MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tianjin Bohai Chemical will likely postpone the restart of its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant by another 19 days to February 29 due to sluggish demand, reported S&P Global with reference to a company source.
This came after the facility, located in northeastern China, had delayed the restart of its 600,000 mt/year propylene plant to February 10, from February 6, extending the Lunar New Year holidays in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Tianjin Bohai uses 720,000 mt/year of propane when at full capacity.
"We have to postpone the restart further back to February 29, due to poor demand for propylene," the company source said.
Except for Tianjin Bohai, other PDH plants were said to have resumed operations, though Shaoxing Sanyuan may shut again due to limited propane feedstock, market sources said.
The company originally planned to shut its 600,000 mt/year PDH plant for 30 days maintenance starting from December 28, 2019.
Located in Tianjin, China, the PDH plant has a propylene capacity of 600,000 mt/year.
As MRC informed earlier, the company last shut this plant for an unscheduled turnaround from 1 to 11 November, 2019.
Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
Tianjin Bohai is a state owned enterprise, with over 100 subsidiaries and 35,000 employees. It has joint venture relationships with a number of foreign partners, including: LG Chem, Solvay, Akzo Nobel, Clariant, Veolia, Air Liquide and Vopak.
MRC