DATE : 2014-10-01
China’s Sinopec Great Wall Energy and Chemical Co plans to shut its new 450,000 tonne/year vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant in Yinchuan, in October to rectify mechanical issues, sources close to the company said late on Tuesday.
Sources said the VAM plant, along with its downstream 100,000 tonne/year polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) unit at the same site, will be shut during the National Day holiday for around one month. The exact dates of the outage were not disclosed. Separately, the company’s upstream 300,000 tonne/year acetic acid unit will be shut from 15 to 23 October.
The VAM plant commenced trial runs on 26 August and it is currently operating at a reduced 10% capacity, from the previous 40% capacity last week, sources added.
The plant initially ran at 20% in end-August after the trial runs, the sources said.
Market players were earlier expecting on-spec VAM to be available from the plant by the end of September.
SOURCE Icis News