China's Fujian Fuhua plans to bring its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant offline for maintenance, market sources told SSESSMENTS.COM. The 4.5 million ton/year unit will be shut in early March for ten days due to rising inventory. The coronavirus epidemic has weighed on demand for the fiber intermediate in China. Previously, Fujian Fuhua cut operating rates at its PTA unit from 90% to 60% on February 9.
Meanwhile, Fuhaichuang Petrochemical, Fujian Fuhua's sister company, plans to restart one of its two 800,000 tons/year paraxylene (PX) units by the end of this month, market sources informed SSESSMENTS.COM. Fuhaichuang Petrochemical shut both lines in early January after cutting rates to around 50% in mid-December due to low margins.
