Japan's Maruzen Petrochemical is currently operating its aromatics plant at Ichihara, Chiba, at close to 100% of capacity, following a restart on April 9, a source close to the company said Tuesday.
The plant, which has a design capacity of 200,000 mt/year of benzene, 85,000 mt/year of toluene and 72,000 mt/year of solvent-grade mixed xylenes, was shut March 11 following the massive earthquake in Japan.
Meanwhile, the company's 130,000 mt/year hydrodealkylation unit at the same site is currently operating at about 80% of capacity, up from about 50% when the earthquake struck. Prior to the quake, the unit was operating at about 70% of capacity.
