Explosion rocks Formosa Plastics chemical facility

Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the flagship of Taiwan's largest industrial group, halted operations at its petrochemical plant in Kaohsiung, where an explosion and fire injured two workers.

The plant, which produces plastic feedstock polyethylene, also known as high-density polyethylene (HDPE), exploded at 7:20am before catching fire, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

The plant has an annual capacity of 180,000 tonnes, according to a company official.

The fire was extinguished at 10am yesterday and operations at the company's other plants in Linyuan aren't affected, Formosa Plastics said.

The plant will now undergo repair and safety inspections.

Formosa Plastics expects the plant to resume production in as early as a week, company spokesman Huang Tsung-chin said.

But local media reported that the plant may not be able to come online in a month, adding that Formosa Plastics would incur NT$5.5 million in losses each day if it ceased production.

Formosa, which has more than 20,000 tonnes of polyethylene in stock, said it doesn't expect the plant fire to affect supplies.

Polyethylene is the most popular plastic in the world. It is the polymer that makes grocery bags, shampoo bottles, children's toys and even bullet-proof vests.

Besides plants in Linyuan, Formosa Plastics also has another HDPE plant set up in the sixth napthacracker industrial park with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes, the company said.

Formosa shares fell NT$0.70, or 2 percent, to NT$33.6.

The stock has fallen 20 percent this year, compared with a 16 percent gain in the key TAIEX.