Formosa to Shut No. 2 Ethylene Plant for Maintenance

Formosa Petrochemical Corp., Taiwan's only publicly traded oil refiner, said it plans to shut its No. 2 ethylene plant on Oct. 5 for scheduled maintenance.

The stoppage at the refiner's second-biggest ethylene plant will last 40 to 45 days, Lin Keh-yen, a company spokesman, said by telephone in Taipei. Repairs at its smaller No. 1 ethylene plant, closed July 7 after a fire, have been "delayed slightly" by rains, Lin said.

Formosa Petrochemical has three naphtha-processing plants with a combined annual capacity of 2.935 million metric tons of ethylene, a raw material for plastics, chemicals and synthetic fibers. The No. 2 plant is able to produce 1.035 million tons of ethylene a year and the No. 1 unit 700,000 tons.

The refiner now expects to complete repairs at the No. 1 plant in early October after failing to finish the job in late September because of bad weather, Lin said. Formosa Petrochemical probably won't buy any naphtha for delivery in October because of the delay, according to Lin.

Formosa Petrochemical "doesn't have a time table" for resuming production at No. 1 because the refiner needs to get government approval for starting it after the accident, he said.