SINGAPORE, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell PLC is expected to shut its 800,000 tonnes per year (tpy)ethylene cracker in Bukom, Singapore, for maintenance andexpansion works in the fourth quarter of 2014, trade sourcessaid on Friday.
"We do not comment on operational matters," said a Shellspokeswoman when contacted by Reuters.
The three-and-a-half-year old cracker, which uses naphtha,liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and heavy liquid hydrocarbons asraw material, will be shut for at least two to three months,trade sources added.
Shell had in November 2012 announced plans to debottleneckthe Singapore cracker and raise the capacity by more than 20percent but did not elaborate on the exact shutdown time.
The steam cracker currently provides ethylene via pipelinesto its 750,000 tpy monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant in JurongIsland, where it is also adding more new petrochemical units tomake use of the ethylene raw material.
Ethylene is a feedstock for mainly plastics, while MEG isused to produce consumer and industrial goods includingpolyester fibres used for clothing and PET bottles.
