Japan based Asahi Kasei has shut down its naphtha cracker unit due to technical issue in its equipment. The naphtha cracker unit has the production capacity 5,67,000 mt/year. The problem is being investigated but there is no clear timeline for the retart of the cracker, the spokeswoman added.
The shutdown has an impact on the naphtha market where sellers were already grappling with a persistent glut that has lasted for months and repeatedly driving down spot prices in the last few weeks, traders said. In a heavily supplied market any outages will have a magnified impact, they further added.
