US olefins producer ExxonMobil has rescheduled a steam cracker turnaround at its Baytown, Texas, complex for early February, sources said Friday.
Maintenance work at the 1.86 million mt/year olefins plant was originally scheduled to begin this week and extend into mid-February, sources and industry reports had indicated.
The turnaround is now expected to start during the second week of February and extend into March, sources said.
Steam crackers use feedstocks such as ethane and propane to produce mainly ethylene but also propylene, which in turn are used in the manufacturing of plastics and other chemical-based products.
ExxonMobil Chemical generally does not comment on operations. The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the matter.
Spot ethylene prices have surged more than 6 cents/lb over the past 2 1/2 weeks -- last assessed Thursday at 56.75-57.25 cents/lb -- as some participants stock up ahead of a busy turnaround season that is expected to squeeze supply through the second quarter of 2012. Shell Chemical this week confirmed maintenance work is under way at its Norco, Louisiana, complex, where a turnaround at its 816,000 mt/year OL-5 unit was scheduled.
Major producers with scheduled turnarounds over the next four months in the US Gulf Coast also include Dow Chemical, LyondellBasell, Chevron Phillips Chemical and BASF-Total.
