MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Chemicals & Fiber Corp (part of Formosa Petrochemical) shut its nylon production plant in Changhua, Taiwan, on October 8, a source close to the company said Thursday, adding that the closure could be permanent, reported Apic-online.
Formosa was forced to shut the Changhua plant after failing to obtain an operating license from the government due to issues over air pollution. The plant was initially targeted to shut in early October but FCFC asked the local government for an extension of the deadline to October 8 as its appeal was pending.
Changhua can produce 5,000 mt/day of rayon staple fiber and an equivalent amount of nylon fiber.
The shutdown of one of its nylon plants would reduce the company's demand for caprolactam, a raw material used to produce nylon, amid weak demand.
As MRC wrote before, Taipei- Formosa Plastics, also a subsidiary of Formosa Petrochemical, is considering construction of a plant in Louisiana to produce 1.2-million t/y of ethylene from shale gas.
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).
MRC