MUMBAI, July 10: Reliance Industries Ltd plans to shut down its ethylene cracker at Hazira for about two weeks beginning next week to enhance capacity utilisation, petrochemical analysts said on Thursday. A company spokesman declined to comment, saying nothing unusual had happened to warrant a statement. The company is currently operating its cracker at Hazira on the western coast at 80 percent of its capacity, analysts said.

The shutdown is aimed at bringing new units online to achieve 100 per cent capacity by end July, they said.At full capacity, the cracker will produce 750,000 tonnes of ethylene a year.

"Reliance is running an inventory of ethylene. They won't have to import it," said an analyst.

Ethylene is the raw material for a wide range of petrochemicals which Reliance makes.

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