DATE : 2014-06-03

 

INEOS Nitriles will shut its larger acrylonitrile (ACN) production unit in Cologne, Germany, for five weeks from the end of August, a company source confirmed on Thursday.

The outage is for the plant's statutory five-year inspection and cleaning. The unit has a capacity of 220,000 tonnes/year, the source said.

It coincides with Lukoil’s 40-day scheduled maintenance at its 28,000 tonne/year ACN plant in Burgas, Bulgaria, which is due to begin around 6 September.

 

Some sources expect the combined impact of the maintenance shutdowns to tighten the ACN market from August to October.

 

They added that pre-buying to cover the maintenance period will increase demand in the traditionally quiet summer holiday period.

 

Nevertheless, other sources said that the impact on the ACN spot market would be minimal because of weak demand in the downstream acrylic fibre industry. The ACN spot market predominantly serves the acrylic fibre industry.

SOURCE Icis News