Industrial conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) has resumed production at some units of its petrochemical complex in Yunlin County, which were shut down by a power failure earlier yesterday.
FPG said it expected all affected units to come back online later in the day after it completed safety inspections on these sites, according to a statement released yesterday.
The incident occurred when Tropical Storm Talim was approaching Taiwan and causing heavy rain, but the news of the shutdown did not impact the share prices of the group’s four core companies.
The Yunlin petrochemical complex in Mailiao Township (麥寮), comprising the offshore Mailiao and Haifong industrial compounds, houses an oil refinery with annual capacity of 25 million tonnes of crude oil and three naphtha crackers, which produce 2.94 million tonnes of ethylene per year.
The complex also includes other petrochemical plants, heavy machinery plants, a co-generation power plant and the Mailiao Industrial Harbor.
The group said in the statement that “some plants in the Mailiao compound and all factories in the Haifong compound” had been shut down after a power outage that occurred at about 11:55am.
An investigation into the cause of the outagefound it was caused by malfunctions of the double busbar circuit system at the petrochemical complex’s public utility area.
A total of 54 out of the complex’s 66 units were shut down, but the group said most of these units were expected to be restarted after separating the failed circuit and repairing the public utility system, according to the statement.
The group did not disclose the potential damage from the temporary shutdown to these units operated by its core members — Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化纖).
Shares of Formosa Plastics Corp, the group’s flagship company, rose 0.88 percent to NT$80.1 and Nan Ya Plastics, the nation’s largest plastics maker, increased 1.42 percent to NT$57.3 yesterday.
Formosa Petrochemical, the nation’s second-largest refiner, moved up 1.09 percent to NT$83.7, while Formosa Chemicals & Fibre, which produces aromatics and styrenics, advanced 1.26 percent to NT$80.2.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The