Petrochemical production
Now that the Kaohsiung Refinery is in the process of being closed
down, CPC's main petrochemical production sites are currently its
Taoyuan and Dalin refineries and the Linyuan Petrochemical Plant.
The heavy fuel oil conversion plants at the Taoyuan and Dalin refineries
produce propylene while the Linyuan plant's processes and production
include a light fuel oil cracker, butadiene, aromatic hydrocarbon
extraction, xylene separation, transalkylation and isomerization. CPC's
current annual output of ethylene is 1.57 million tons and production
of other petrochemical raw materials includes 1.54 million tons of
propylene, 238,000 tons of butadiene, 741,000 tons of benzene,
660,000 tons of p-xylene and 170,000 tons of o-xylene.
CPC is the driving force in Taiwan's petrochemical industry. Its investment
in upstream operations over many years has stimulated the industry's
development and helped bring about Taiwan's economic miracle.
Starting in 2005, the company embarked on a campaign to to fill
gaps in the supply of petrochemical raw materials by both upgrading
its equipment and expanding capacity. The 'Third Naphtha Cracker
Renovation and Expansion Project' at the Linyuan plant, budgeted at
over NT$40 billion, was initiated in 2009. The project was completed
in 2013 after an arduous four-year construction period and the plant
now annually produces 720,000 tons of high-grade ethylene, 430,000
tons of propylene and 100,000 tons of butadiene. It is expected that
in time it will generate annual revenues of NT$60 billion, encouraging
other downstream companies to invest and so bring a new level of
prosperity to the industry. Looking ahead, CPC plans to employ new
processes, low-energy consumption technologies and economies
of scale to provide the downstream petrochemical industry with
sufficiency in such basic raw materials as ethylene and propylene.
Petrochemicals are essential raw materials in manufacturing and
closely linked to almost every aspect of daily life. In the context of a
deregulated and increasingly competitive market and in line with its
campaign to add value to Taiwan's petrochemicals sector, CPC actively
supports government policy for enhancing the quality and expanding
exports of petrochemicals through such proactive moves as creating
an integrated up-, mid- and downstream petrochemical industry
supply chain, boosting product innovation and developing high-value
niche products.
