Recently, many leading domestic and foreign chemical companies such as Huntsman, Hualu Hengsheng, and Luxi Chemical have announced shutdowns for maintenance:
Huntsman’s 470,000-ton/year MDI unit in Rozenberg, the Netherlands, plans to start maintenance in March and is expected to complete the maintenance in April.
Hanbang Petrochemical No. 2 PTA unit with a capacity of 2.2 million tons/year was shut down for maintenance on January 6, and the restart time is to be determined.
Yisheng Ningbo’s 2 million tons/year PTA unit plans to undergo a 15-day maintenance on January 24.
Fujian Xianglu polyester staple fiber plant plans to start maintenance in mid-January, and the maintenance is planned to last 20 days.
Covestro has postponed maintenance work on its 2.7 million tons/year toluene diisocyanate (TDI) unit in Dormagen, Germany, until mid-May.
Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Co., Ltd.’s 100,000 tons/year cyclohexanol (160,000 tons adipic acid) and 60,000 tons/year cyclohexanone units are shut down for maintenance, planned for 20 About days.
Korea OCI’s 50,000 tons/year TDI device at the beginning of the year is scheduled to be shut down for maintenance in mid-February, which will last for about 20 days.
Luxi Chemical Industry’s cyclohexanone is not quoted for the time being, and the 100,000 tons/year oxidation cyclohexanone unit is shut down for maintenance.
Fujian United’s 400,000 tons/year ethylene glycol unit plans to shut down for maintenance for 7-10 days on January 20.
Ningbo Fude Energy’s 500,000 tons/year ethylene glycol unit will start shutting down for maintenance on the 25th and will last until the end of the month.
Hebei Yutai dimethyl ether will not quote prices for the time being, and the dimethyl ether unit will be shut down for maintenance.
Shanxi Orchid’s 100,000 tons/year dimethyl ether device will be shut down for maintenance, and the start-up time is to be determined.
The methanol market price in Qinghai is currently unavailable. Due to gas restrictions in winter, the main gas head devices in Qinghai are shut down for maintenance, and production is expected to resume in March 2021.
A 750,000-ton/year methanol plant in Venezuela has been shut down for maintenance, and the restart time has not yet been determined.
Shandong Linyi Galaxy’s 120,000 tons/year formaldehyde plant has been shut down.
Derun Chemical’s 150,000 tons/year hydrogenation benzene unit has been shut down.
Shandong Jinneng Chemical’s 100,000 tons/year hydrogenation benzene unit has been shut down.
Ningxia Tongde’s 100,000 tons/year hydrogenation benzene unit has been shut down.
Fujian Longfluoro Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 36,000 tons/year hydrofluoric acid unit is currently shut down for maintenance. The manufacturer has no inventory and currently has no quotation.
Shandong Weite Chemical’s 60,000 tons/year butadiene extraction unit will continue to be shut down, and the restart time is unknown.
Sichuan Chengdu Guangyu Chemical’s ammonium chloride unit has been shut down for maintenance. There is currently no inventory, and the restart time of the unit is to be determined.
Shanxi Sanwei’s BDO unit with a production capacity of 75,000 tons/year has been shut down, and the restart time is still uncertain.
Tianjin Bohua’s 350,000 tons/year acetic acid plant is shut down, Henan Shunda’s 400,000 tons/year acetic acid plant is shut down, and Henan Yima’s 250,000 tons/year acetic acid plant is shut down.
Nanjing Yangzi Petrochemical Rubber Co., Ltd. has a butadiene rubber unit with a production capacity of 100,000 tons/year; a styrene-butadiene rubber unit with a production capacity of 100,000 tons/year. Before the explosion, the cis-butadiene and styrene-butadiene devices were in normal operation. After the explosion, the cis-butadiene and styrene-butadiene devices are currently shut down, and the restart time is to be determined.
A 200,000-ton polymeric filament spinning device in Shengze was shut down for maintenance.
A 200,000-ton polymerization unit in Changshu was shut down for maintenance.
Two polymer spinning filament units in Xiaoshan were shut down for maintenance.
A polymeric filament spinning factory in Xiaoshan is shut down to reduce the load.
A 180,000-ton polymer spinning filament device in Xiamen No. 1 Factory is scheduled to be shut down for maintenance in the near future and is expected to restart on February 5. The device is mainly equipped with polyester filament.
According to industry insiders, Jiangsu Sanmu’s butyl acrylate production was shut down for maintenance on January 25. The supply of butyl acrylate in the East China market is currently tight.
Dow’s Zhangjiagang DMC unit has been shut down again due to malfunction and is expected to be shut down for 2-3 weeks. Dow Zhangjiagang’s silicone DMC has an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons. This accident has made monomer supply tight again. Previously, Dow Wacker’s hydrolysis equipment in Zhangjiagang’s single unit accidentally leaked on December 4 last year and shut down the entire line.
Dongying Jinmao’s 120,000 tons/year chloroform plant is parked.
Sinopec Mitsui’s 120,000 tons/year bisphenol A unit was shut down for some reason, the inventory is low, and the restart time is to be determined.
Many chemical companies have stopped for maintenance, and tens of millions of tons of production capacity have been “frozen”
According to incomplete statistics, more than 30 companies have recently stopped for maintenance. During the period, the maintenance time ranged from more than 10 days to more than 3 months, involving more than 20 kinds of chemical raw materials, with a total production capacity of about 10 million tons/year. In other words, nearly 10 million tons of production capacity was “frozen”.
Many chemical raw material companies have begun to join the ranks of equipment shutdown and maintenance. This will result in a reduction in the load of chemical companies and even a drop in operating rates, and the industry will maintain a low load. The current COVID-19 epidemic situation is still severe, the macro environment faces many uncertainties, market sentiment fluctuates greatly, and the market rhythm remains complex and changeable. If downstream demand increases and replenishment occurs, some speculative demand will be released.
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