On Monday, a spokesman of Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp. said that the company would cut its refinery run rate after finishing the maintenance at some units later in April due to weak margins.
Around April 20, Formosa is targeted to restart one of its three crude distillation units (CDUs), its residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) and one of its two residue desulphurizers (RDS) after shutting them for a month.
After the restart, the run rate would be cut to 480,000 bpd of crude, around 10% of the facility’s nameplate capacity of 540,000 bpd. It also would adjust the output of its 84,000 bpd RFCC to increase the propylene production as the prices are still supportive, while also cutting gasoline output.
According to the spokesman, Formosa has cut jet fuel output earlier. The company will not rule out further run cuts as the global oil supply is remaining excessive.
