OCI will delay a debottlenecking project at its ammonia and methanol plant near Beaumont, Texas, until January, the company announced today.
The project will boost the facility's methanol production by 25pc to 912,500 t/yr and its ammonia production by 15pc to 305,000 t/yr. Starting in January, the methanol production line will be shut for seven to eight weeks and the ammonia line will be shut for four weeks to complete the work.
"Management has chosen to delay the planned downtime to execute the debottlenecking project and planned turnaround to January 2015 in order to avoid the holiday season and to ensure that all pre-turnaround construction activities are complete," the Nederland, Texas-based company said.
OCI reported third quarter profit fell 20.8pc to $19mn versus the prior year, due to lower utilization rates at its ammonia production line, which ran at 93pc capacity during the period, and due to lower methanol prices, which fell 10.4pc from the prior year to a volume weighted average of $394/t during the quarter.
OCI produced 62,276t of ammonia and 136,307t of methanol during the quarter.
als/dcb
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