16
Petrochemical Production
CPC's petrochemical production is based mainly at the Kaohsiung Refinery and Linyuan Petrochemical
Plant. The latter operates under the Petrochemical Business Division, which was established on
September 1, 2000. Its full range of facilities includes naphtha cracking, butadiene and aromatics
extraction, xylene separation, transalkylation, and isomerization units. Annual petrochemical capacity
includes 850,000 tons of ethylene, 1,021,000 tons of propylene, 138,000 tons of butadiene, 381,000 tons
of benzene, 660,000 tons of para-xylene and 130,000 tons of ortho-xylene.
In response to the opening of the domestic market to competition, the Petrochemical Business Division
is promoting the establishment of a petrochemical product logistics center: the aim is to carry out vertical
integration with mid- and downstream petrochemical operators, while using flexible competition strategies
to develop trade in petroleum products and strengthen market competitiveness. To narrow the gap in the
supply of petrochemical raw materials and enhance the quality of industrial safety and environmental
protection, as well as to expand the scale of production through the renewal of production processes, CPC
has initiated a Third Naphtha Cracker Renovation and Expansion Project at the Linyuan petrochemical
complex. This project will cost an estimated NT$46.9 billion and will give the naphtha cracker and auxiliary
facilities an annual capacity of 720,000 tons of ethylene, 430,000 tons of propylene, 100,000 tons of
butadiene and 220,000 tons of benzene. When the project is completed in 2013, it will generate an annual
production value of NT$60 billion, stimulate investment by other downstream companies and bring new
prosperity to Taiwan’s petrochemical industry.
In line with government policy for the petrochemical industry of “quantity expansion overseas, quality
enhancement at home,” CPC and other domestic petrochemical suppliers have jointly established the
Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co. (KPTC). KPTC is currently screening potential petrochemical
opportunities both in Taiwan and overseas. In addition, as well as endeavoring to carry out the
government’s high-value-added petrochemical policy CPC is adopting a vertical integration strategy to
take it into the area of high-value-added products and improve its profit margins. Ongoing projects in this
area include C5 petroleum resin and INA joint venture projects.
