Japan's ethylene production in October rose 1.5% from September to 500,000 mt, but slipped 10.3% from a year earlier, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.
The month-on-month increase in output coincided with the end of turnarounds that month. JX Nippon Oil & Energy restarted its sole steam cracker at Kawasaki on October 11, after an extended turnaround since August 13, a company source said in October. The steam cracker can produce 404,000 mt/year of ethylene.
In addition, Idemitsu Kosan restarted its steam cracker at Tokuyama, Yamaguchi Prefecture, at the end of October after scheduled maintenance that had been ongoing since September 4.
The cracker can produce 623,000 mt/year of ethylene. The impact on total ethylene output from that cracker will only be seen in output statistics for November, which could show a further month-on-month increase.
There are 15 naphtha-fed steam crackers in Japan, with a combined ethylene production capacity of 7.72 million mt/year.
