Japanese petrochemical producer Mitsui Chemical has shut its Osaka olefins conversion unit (OCU) because of negative margins, as per www.argusmedia.com. The OCU has a capacity to produce 140,000 tpa of propylene. Mitsui Chemical has no plan to restart the unit for the rest of this year.
Asian propylene prices have firmed up slightly to US$600/t CFR northeast Asia (NEA) after dipping to a seven-year low at US$520/ton CFR NEA in late September, but they can hardly cover the minimum production costs for OCUs at US$750/ton.
Earlier this month, another Japanese producer JX in early October took off line a 140,000 tpa OCU, while South Korea's YNCC also plans to shut a similar size OCU unit on 2 November. Another three South Korea-based OCUs are currently running at reduced rates of 50-60%.
04-Nov-15 
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