PTT Global plans restart of naphtha cracker at Map Ta Phut by end December

14-Dec-11

Thailand's PTT Global Chemical aims to restart the naphtha-fed steam cracker at its I-4 complex in Map Ta Phut by end December after it was shut unexpectedly late last week, as per Platts. The "I4-1" steam cracker, with a nameplate capacity to produce 515,000 tpa of ethylene and 250,000 tpa of propylene, was shut last week due to mechanical issues relating to the quench tower. The shutdown is expected to last 20 days, and restart is expected around December 28-29. The gas-fed crackers at the same complex have not been affected and are running normally.