Mitsubishi Chem ups fire-hit ethylene plant run rate

TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Chemical Corp, Japan's biggest petrochemical maker, said the fire-hit No. 2 unit of its Kashima ethylene plant would boost its run rate further after restarting another furnace earlier on Thursday.

The restart of the sixth furnace at the unit would raise its capacity to about 390,000 tonnes of ethylene per year, or about 76 percent of full capacity of 516,000 tonnes per year, from 320,000 tonnes.

The restart of the sixth furnace is expected to ease supply concerns of ethylene and other petrochemical products. Mitsubishi Chemical had trouble meeting its product shipments after the Dec. 21 fire forced the complete shutdown of the No.2 unit.

The subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp (4188.T: Quote, Profile, Research) restarted the first five furnaces of the No. 2 unit in mid-March, nearly three months after the facility was hit by a fire that claimed four lives.

Of the unit's eight furnaces, the No. 8 furnace where the fire broke out was the most severely damaged.

The company said on Thursday the seventh furnace is expected to be able to resume operations by the end of 2008, but it was unable to set a restart schedule for the No. 8 furnace.

Ethylene is further refined into a host of petrochemicals that can be used in anything from plastics to synthetic fibres. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori)