South Korean petrochemicals producer Hanwha Total is looking to put its wave of production disruptions behind it as it prepares to restart its styrene monomer (SM) capacity this weekend, a week after it restarted its 1.09mn t/yr naphtha cracker at Daesan.
Hanwha Total is expecting the larger 700,000 t/yr unit to start first this coming weekend. It will then restart the smaller 400,000 t/yr unit around 1 July. It expects to achieve smooth operations at both units by 4 July.
SM prices fell today as news emerged of the return of supplies. SM for July arrival cfr China first traded at $1,085/t cfr for first-half July delivery but then traded next at $1,078/t cfr for any July arrival. The discussion range fell even further to $1,065-1,070/t cfr China.
Hanwha Total first took both its SM production lines off line on 27 March for scheduled maintenance. Both lines were supposed to restart on 6 May but the producer declared force majeure on SM supplies to its customer on 9 May because of a lack of manpower and feedstock as it was hit by a workers' union strike.
Hanwha Total tried to operate the smaller SM unit with limited manpower but was later forced to shut the unit completely after being hit by two explosions on 17 May and 18 May. The South Korean government has inspected both units and given its approval to restart.
