Taiwanese private-sector refiner Formosa Petrochemicals has delayed base oil exports from its newly constructed API Group 2 plant in Mailiao on Taiwan's west coast.
Contrary to expectations of spot availability for sale this month, a company source confirms “commercial production at the 500,000 t/yr plant will start around August or September.”
Marketing details are yet to be worked out and it is unclear if sales will be conducted via tender or by private negotiation, although the latter is a possibility. The source indicates 80pc of total production is planned for export, most likely to China, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Taiwan imports API Group 1 base oils from Thailand and Singapore. It also buys API Group 2 base oils from the US and South Korea, the source said. API Group is a measure of base oils' viscosity.
Earlier talk that Formosa had signed term contracts with oil majors as early as 2006 and 2007 could not be confirmed by the company.
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