APIC ’07: FCFC maintains SM output at 600kt/yr

18 May 2007 05:23  [Source: ICIS news]

By Florence Tan

TAIPEI (ICIS news)--Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp (FCFC), the Taiwanese aromatics major, has shut the No 1 and No 2 styrene monomer (SM) units to divert feedstock to its new plant, to maintain output at 600,000 tonnes/year, a senior company official said on Friday.

The new 600,000 tonne/year No 3 plant at Mailiao was operating at the full rate while maintenance work will be carried out at the other two units, FY Hong, an executive vice president at FCFC told ICIS news on the sidelines of the 28th Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference.

He has reassured other producers that FCFC will adjust its output in order not to upset the market.

Downstream polystyrene (PS) and acryonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) producers were squeezed by high raw material prices, and were unable to raise their prices further, Hong said.

But SM producers, too, cannot reduce their prices as they faced high benzene and ethylene costs, he added.

“This is an awkward situation,” he said in Mandarin.

The restart schedule for the two SM units will depend on when its affiliate Formosa Petrochemical’s new cracker comes on stream, Hong said.

Some of the output will feed its 300,000 tonne/year ABS plant in China, he said, adding that FCFC will also bring on stream a 200,000 tonne/year PS unit in third quarter. The unit in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, will produce general purpose and high impact PS.

The company will also bring on stream its No 3 aromatics plant, which can produce 700,000 tonnes/year of paraxylene (PX), 400,000 tonnes/year of benzene and 150,000 tonnes/year of orthoxylene (OX), after the cracker starts up, Hong said, adding that the company will still be short on PX and benzene.

Its total PX capacity will exceed 1.5m tonnes/year, but it will need to buy around 500,000 tonnes/year more feedstock for its new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants in China and Taiwan, Hong said.

The company’s PTA capacity will reach 3m tonnes/year next year, he added.

The tight PX supply situation, which has caused many to turn to the spot market, may last at least until the end of next year, but the Asian Contract Price (ACP) will remain relevant for the time being as it brings stability to the market, Hong said.

By: Florence Tan
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