FPG to Invest in Jurong of Singapore

Taipei, March 7, 2011 (CENS)--To get out of the snag facing domestic petrochemical investment, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), Taiwan's largest petrochemical conglomerate, has resolved to set up an integrated oil refinery in Jurong of Singapore.

With total investment of NT$250 billion (US$8.5 billion at US$1:NT$32.9), the investment project in Jurong can compete well in scale with the group's sixth naphtha cracking complex located in Mailiao of Yunlin County, central Taiwan.

FPG said it will take dual-track investment strategy to speed up overseas investments. Besides the investment project in Singapore, FPG will also strive for setting up an integrated petrochemical plant in mainland China.

To that goal, FPG chairman Williams Wang and its executives will on March 9 visit the Jurong petrochemical special zone, which is located offshore in western part of Singapore and one of the city state's seven reclaimed islets. With 20 piers and a fair road network, the Jurong petrochemical special zone has a total space of 3,200 hectares. With two roads to bridge main island, the Jurong petrochemical special zone is Asia's largest base for petrochemical production and logistics as well as the world's third-largest oil-trading center and oil-refining base.

Over the past few years, many U.S. and European firms have invested in Jurong. To vie for the investments from Asia's heavyweight petrochemical and oil-refining conglomerates, Singapore government has actively sought FPG's investments.

At present, the minimum scale for an oil-refining plant and a petrochemical plant reaches 15 million tons of oil and 1.2 million tons of ethylene, respectively. Accordingly, the investments by FPG in Jurong will amount to between NT$250 billion (US$8.5 billion) and NT$300 billion (US$10.2 billion).

FPG noted Jurong has solid infrastructure for the investments in petrochemical plants and investors there will be able to easily access such ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) markets as Indonesia and Thailand. In addition, output in Jurong can be exempt from import duty when entering mainland China market