Unplanned shutdown at Total's Antwerp NC3 naphtha cracker

28-Oct-14

Total's NC3 naphtha cracker in Antwerp, Belgium, is currently offline for an indefinite period due to an unplanned shutdown, according to market sources in Platts. A propylene buyer said that the shutdown was "semi-planned" and that it had been decided in the last month. He added that Total had already covered its position on monomers prior to the shutdown. Total declined to comment on the matter. The Antwerp site hosts three crackers -- NC1, NC2 and NC3 -- with a combined ethylene capacity of 1.38 mln mtpa. NC3 has a capacity of 580,000 mtpa. The shutdown comes in the context of a weak and oversupplied European naphtha market, currently suffering from a lack of spot demand from petrochemical end-users maximizing their LPG cracking.