Electrical outage hits Formosa complex in Texas

09 May 2008 19:15  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--A power outage halted output at Formosa’s polyolefins and vinyls complex in Point Comfort, Texas, but there was no damage to production units, a company spokesman said on Friday.

The power outage occurred on Wednesday evening when a main transformer for the entire site went down, Formosa spokesman Steve Rice said.

The site produces polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), ethylene glycol, chlor-alkalis, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and intermediates.

The company was investigating why the transformer failed, while workers replaced the equipment with spare parts already on site, Rice said.

 “Right now they’re focusing on replacing equipment and getting units back up and running,” Rice said. He could not provide a specific timetable for the restart of the units, but said they should be back in service “very shortly.”

Rice said Formosa had enough inventory and rolling stock to continue supplying contract customers without disruption.

 ($1 = €0.65)

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By: David Barry
+1 713 525 2653

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