Saudi Sipchem Says Unit To Shut Methanol Plant For Maintenance

Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) said on Monday one of its affiliates will shut a methanol plant for around three weeks for maintenance and some repairs.

The shutdown, which will start on Wednesday, will boost efficiency and production, Sipchem said in a bourse filing.

As a result of the outage, Sipchem will incur losses of SAR35 million ($9.3 million) which will be reflected in the fourth-quarter financial results.

The company has taken precautions to alleviate the impact of the shutdown on its customers, it said.

The unit in question, International Methanol Company (IMC), is 65-per cent owned by Sipchem while a group of Japanese companies hold the rest.

It has an annual production of 967,000 tonnes of methanol, according to Sipchem’s website.