Taiwan's Formosa may delay restart of No 1 cracker after fire

27 July 2011 03:52  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) may delay the restart of its 700,000 tonne/year No 1 cracker at Mailiao following a small fire in the vicinity, market and company sources said on Wednesday.

“We heard the cracker was supposed to restart today or tomorrow but they [Formosa] may not keep to the original schedule now,” an olefins trader said on Wednesday.

A FPCC company spokesperson said a fire broke out early on Wednesday but did not damage any plants.

The fire broke out at a hydrogen pipeline in the vicinity of the complex, according to another source from Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC).

FPCC was originally slated to restart the No 1 cracker this week at the earliest.

The company had shut the No 1 cracker for inspections following a pipeline fire at the firm’s Mailiao petrochemical complex on 12 May.

The 1.03m tonne/year No 2 and 1.2m tonne/year No 3 crackers at the same site are currently running normally, FPCC company sources said.

FPCC had earlier said that it planned to restart the No 1 cracker before the turnaround at its No 3 cracker, to prevent any feedstock shortage for its derivative facilities.

The No 3 cracker is scheduled to be shut for a 40-45 day turnaround in the middle of August but it is not clear if this will be postponed, sources said.

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By: Peh Soo Hwee
+65 6780 4359

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