It has been noted that since the slowdown in the US economy, textile industry in major exporting countries like China, Taiwan and Hong Kong are struggling to survive. The demand from EU has also weakened, in turn leading to cuts in the entire production value chain.
Recognizing that the situation is not expected to improve anytime soon, Japan's Maruzen Petrochemical Co Ltd cut the operating rate of its 525,000 tons per year naphtha cracker by about 10 percent from late-September 2008.
Company source confirmed the news to fibre2fashion and added that the key reason for the move was significantly lower demand from downstream industries.
They also mentioned that the cracker had been operating at full capacity until then.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India