Formosa Petchem sells heavy naphtha after fire at nearby petchem plant

Formosa Chemicals and Fibre

23/04/2019 11:38

SINGAPORE, April 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Formosa
Petrochemical Corp  6505.TW , Asia's top naphtha importer, sold
cargoes of heavy naphtha because of surplus of the fuel after a
fire at a neighbouring petrochemical producer that usually
processes the naphtha.
    Formosa has sold up to four heavy naphtha cargoes for May
loading from its Mailiao refinery, three industry sources said
on Tuesday. The cargoes are equal to what can be held on a
medium range tanker that can carry up to 30,000 tonnes of
naphtha.
    The sources said the cargoes likely were sold to buyers in
China or South Korea. 
    Formosa's spokesman K.Y. Lin confirmed the deals but did not
elaborate on who the buyers were. He added that its June heavy
naphtha exports would be lower versus May although the exact
volumes have yet to be determined.  
    Formosa operates a refinery at Mailiao capable of processing
540,000 barrels per day of crude oil. 
    The heavy naphtha produced there is used by sister company
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC)  1326.TW  to produce
aromatics. 
    But a fire at FCFC on April 7 had affected throughput at the
aromatics site, meaning it could not absorb the heavy naphtha
feedstock from Formosa's refinery.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21R147   


 (Reporting by Seng Li Peng; editing by Christian Schmollinger)
 ((lipeng.seng@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3086; Reuters
Messaging: lipeng.seng.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))