BEIJING, Nov 8, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- China Bluechem (3983.HK) may miss the peak season for chemical fertilizer export due to recent supply cut for natural gas, said Qiu Xiaofeng, an analyst with Merchants Securities.

China Bluechem announced recently that the Fudao Phase II urea plant and CNOOC Jiantao methanol plant in Hainan Province of the PRC have to be shut down from Nov. 6 onwards due to suspension in the supply of natural gas which was in turn caused by the damage done to the under-water natural gas transmission pipes operated by CNOOC Limited (0883.HK) during certain engineering work conducted by third party contractors nearby the pipes.

Latest prediction by a Brazil consulting institution showed that global chemical fertilizers demand will continue increasing especially in Asia and East Europe, thereby, the prices may rise 5 percent to 8 percent next year.

If the exported urea is sold for 340 US dollars per ton and the exported methanol is for 575 US dollars per ton, China Bluechem may lose 100 million yuan of operating revenue each month, forecast by CITI Group.

CNOOC official acknowledged that the loss from production shutdown is still under estimation but it will not affect its yearly target for natural gas output.