Formosa to Shut FCC Unit at Mailiao Complex for Maintenance After Last Week’s Fire Accident

Formosa Petrochemical, Taiwan’s renowned refining company has announced the shut-down of its Fluid Catalytic Cracker (FCC) unit at Mailiao Complex for maintenance and repair after fire outbreak in the refinery on 15 July. The company declared that the turnaround would begin from mid-August and it can last up to half a year as its upstream residual desulphurizer (RDS) require an extended period for repairs following the recent fire accident. Formosa’s two refineries together constitutes a production capacity of 650 KTPA of Propylene. So far, Formosa has kept the operating rates of the two refineries above 90 per cent, by utilizing the residual stocks in tough times of the Pandemic. As the maintenance turnaround at refineries will hinder the production of derivatives dependent on the captive utilization of Propylene, the company has decided to lower down the operating rates of plants such as Acrylonitrile and n-Butanol to balance out production losses. According to analysts, Asia is anticipated to face upward pressure in supply cargoes of Propylene in the months of August and September due to the turnaround at Formosa Petrochemicals. The petrochemical supply can further tighten as the company has scheduled another turnaround for a period of 40 days in mid-August at its No.3 Naphtha cracker unit with a capacity of 1200 KTPA of Ethylene and 600 KTPA of Propylene.