nippon Oil & Energy restarted its naphtha-fed steam cracker at Kawasaki in early July. The cracker was shut on June 27 for repairs, and can produce 404,000 tpa of ethylene.