ETHYLENE

Ethylene prices in Asia spiked to US$1450/MT in the week of January 21, 2008, as unplanned plant shutdowns continued in the region on one hand and robust demand persisted in the region, on the other hand. Adding to the supply woes have been the ongoing shutdown at Mitsubishi Chemicals' Kashima cracker, the unplanned outage at Chandra Asri's 590,000 tpa cracker (Indonesia) caused by power failure, along with reduced operating rates at PTT Chemical's 505,000 tpa cracker at Map Ta Phut, Thailand due to mechanical problems. Ethylene cargoes from Japan are currently being diverted to Mitsubishi Chemical, predictably until June, hence a supply crunch is expected to continue in the region.