Formosa Plastics USA has decided to postpone the startup of its new low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Point Comfort, Texas, market sources informed SSESSMENTS.COM. The startup of the new 400,000 tons/year has faced several unexpected delays. The LDPE unit was initially expected to come online before the end of 2019, but it was postponed to February and then to April. Now, Formosa delayed the startup again to late July or early August.
The reason for the latest delay was related to the company’s response after some employees and contractors tested positive for COVID-19. Formosa seeks to implement health protocols in which it has to reduce the number of staff working at the Point Comfort site. As SSESSMENTS.COM noted, Formosa started up a new 400,000 tons/year HDPE/LLDPE plant and a new 1.5 million tons/year cracker in August 2019 and January 2020, respectively.
