Asia Naphtha-Taiwan's Formosa buys November cargoes

Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp has bought two-three cargoes of naphtha feedstock for its 2.93 million tonnes per year (tpy) cracking complex, which is currently running at reduced rates, traders said on Friday.

The cargoes are likely in medium-range vessel size and are scheduled for November arrival at Mailiao. Price details were not known but traders said several offers were given to Asia's top naphtha buyer.

Formosa had previously deferred receiving at least 60,000 tonnes of naphtha in October to November after it had to cut operational rates at its cracking complex in late September to 80 percent of its capacity following a fire at a monoethylene glycol plant operated by its sister company Nan Ya Plastics.

Naphtha is cracked into ethylene, among other hydrocarbon products. Formosa supplies some of its ethylene to Nan Ya Plastics.