Taiwan's Formosa in unplanned RFCC shutdown

17 July 2007 14:06  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Taiwan producer Formosa Petrochemical (FPCC) shut down a residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) on Monday at its 540,000 barrel/day (bbl/day) Mailiao refinery following technical problems, a source close to the company said on Tuesday.

The 83,950 bbl/day RFCC No 1 was shut down for unspecified mechanical repairs and is expected to remain offline for seven-to-10 days.

RFCC No 1, together with the 83,950 bbl/day RFCC No 2 unit, provides feedstock for two propylene recovery units at Mailiao which produce polymer-grade propylene.

The source said that run rates through the 500,000 tonne/year propylene recovery unit (PR) No 2, have been reduced to 60% following the shutdown. The PR No 1 unit, which has a capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year, is presently offline and only run when production severity levels are increased.

The source added that the FPCC has sufficient gasoline supplies in storage to cover the shortfall resulting from the RFCC shutdown.

The Mailiao refinery is the sixth largest in Asia and is the only privately owned refinery in Taiwan. Oil products from the refinery are sold both in the domestic and regional markets.

By: James Dennis
+65 6780 4359

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