MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Plastics USA, part of Formosa Petrochemical, started up its 400,000 tons/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Point Comfort, Texas, US, on 30 November, 2020, according to PlasticsNews.
The plant last was expected to become on-stream by late July or early August. The decision reportedly came after some workers tested positive for the coronavirus, which led to a reduction in workforce.
The new LDPE plant was originally due to become operational by the end of 2019 but it has been delayed multiple times since then.
As MRC reported earlier, Formosa Plastics' new 1.5 million mt/year cracker in Point Comfort, Texas, came online in H1 January, 2020, and was seen ramping up through January.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, October estimated LDPE consumption in Russia grew to 50,030 tonnes from 23,930 tonnes a month earlier. Russian producers increased domestic LDPE shipments after the September shutdowns for maintenance. Russia's estimated LDPE consumption was about 456,490 tonnes in January-October 2020, down by 1% year on year. Lower production was offset by higher imports.
Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company's chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
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