SCACC Closed A Caustic Soda Line    

Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Company Limited (SCACC, SH: 600618) recently announced that it will shut down permanently its F1 caustic soda production line with a capacity of 150 000 t/a. This line that was imported from Asahi Glass Co Ltd of Japan has been in operation for 20 years since its startup in 1990. This shutdown is to meet the requirements of Shanghai municipality government on saving energy and reducing resource consumption. SCACC reported that this line has contributed a production of RMB371.8 million in 2009 and consumed 157 thousand tons of coal. Closing this line will help SCACC to reduce the negative impact of electricity price rise and give the company possibility of acquiring special subsidy from the Shanghai government.
   Except this line, SCACC has a caustic soda capacity of 250 000 t/a. For the fiscal 2009 this company suffered a loss of RMB386.48 million. The operating income for the caustic soda business was RMB207 million, with a gross margin of 18.73% compared with 39.66% in 2008.