Taiwan's privately owned refiner Formosa Petrochemical Corporation said Wednesday that it is incurring at estimated cost of about T$83 million ($2.87 million) each day the company's 540,000 b/d Mailiao refinery remains shut.
Taiwan's government Sunday ordered Formosa to shut all units at its refinery and petrochemical complex in stages over one year for safety checks after a fire hit a propylene recovery unit Saturday -- its second fire in a week and the seventh blaze in a year.
The refiner has told its suppliers it will take two weeks to repair the affected secondary unit, after which more time will be needed for the government to visit the site to inspect the facility and issue a restart permit.
In a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Formosa said initial estimates put the property damage from Saturday's fire at approximately T$187 million ($6.47 million). The company did not mention the property damage from the fire a few days earlier.
The refiner has also this week declared force majeure on its crude liftings in August and on its products exports for August.
In the meantime, the company's chairman, Wilfred Wang, and President Su Chi-yi have stepped down following the fire on Saturday.
In the aftermath of the fire and government-ordered shutdown, panic-stricken investors have been dumping shares of the companies under the Formosa group since Monday.
According to local media, the total market value of its four flagship enterprises -- Formosa Plastics, Nan Ya Plastics, Formosa Petrochemical and Formosa Chemicals and Fibre -- shed T$400 billion ($13.8 billion) over Monday and Tuesday.
