FPG Gauges Investing in Gulei Peninsula, Fujian Province, China

Taipei, May 31, 2010 (CENS)--Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), Taiwan's largest petrochemical conglomerate, is evaluating the feasibility of investing in Gulei Peninsula, Fujian Province, China.

The Gulei Peninsula has been chosen as a production site for the petrochemical industry, included in China's 12th national five-year economic development plan. Gulei Peninsula measures 270 square kilometers, 10 times that of FPG's Mailiao naphtha cracking complex in Yunlin County, central Taiwan.

FPG chairman William Wang said Gulei Peninsula could be developed as the Gulei Petrochemical Taiwan Industrial Zone. As China's 12th national five-year economic development plan kicks off in 2011, the Fujian provincial government will soon submit the Gulei development plan to the central government for final approval.

Wang noted the FPG will develop a vertically-integrated petrochemical industrial zone on the Gulei Peninsula, to include oil refining, naphtha cracking, and production sites for upstream and downstream petrochemical products. But Wang also admitted to the difficulty of developing the massive petrochemical industrial zone judging from the status of China's petrochemical industry, where the Chinese government has yet to liberalize oil refinery and naphtha-cracking plants.

W.C. Wang, chairman of FPG's oil-refinery subsidiary Formosa Petrochemical Corp., noted infrastructural construction in Fujian Province proceeds very quickly. With rich experience in developing the sixth naphtha cracking complex in Yunlin County, FPG will complete the blueprint for developing the Gulei petrochemical industry zone to submit to the Fujian Provincial Government for reference.