OREANDA-NEWS. Chinese petrochemical producer Wison Clean Energy plans to shut its Nanjing methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plant on 20 September for maintenance.

The shutdown will last for about 10 days to resolve some plant issues, which have restricted Wison's MTO operating rates to 80pc during the past month.

The plant produces 120,000 t/yr of ethylene and 175,000 t/yr of propylene. Wison will also shut its propylene downstream unit, a 250,000 t/yr oxo-alcohol plant, during the same period.

Wison has no ethylene derivative plants. It will maintain ethylene supplies to customers during the maintenance period but at reduced quantities. Some customers have already stocked up via imports.

The Nanjing MTO shutdown plans have had limited impact on the current olefins market because of weak downstream demand. Asian ethylene prices are being at discussed at $810-810/t cfr northeast Asia, largely stable from the previous week.