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Formosa Petro's new ethylene plant at 60% of capacity

Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), Taiwan's only publicly traded oil refiner, said its new ethylene plant is running at about 60 percent of capacity, increasing Asia's supply of the raw material for plastics.

Ethylene production at the plant, one of Asia's largest, started as planned on Friday, said Lin Keh-yen (李克彥), a director at the company. Formosa plans to increase the plant's operating rate to supply ethylene to its units that process the chemical further, Lin said by telephone.

The plant, designed to make 1.2 million tonnes of ethylene a year, will boost Taiwan's annual capacity by 42 percent to 4.04 million tonnes and cut the company's imports of the petrochemical from South Korea. That may hurt exporters including Yeochun NCC Co and LG Chem Ltd, according to Chemical Market Associates Inc, an industry consultant.

"The bearish impact is already evident in the ethylene and propylene markets," said Steve Zinger, Singapore-based Asia managing director of Chemical Market Associates. "Trading activity in both markets has been very subdued since Friday, with buyers expecting a further decline in prices."

Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), which controls Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) and Formosa Petrochemical, has been one of Asia's largest ethylene buyers, Zinger said.

Formosa will also start exporting propylene after adding 850,000 tonnes of new capacity. The company may start selling propylene, used to make compact discs and bullet-proof windows, as early as next month, Zinger said.
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