India's purified terephthalic acid supplies are seen to be tight in July as multiple shutdowns are scheduled in the month, market sources said Thursday.
Indian Oil Corp. plans to shut its 553,000 mt/year PTA plant in Panipat "soon" for repairs. The plant's operating rate was lowered at the end of April due to a catalyst problem, Platts reported earlier. The repair works will take about 10 days to complete.
Reliance shut its 700,000 mt/year No. 3 PTA plant in Hazira Wednesday for four days of repairs, while MCC PTA plans to shut its 800,000 mt/year No. 2 PTA plant in Haldia from around July 20 for about three weeks of repairs.
The CFR India PTA price was assessed at $961/mt last Friday, up $21/mt week on week. This week, it is hovering around $1,000/mt due to limited local supply. It is the first time since May 27 that the CFR India price has hit the four-digit level.
