OPSC Shanghai PTA Plant To Shut During G20 Summit, Other Ningbo Plants Likely To Follow

OPSC Shanghai PTA plant to shut during G20 summit, other Ningbo plants likely to follow

07-Jun-16

Following an order issued in May by Shanghai's Environmental Protection Bureau, Oriental Petrochemical (Shanghai) Corporation has to reduce the operating rate of its 750,000 tpa purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Shanghai from August 23 onwards, and will halt production completely between August 28 and September 7, as per sources in Platts. Limits on operations at petrochemical plants in Shanghai, Ningbo and Hangzhou in anticipation of the G20 Summit, are expected to affect PTA as well as downstream polyester supply over August and September, market sources said. All polyester [plants] in the Hangzhou region will probably be shut, so the supply-demand balance from now till then will be completely distorted," a source with a Chinese PTA producer said.
Another PTA producer estimated there was more than 20 mln mt/year of polyester production capacity around Hangzhou, but added that it was not yet clear how much of the capacity would be affected.

In Ningbo, companies had up to May 26 to respond, and details have yet to be confirmed, but several PTA plants face a potential shutdown over the period, sources said. Based on the preliminary proposal, Zhejiang Yisheng Petrochemical has been asked to stop all production of PTA, amounting to a total capacity of 5.5 mln mt/year. Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation and Ningbo Mitsubishi Chemical Co. Ltd. are also expected to have to cut all production of PTA, with capacity of 1.2 mln mt/year and 600,000 mt/year, respectively.
The limits on Shanghai will take effect from August 24 to September 6, while details of Ningbo's restrictions have yet to be confirmed.