Taiwan's Formosa cuts refinery run rate to 68% on planned maintenance

Formosa Petrochemical

10/04/2025 06:26

By Mohi Narayan

NEW DELHI, April 10 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp 6505.TW is operating its refinery at 68% capacity this month, or about 370,000 barrels per day, down from 70% in March due to planned maintenance on one of its refining units, spokesperson KY Lin said on Thursday.

Asian export powerhouse Formosa operates a 540,000 barrels-per-day refining complex in Mailiao. The company began an 84-day maintenance programme on its residue fluid catalytic cracking unit (RFCC) on March 3, Lin said.

"We plan to keep operating rate lower at around the same level next month as well due to maintenance," he said.

Formosa is currently running two of its three naphtha crackers at a combined rate of 60%, while its No. 2 cracker has remained offline for more than a year due to weak demand, Lin said.

To supplement feedstock needs, the company purchased liquefied petroleum gas cargoes for the second half of May, according to trade sources. Formosa's flexi-feed crackers can substitute up to 30% of naphtha with LPG, depending on price spreads.

"We have bought the cargoes as we plan to switch to LPG feed in May, but we will not increase operating rates as demand is lower," Lin said.

 (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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