(ICIS) -- Taiwan's Formosa group has shut a 540.000 bbl/day refinery and 520.000 tonne/year Group II base oil plant in Mailiao following a fire at a propylene pipeline over the weekend, although its No 2 and No 3 crackers continue to operate at high rates, company sources said on Monday.
The shutdown of the base oil unit has forced the company to cancel all its term and spot base oil shipments scheduled to load after the first week of August.
The company originally planned to export around 45 KT of the product in August. However, the group is running its No 2 and No 3 naphtha crackers ⌠normally, a company source added.
⌠There is no impact on the crackers, said a company source, referring to the 1.03m tonne/year No 2 and 1.2m tonne/year No 3 crackers at the complex. The crackers are operating at a rate of 90-100%, he added.
The refinery and naphtha crackers belong to the group's Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC).
A fire broke out at a hydrogen pipeline at the group's Mailiao petrochemical complex on 27 July and as a result, FPCC was unable to restart its No 1 cracker.
MRC