MOSCOW (MRC) -- A 660,000-metric tons/year phenol-acetone plant operated by Ineos in Gladbeck, Germany, will close for maintenance from 27 October until 6 December, reported Chemweek with reference to the company.
“Some of the maintenance works will take place around the clock,” Ineos says. “Therefore, noises that differ from the usual level - especially during the shutdown phase and as part of the restart at the beginning of December - cannot be avoided completely,” it says in a notice to local residents via its website.
“We are not expecting any impact on the phenol market,” says David Potter, executive director/European aromatics and phenolics at IHS Markit. “No one will increase run rates, as there will not be a shortfall of product due to low demand.”
An impact will more likely be felt on the downstream acetone side, where reduced operating rates across Europe - as a reaction to weaker phenol demand - has limited the supply of acetone, he says. “Although demand on the acetone side has been slowly coming down, this turnaround will ensure that spot availability of acetone remains tight,” Potter says.
Ineos produces 409,000 metric tons/year of acetone at the Gladbeck site, according to IHS Markit data.
As MRC wrote previously, INEOS Phenol broke ground at its world scale cumene investment in Marl, Germany, in October 2019. The new state-of-the-art 750 000 t unit is scheduled to be completed in 2021. Its location will help optimise the efficiency of the plant by integrating raw materials from the refinery and cracker complex. The site also benefits from the Marl harbour waterway connection.
Phenol is the main feedstock component for the production of bisphenol A (BPA), which, in its turn, is used to produce polycarbonate (PC).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall estimated consumption of PC granules in the Russian market reached 58,000 tonnes in January-July 2020, up by 22% year on year (47,500 tonnes).
INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
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