OREANDA-NEWS. September 21, 2011. A total of 20,000 metric tons of ethylene imported by CPC Corp. from mainland China arrived in Taiwan, marking record-high monthly imports of its kind recorded by the state-run oil company.

The CPC's ethylene imports were supplied by China Petroleum & Chemical Co. (CPCC), mainland China's state-run petrochemical firm.

Just one month earlier, the CPC imported close to 20,000 metric tons of ethylene from the CPCC to cover the domestic supply shortage of the petrochemical material. The shortage was partly caused by the CPC suspending its 5th naphtha cracking plant in Kaohsiung for annual maintenance, and partly by the Formosa Plastics Group suspending operation of its naphtha cracking plants in the Mailiao industrial zone in southern county of Yulin in the wake of a spate of fire accidents.

But the August imports still failed to satisfy domestic demand for ethylene, prompting the CPC to import 20,000 metric tons of the material in September.

The CPC's 5th naphtha cracking plant has a monthly production capacity of 40,000 metric tons of ethylene, and therefore suspension of the plant and the suspension of some plants in FPG's naphtha cracking complex in Mailiao industrial zone had led to a sharp reduction in domestic supply of ethylene, a material needed for the production of a variety of mid-stream petrochemical products.

This isn't the first time for the CPC to import ethylene from the CPCC, because the CPC's plant suspends production to undergo annual maintenance.

The CPC used to import 80,000 to 100,000 metric tons of ethylene from mainland China, but the imports will exceed 100,000 metric tons this year for the decreased domestic supply and increased local demand.

This week, the Asian market price for ethylene has declined by 7 percent from last week, due mainly to several international oil-refining plants ready to resume their operations.