Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Company has been using 10-15% of LPG as feedstock in its steam crackers rather than 100% naphtha since the beginning of January amid healthy ethylene production margins and lower LPG costs, as per sources in Platts. FPC operates three naphtha-fed steam crackers at Mailiao with an overall ethylene production capacity of 2.93 mln mt/year.
Spot naphtha prices stood at US$415/mt CFR Japan Monday while propane and butane prices were assessed at US$387/mt and US$425/mt respectively. By Wednesday, naphtha, propane and butane prices stood at US$409/mt, US$355/mt and US$375/mt respectively. The ethylene-naphtha price spread stood at US$666/mt, well above the typical breakeven spread of US$300-350/mt.
LPG typically yields more ethylene than naphtha -- about 0.40 using LPG and 0.23 using naphtha. Crackers in Asia usually switch feedstocks when LPG is at a US$50/mt discount to naphtha, or 95% the value of naphtha, with butane generally preferred as the alternative feedstock to naphtha.
08-Jan-16 
{{comment.DateTimeStampDisplay}}
{{comment.Comments}}