Mitsubishi ethylene plant to be shut 3-4 mths-Nikkei

TOKYO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Core facilities at Japan's largest ethylene plant, operated by a unit of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings (4188.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), are to be shut for at least three to four months after last week's fire, a business daily said on Monday.

The Nikkei, without giving a source, said the firm was set to revise its current business plan, taking into account the closure, but the report did not make clear which facilities at the Kashima plant, near Tokyo, would be shut down.

A spokesman for Mitsubishi Chemical Corp, the company's main chemicals unit, said the firm was still assessing the damages from Friday's fire, which killed four workers, and had reached no decision on the period of a possible shut down.

The Nikkei quoted Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings president Yoshimitsu Kobayashi as saying that the suspension of the plant would result in a loss of 100 mln yen ($877,400) a day.

The fire forced the company to shut down its No. 2 unit at the plant, which is capable of producing 516,000 tonnes of ethylene per year, or almost 12 percent of Japan's capacity to make ethylene, the building block of the petrochemicals industry.

The plant's No. 1, which can produce 410,000 tonnes per year, is operating normally.

Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings said on Saturday it had started asking rival firms to help supply petrochemical raw materials and products.

It said its has sufficient product inventory through to Tuesday and will make an announcement about its situation beyond that on Tuesday.

Traders have said the company may be forced to delay or resell cargoes of naphtha, a refined oil product that is the primary feedstock at the unit. (Reporting by George Nishiyama; Editing by Valerie Lee)