Taiwan's FCFC unlikely to start up PTA project before July

07 May 2002 05:41  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (CNI)--Taiwan's Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC) is unlikely to bring onstream its 500 000 tonne/year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) project in Loong-der, Taiwan, before July, CNI was told.

A FCFC source said the startup date was 'beyond our control' as the company was still resolving problems encountered during commissioning because of wrong specifications of certain machinery parts.

The company told CNI earlier that it had delayed the startup date by one month to the end of May or early June.

Tight PTA supply has pushed up spot prices to a four-year high with deals settled at $605-610/tonne cfr Asia for early May business. This was a $50-65/tonne price increase from second-half April prices of $540-560/tonne cfr Asia.

KP Chemical has closed its 250 000 tonne/year PTA line in Ulsan, South Korea, on 22 April following an accident. The company said at the time of the accident the line was not expected to come back onstream for up to three months.

By: Clara Tan
+65 6780 4359

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