The China market was closed over September 22-24 for the Mid-Autumn Festival and over October 1-7 for National Day holidays. Meanwhile, trial runs at the plant, which began at the end of August, are still ongoing as "minor technical issues are still being ironed out", the source said.
The ABS plant is currently running at a "low rate", said the source, declining to provide details. But the company expects to begin commercial production later this month, the source added.
Tianjin Dagu had previously targeted a startup around September 20-30, with commercial cargoes scheduled for delivery in early October, Platts reported previously. The company is planning a second 200,000 mt/year ABS plant in Tianjin in the second half of 2011, it has said previously. It has a 500,000 mt/year styrene monomer plant at the same location which will provide feedstock to the ABS plants. The SM plant is currently operating at 70-80% of capacity but the company is considering increasing the run rate, said the source, declining to provide specifics.
China Chemical Weekly: http://news.chemnet.com/en/detail-1411716.html
