Taiwan’s Formosa shuts SM units for maintenance

OREANDA-NEWS. September 14, 2015.  Taiwanese refiner Formosa Petrochemical shut its two styrene monomer (SM) lines in Mailiao on 7 September for a maintenance shutdown that is expected to last about 35-40 days.

The 250,000 t/yr No.1 and 350,000 t/yr No.2 units are scheduled to restart production in mid-October.

Formosa diverts most of its SM output to its downstream 320,000 t/yr polystyrene (PS) and 410,000 t/yr acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plants in Taiwan. The producer also operates 200,000 t/yr PS and 450,000 t/yr ABS units in Ningbo, China.