India’s renowned refiners, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) have announced another delay in the start-up of their Kochi Petrochemical plant to 2021. The project worth INR 55 billion was earlier scheduled to come onstream in October 2019 but got postponed for September 2020.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances it has further been delayed to next year. As the company longs for the presence of several experts from Japan on the day of commissioning, extended restrictions on the international trade and travel activities has again prevented the presence of these authorities.

The company is aiming the start-up of its Acrylic Acid unit by March 2021, but resurgence of Coronavirus in several countries of Europe and Asia is anticipated to cause another delay in the plan. Since Acrylic Acid and Acrylates are a majorly imported commodities in India, prolonged delay in their plant commencement has led to an extended offset in their supply recovery in the domestic market.