Japan plans maintenance at 3 naphtha crackers in 2017

Tosoh

11/01/2017 24:01

TOKYO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Three naphtha crackers in Japan are set to be shut 
in 2017 for scheduled maintenance, industry and company sources said. 
    Asahi Kasei Mitsubishi Chemical Ethylene Corp, a 50-50 joint venture of 
Asahi Kasei Chemicals  3407.T  and Mitsubishi Chemical  4188.T , is set to shut 
its integrated naphtha cracker in Mizushima, western Japan, in early May 
possibly after Golden Week holidays until July, an industry source said. 
    Idemitsu Kosan Co  5019.T  will conduct maintenance on its Chiba cracker in 
spring and the cracker is set to be shut again in autumn for about a month 
during an upgrade to expand the processing of propane as feedstock, company 
sources said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1DU2JZ 
    Mitsui Chemical's cracker in Ichihara in Chiba, east of Tokyo, is set to be 
shut sometime between mid-June and early August for about 40 days, a company 
official said. 
    Ethylene manufacturers operating crackers also include oil refiner JX Nippon 
Oil & Energy  5020.T , and Osaka Petrochemical Industries Ltd, a wholly-owned 
unit of Mitsui Chemicals  4183.T . 
    Among others, Keiyo Ethylene is 55 percent owned by Maruzen Petrochemical Co 
and 45 percent by Sumitomo Chemical Co  4005.T . Maruzen Petrochemical is a 
subsidiary of Cosmo Energy Holdings  5021.T . 
    Tonen Chemical Corp is part of TonenGeneral Sekiyu  5012.T  group. Others 
are Showa Denko  4004.T  and Tosoh Corp  4042.T . 
    The following table shows manufacturers' nominal ethylene production 
capacity per year. Figures are in 1,000 tonnes per year. Capacity is based on 
the trade ministry's data and the companies. 
     
      Firm        Cracker  Capacity                     Shutdown period 
   M'bishi   Kashima No.2       539                                none 
     Asahi      Mizushima       567                   early May to July 
     Kasei                            
   M'bishi                            
    Mitsui       Ichihara       612           about 40 days around July 
     Osaka          Osaka       500                                none 
  Idemitsu          Chiba       414     spring, also shut in autumn for 
                                                                upgrade 
  Idemitsu       Tokuyama       687                                none 
   Maruzen          Chiba       525                                none 
     Keiyo          Chiba       768                                none 
     Showa           Oita       691                                none 
     Tosoh      Yokkaichi       527                                none 
     Tonen       Kawasaki       540                                none 
        JX       Kawasaki       443                                none 
     Total                    6,813                                     
    
 
 (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO and Seng Li Peng in SINGAPORE; Editing 
by Richard Pullin) 
 ((osamu.tsukimori@thomsonreuters.com, +813 6441 1857)(Reuters Messaging: 
osamu.tsukimori.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: NAPHTHA JAPAN/MAINTENANCE