Several petrochemical plants in Japan remain shut while others are running at a low rate following the earthquake and devastating tsunami that occurred on 11 March.
About 25% of domestic production of ethylene, a key material for petrochemical products, has been halted following the earthquake, according to the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association.
JX Nippon Oil & Energy is planning to restart its 460,000t/y naphtha cracker in Kawasaki on 27 March after it shut the plant following the quake.
JX's Negishi refinery, which was restarted on Monday after an emergency shutdown following the earthquake on 11 March, has two reside fluid catalytic crackers with a combined propylene production capacity of 140,000t a year.
Denki Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Denka) is planning to raise the output of its 240,000t/y styrene monomer (SM) plant in Chiba, which is currently operating at 75%.
Kyowa Hakko Chemical has kept its 90,000t/y isononanol (INA) Chiba-based plant shut due to safety reasons, according to icis.com.
