Formosa brings forward No 2 cracker turnaround to Aug

17 June 2010 04:13  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp has brought forward a turnaround at its 1.03m tonne/year naphtha cracker in Mailiao to August from September, a company source said on Thursday.

“The cracker is expected to be shut around August 20-22,” he said, adding that the planned maintenance would last around 45 days.

The No 2 cracker was due to be taken off line in September.

Traders said the cracker turnaround could have been brought forward due to falling ethylene prices.

Ethylene spot prices slumped to a near eight-month low of $900-960/tonne (€729-778/tonne) cost and freight (CFR) northeast (NE) Asia last week partly due to ample supply, according to ICIS pricing.

The company source did not provide further details.

Formosa’s other two crackers at the same site are not due for maintenance this year. The No 1 cracker can produce 700,000 tonnes/year of ethylene and the No 3 cracker has a nameplate ethylene capacity of 1.2m tonnes/year.

($1 = €0.81)

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By: Peh Soo Hwee
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