Shortage of Raw Materials Disrupts Production at Some Ube Facilities

摘要

Ube Industries says that operations at its petrochemical facility at Ichihara in Chiba prefecture were suspended following the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast of Japan on March 11. Operations at the facility were restarted on March 19. The production lines for polyethylene are operating normally, but production of synthetic rubber is running at about half the normal operating rate due to shortage of raw materials, Ube says. Ube says that it has also suspended shipment and production of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) oxime from its facility at Ube in Yamaguchi prefecture since March 17, due to the shortage of MEK resulting from the earthquake and tsunami. MEK is the main raw material for MEK oxime. The main plants operated by the company are located at Ube, which is located 970 km away from Fukushima.