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Suzanne McElligott
Singapore, Jan 14: South Korea's ethylene operating rates were around 95 to 100 per cent of capacity but are expected to drop at all or most of the country's 11 ethylene plants, South Korean market sources said on Thursday.
But inventory building ahead of month-long maintenance shutdowns at six of the plants was expected to keep producers operating flat out through May.
Ethylene demand and prices fell over the past two months due to decreased Chinese plastics demand after rising on the same since July, when the ethylene price was as low as $210 per tonne free-on-board (fob) South Korea.
Since the ethylene price peak in November, spot prices in Asia dropped almost 20 per cent to around $310 per tonne fob South Korea from around $380.
Ethylene plant operators said that although they had no solid plans to cut operating rates in the near future, the falling price and softening demand may soon dictate a return to the lower production rates seen in May through August of last year.
At that time, South Korean ethylene plants ran at about 80 per cent of capacity because of soft demand and falling prices.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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