MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil Chemical has completed the restart of its Fife ethylene plant at Mossmorran, Scotland, reported S&P Global with reference to a spokesman's statement Friday.
With its 830,000 mt/year of ethylene production capacity, the plant is one of Europe's largest petrochemical cracker sites.
It has returned to the market after a shutdown of almost six months due to planned and unplanned works since August.
"In re-starting equipment after an extended period, we took the time required to diligently test and re-test processes and safety procedures," the company said in its community announcement.
"While I am sure we would all have liked to have returned to production more quickly, we will never compromise the safety of our staff or the public," ExxonMobil said.
The restart adds to the a lengthy ethylene complex, especially along the Northwest European coast where the market has struggled on the coronavirus fallout impact on downstream demand with Asian exports opportunities also remaining closed, market sources said.
As MRC informed before, in September 2019, ExxonMobil announced plans to spend GBP140 million over the next two years in an additional investment program at its Fife ethylene plant, which has a capacity of more than 800,000 t/y.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. 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).
ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC