JX restarted its 270,000 b/d refinery at Negishi, eastern Japan, Monday after an emergency shutdown in the wake of a powerful earthquake on March 11. The Negishi refinery has two reside fluid catalytic crackers with a combined propylene production capacity of 140,000 mt/year, which usually goes to the domestic market.
Sources added that the Negishi RFCCs propylene output would not be able to cover the shortfall from the Sendai refinery in northeast Japan, which is able to produce 100,000 mt/year of propylene. JX usually exports around 8,000-9,000 mt/month of propylene from its Sendai refinery.
Meanwhile, the capacity increase at JX's Mizushima refinery, western Japan, would not increase its propylene production significantly, sources said. The refiner increased its crude processing capacity at Mizushima by 20,000 b/d to 400,200 b/d as of Monday. The company has two RFCCs in Mizushima, western Japan, which have a combined propylene capacity of 200,000 mt/year.
"Our RFCC operating rates [at Mizushima] will increase in order to raise gasoline production," said a company source. "But it will not lead to an increase in propylene production as there is a capacity limit for propylene splitters."
JX plans to restart its naphtha-fed steam cracker at Kawasaki, eastern Japan, around March 27. Its cracker in Kawasaki is able to produce 404,000 mt/year of ethylene and 260,000 mt/year of propylene. (see
STEAM CRACKERS IN JAPAN: COMPANY LOCATION E/P(KT/YEAR) OPERATION STATUS CAPACITY Mitsubishi Chemical Kashima (1) 375/170 Shut Mar 11 on power cut Mitsubishi Chemical Kashima (2) 476/260 Shut Mar 11 on power cut Keiyo Ethylene Chiba 700/400 Normal Maruzen Chiba 550/230 Shut Mar 11 on downstream shutdown Mitsui Chemicals Chiba 600/331 Normal Idemitsu Chiba 374/224 Normal Sumitomo Chemical Chiba 416/288 Normal Tonen Kawasaki 515/300 Normal JX Nippon Kawasaki 404/260 Shut Mar 11, restart Mar 27
PROPYLENE UNITS IN JAPAN: COMPANY LOCATION P CAPACITY OPERATION STATUS JX (RFCC) Sendai 100,000 Shut Mar 11 on fire JX (RFCC 1) Negishi 70,000 Restarted Mar 21 JX (RFCC 2) Negishi 70,000 Restarted Mar 21 JX (RFCC) Kashima 60,000 Shut Mar 11 on quake JX (OCU) Kawasaki 140,000 Shut Mar 11 on quake *Idemitsu (OCU) Chiba 150,000 Normal Mitsubishi Chem Kashima 150,000 Shut Mar 11
E=ethylene P=propylene RFCC=residue fluid catalytic cracker OCU=olefin conversion unit *Plant is owned by Idemitsu (50%), Mitsui Chem (25%) and Sumitomo Chem (25%)
