Planned maintenance shutdowns at naphtha crackers in Japan and Korea

09-Mar-12

Several Japanese and South Korean ethylene producers will idle capacity for maintenance leading into Q2-2012. A list of planned maintenance shutdowns at naphtha crackers in Japan and Korea, as per Bloomberg: Tosoh plans to shut its 493,000 tpa naphtha cracker in Yokkaichi for scheduled maintenance on March 15, scheduled to last until April 15. Showa Denko KK has started reducing output by 200,000 tpa at its ethylene plant in Oita for scheduled maintenance. The 691,000 tpa unit was scheduled to return to full capacity on March 29. Asahi Kasei Corp. has shut its 504,000 tpa cracker in Mizushima for scheduled maintenance on March 5, and is scheduled to restart on April 16. Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. plans to shut Kashima 1 343,000 tpa from May 10 to July 4. Maruzen Petrochemical Co. plans to shut 525,000 tpa Chiba cracker from mid-May to mid-June. In South Korea, Yeochun NCC Co. (YNCC) plans to shut its 578,000 tpa Yeocheon No. 2 plant for maintenance from March 20 to April 19, according to a company official who asked not to be named because the information was confidential. Honam Petrochemical Corp. has shut its 750,000 tpa Yeocheon plant on March 1 for maintenance and to expand its capacity to 1 mln tpa, scheduled to last until April 10. Formosa Petrochemical Corp. plans to shut 700,000 tpa Cracker 1 at Mailiao for 40-45 days in August.