By Malini Hariharan
More news of plant shutdowns emerged today with Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) forced to stop production at its 500,000 tonnes/year No 5 cracker in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, after typhoon Fanapi resulted in extensive flooding.
Operations were suspended to avoid potential damage from disruption to power supply caused by the flooding, industry sources told ICIS news. The cracker was likely to restart in 2-3 days.
Many other companies at Kaohsiung were also forced to take similar measures.
Pic source: Reuters
Bloomberg reported that nearly 30 petrochemical plants at Kaohsiung were shut as a result of the typhoon, including those belonging to Formosa Plastics Corp and Nan Ya Plastics.
“Floodwaters in Kaohsiung’s petrochemical parks were higher than 100 centimeters (39 inches) yesterday and Taiwan Power Co. cut the electricity supply for safety reasons,” said Kuo Chao-chung, head of the petrochemical section at the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau.
And Reuters reported that shipments from Formosa Petrochemical Corp were disrupted by the closure of a seaport near its Mailiao complex.
The latest round of shutdowns follows those that were covered by the blog last week and comes at a time when polyolefin markets are interestingly poised. Prices were stable to firm at the end of last week with demand remaining weak