Maoming Petrochemical Shihua has taken its methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) unit offline in Guangdong, China, following the start of a maintenance turnaround late last week.
A market source in China told, “The company shut the plant for maintenance around August 27, 2025. The duration of the shutdown could not be determined, and confirmation from an official source was unavailable.”
The facility, located in Maoming, has a production capacity of 170,000 mt/year. While the impact on supply remains uncertain, the absence of clarity around the restart timeline has left market participants closely watching for updates. Traders noted that with ample inventories in the region, short-term disruptions may be limited, but a prolonged outage could begin to influence regional MTBE balances if demand strengthens in the coming months.
