GLOBAL FACTORS: Formosa Plastics predicted a drop in demand for daily necessities, while a decline in the price of Brent crude has weighed on Formosa Petrochemical Co

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 08, 2019
By: Kwan Shin-han  /  Staff reporter

Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPG, 台塑集團) subsidiaries released conservative outlooks for next quarter as the US-China trade dispute continues to weaken demand for plastic products and some factories are due to undergo annual maintenance.

Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the group’s oil refining subsidiary, on Thursday said its sales for last month declined 12.09 percent year-on-year, but increased 10.87 percent from April to NT$58.24 billion (US$1.85 billion) after its annual maintenance concluded.

“The recent decline in the price of Brent crude oil weighed on our refining business’ margin,” Formosa Petrochemical president Tsao Minh (曹明) said in Taipei.

The price of Brent crude dropped to US$60 a barrel as of Thursday, Tsao said. The company plans to cut its daily output of refined petroleum by 7.4 percent next quarter, due to the low oil prices, Formosa Petrochemical said, adding that the capacity utilization rate of its petrochemical units would drop due to annual maintenance.    [FULL  STORY]