Far Eastern Ties Up With Yizheng of China to Set Up PTA plant

Taipei, Dec. 22, 2010 (CENS)--Far Eastern New Century Corp., Taiwan's leading manufacturer of polyester, has tied up with the Jiangsu province, China-based Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fiber Co. to set up a joint-venture PTA (purified terephthalic acid) plant in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, with the latter being the second-largest chemical-fiber producer in China and the new plant likely to begin mass production in two years.

Far Eastern New Century will hold 60% in the 3.8 billion reminbi (NT$17.5 billion) venture with the remainder going to Sinopec Yizheng. The plant will have a yearly capacity of one million tons of PTA initially, with investments in the plant to reach over NT$30 billion in the foreseeable future.

Established 60 years ago, Far Eastern New Century has recently announced it will invest NT$100 billion within the next five years to double annual sales, including the consolidation of chemical-fiber plants in China.

Far Eastern New Century's annual capacity of PTA totals 1.6 million tons in both Taiwan and China, with the Taiwan operation in Guangyin, Taoyuan County, northern Taiwan accounting for one million tons and China's in Shanghai Municipality the remaining 600,000 tons.

Far Eastern New Century said the cooperation with Sinopec Yizheng is based on the fast development of chemical-fiber industry in China, where the domestic demand for polyester, whose production relies on PTA, has grown over the past few years.