BAFFLING:Formosa Petrochemical will continue to seek approval to expand its naphtha cracker, including a project with a Japanese firm to make carbon fiber

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 14, 2017
By: Ted Chen / Staff reporter

Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠) yesterday gave a bright outlook for the petrochemical sector on the back of improving economic growth momentum worldwide.

Earnings in the first half of this year are expected to improve from a year ago, Formosa Plastics president Jason Lin (林健男) said on the sidelines of a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei.

In the first quarter, the company saw its pretax earnings rise 62 percent annually to NT$10.7 billion (US$353.99 million), Lin said.

The company, the nation’s largest producer of polyvinyl chloride, posted a net profit of NT$9.89 billion, or earnings per share of NT$1.55, for last quarter, a 73.1 percent increase from NT$5.71 billion in the same period last year, buoyed by soaring oil prices and improving demand, he said.    [FULL  STORY]