Taiwan to Expand Naphtha Cracking Facilities

Taiwan's leading petrochemical conglomerate Formosa will invest more than 3 billion US from next year to expand its naphtha cracking facilities located in central Taiwan, the Economic Daily News reported on Monday.

The new projects will add one oil refinery to the current three to raise daily oil refinery capacity of the complex to 770,000 barrels from the current 540,000 in the Miaoli plant after 2010, the report said.

Production of chemicals such as ethylene oxide and maleic anhydride will also be boosted under the new investment plans, the report added.

After the expansion, the Formosa group's annual sales are expected to be over two trillion dollars in 2010, compared with 1.4 trillion dollars posted in 2005, the report added.

Formosa's executives discussed the new investment plans with Premier Su Tseng-Chang over the weekend, it added. But the group was not immediately available for comment.

In addition to its flagship Formosa Plastics, the group includes Nan Ya Plastics, Formosa Chemical and Fibre, and Formosa Petrochemical.