Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said an explosion at its No. 1 ethylene plant on Monday killed one person. The unit wasn’t in operation.
There was a blast at an instrument panel at about 11pm, Taipei-based spokesman Lin Keh-yen (林克彥) said by telephone. A probe into the explosion’s cause is under way, Lin said.
The 700,000 tonne-a-year No. 1 plant has been shut since January because of weak demand for the chemical that’s used to make plastics. Formosa Petrochemical, which has three ethylene plants with a combined annual capacity of 2.94 million tonnes, had planned to restart the No. 1 unit this month and close No. 3 to repair a mechanical fault.
“It’s hard to say when the No. 1 plant may be restarted,” said Erik Chang, a Taipei-based analyst at Capital Securities Corp (群益證券), who has a “sell” rating on the stock. “I’m worried about the time needed for government safety inspection, because of the fatality.”
Formosa Petrochemical last reported a fatal accident in March 2006, when a fire at a refining unit killed one worker, according to a stock exchange filing.
The refiner’s shares declined 0.4 percent to close at NT$56.30 in Taipei trading yesterday, while the benchmark TAIEX index climbed 0.21 percent.
“Production facilities are almost undamaged,” Lin said. Formosa Petrochemical would need several days to determine whether to extend the shutdown of the No. 1 unit, located in Mailiao (麥寮), he said.
The company, controlled by Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), has been running the 1.2 million tonne-a-year No. 3 unit at about 70 percent of capacity and the No. 2 plant at more than 90 percent, Lin said.
“There’s no safety concern over the No. 3 plant,” Lin said. The company will keep the unit running until the No. 1 unit is back on-line, he said.
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