Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics to Shutdown Polyethylene Plants for Maintenance

Formosa Plastics of Taiwan is expected to shut its two plants for 10-15 days maintenance from around 27 June. The two plants which are expected to shut for maintenance are Mailiao 350 KTPA high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and 264 KTPA linear low-density polyethylene/HDPE swing plants.

The shutdown of its polyethylene plants will be coinciding with the shutdown of its upstream naphtha cracker which is in the same complex. The Naphtha cracker, which can produce up to 350 KTPA of propylene and 700 KTPA of ethylene. The operations at other two crackers, holding 2.2 million ton/year ethylene capacity and 240 KTPA low-density polyethylene (LDPE)/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) swing plant capacities, will be normal.

The shutdown of the two plants will affect the supply of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in the region. Polyethylene is a member of the important family of polyolefin resins. The rise in lightweight and efficient packaging in industries such as healthcare, electronics, and food and beverages has driven the growth of PE in the region. The Southeast Asian PE demand also improved as COVID-19 vaccination efforts gained momentum but still a drag in the economic activities is seen due to lack of regional travel.

Earlier last month on 18-19 May, the company’s Kaohsiung, 234 KTPA polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant was shut due to power outages. This outage at the Kaohsiung power plant was due to malfunction of a communication system at a transformer station.