Japan's Asahi Kasei Mitsubishi Chemical Ethylene Corp, a joint venture between Asahi Kasei Chemicals and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp, has shut a naphtha cracker on July 27. The 567 kta naphtha cracker was unexpectedly shut following problems revolving around heat exchanger equipment. The problem is being investigated but there is no clear timeline for the retart of the cracker. The shutdown has an impact on the naphtha market where sellers were already grappling with a persistent glut that has lasted for months and repeatedly driving down spot prices in the last few weeks. In a heavily supplied market any outages will have a magnified impact.