LG Chem started a 30-day maintenance shutdown at its 800,000 ton per year (tpy) naphtha cracker on Thursday to raise its capacity by 100,000 tons, bringing its total capacity to 1.9 million tpy, company sources said on Friday.

Led by LG Chem's cracker shutdown, heavy maintenance schedules by South Korean crackers through May might weigh on Asian naphtha markets, already set to face pressure from loss of Japanese naphtha demand after the country's worst quake on record on Friday, traders said.

"If the shutdowns of Japanese crackers continue for more than a month, it will be hard for Korean and Taiwanese crackers to consume surplus naphtha, especially due to maintenance shutdowns," a naphtha trader said, adding that traders were now in unofficial talks to divert naphtha cargoes from Japan to other countries.