South Korean petrochemicals producer LG Chemicals has shut today its 200,000 t/yr styrene monomer (SM) unit in Daesan in the wake of production issues at its upstream naphtha cracker.
The cracker was shut on 2 June and LG has been unable to operate it smoothly since. This has disrupted supplies of feedstock ethylene to its SM unit.
LG projects the SM unit will be shut for at least 10 days and is buying prompt ethylene from the spot market. It is also expected to buy some SM from the spot market to meet current demand.
