Taiwan’s Formosa cuts MTBE output on RFCC snag

20 August 2010 07:30  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) has slashed production at its 190,000 tonne/year methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) plant due to a snag at a gasoline-making unit in its 540,000 bbl/day Mailiao refinery, a company source said on Friday.

The 84,000 bbl/day No 2 residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) was shut down on Wednesday and was expected to remain off line for around two weeks.

“The RFCC has stopped production, so the output at the MTBE unit has been reduced to 50%,” the source said.

MTBE is used as an additive to improve gasoline's octane levels.

Prior to the production cut, Formosa’s MTBE unit was operating at close to full capacity following the unit's restart in early August. A fire at a desulphuriser in late July forced Formosa to shut the refinery entirely.

Meanwhile, benchmark MTBE prices in Singapore were assessed at $750-755/tonne (€585-589/tonne) FOB (free on board) Singapore on 19 August, ICIS data showed.

($1 = €0.78)

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By: Felicia Loo

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