Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) said on Sunday that an affiliate had suspended butanediol production for scheduled maintenance to improve the efficiency of operations.

Sipchem said in a bourse filing that the shutdown of the International Diol Co plant, which has an annual capacity of 75,000 tonnes, had started on August 29 and would last four weeks.

It projected the losses which Sipchem would suffer due to the shutdown at SR8 million ($2.1 million), which would be reflected in third-quarter results.

Sipchem made a profit of SR244.6 million in the three months to June 30, up from SR174.0 million in the prior-year period. - Reuters