Philippines' JG Summit defers petchem start-ups to 4Q

Philippine cracker operator JG Summit has postponed the start-up of several of its expanded downstream petrochemical units to this year's fourth quarter, as the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent nation-wide lockdown affected work that was initially expected to see them come on stream in June.

The new capacity additions include a 250,000 t/yr high-density polyethylene unit, an expanded 300,000 t/yr polypropylene plant and a new 70,000 t/yr butadiene extraction unit.

The start-up of a new aromatics plant will also be delayed to the final quarter for the same reason. The design capacity of the aromatics unit is 126,000 t/yr of benzene, 76,000 t/yr of toluene and 46,000 t/yr of solvent-grade mixed xylenes.

JG Summit had completed a 50pc ethylene production expansion to 480,000 t/yr in February together with a 25pc increase in propylene capacity to 240,000 t/yr.

By Bohan Loh

source: Argus Media