Indonesian styrene monomer (SM) producer, Styrindo Mono Indonesia (SMI), a subsidiary of Chandra Asri Petrochemical, has taken one of its SM units offline, market sources told SSESSMENTS.COM. The 100,000 tons/year unit was shut on April 16 due to weak export and domestic demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
SMI reduced operating rates at the unit to 80% in January production losses. The producer also operates a larger 250,000 tons/year SM unit, but the output from the unit was reduced to 90% in February because of the coronavirus outbreak which dampened demand from China, a key export market. SMI is expected to maintain 90% rates at its larger unit while keeping the smaller one idle.
SM demand in Indonesia has taken further hit after the country declared a state of emergency in April. The state of emergency followed the implementation of two-week “large-scale social restrictions” in the capital Jakarta and several other cities. Regional markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and India, have also imposed movement controls to curb the coronavirus spread.
