Formosa Plastics: aiming high in China; reinforcing in Taiwan.(Company overview)

Formosa Plastics Group (Taipei) has set its sights firmly on growth in mainland China. Plans there include a possible refining and olefins investment at Ningbo, where the company is ramping up production at a plastics complex that started operating earlier this decade. Formosa is sharpening its focus on China following the recent completion of a major project in Taiwan that includes the company's third naphtha cracker, says C.T. Lee, a group board member and chairman of the group's parent, Formosa Plastics Corp. (FPC; Taipei).

Formosa is a diversified conglomerate and Taiwan's largest private-sector enterprise. The group is the largest petrochemical producer in Taiwan by far, and one of the largest players worldwide. It is fully integrated from refineries through olefins, to downstream operations. Its main refining and petrochemical complex is at Mailiao, Taiwan.

The Formosa group is composed of FPC and several other Taiwan-based chemical companies, including Nan Ya Plastics Corp. (Nan Ya), Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. (FCFC), and Formosa Petrochemical Corp., as well as non-chemical businesses such as Formosa Heavy Industries Corp. The group also owns a number of not-for-profit organizations in Taiwan, including the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (Taipei), and the Chang Gung University (Taoyuan). The group also has many manufacturing subsidiaries and affiliates overseas, including operations in China, the U.S., and Vietnam. FPC recently absorbed Formosa Plastics America (Livingston, NJ) into Formosa Plastics Corp. USA (FPC USA) and holds a 22.43% stake in the enlarged entity. Taiwan's Wang family owns the rest.

The Formosa group has a complicated ownership structure, under which Nan Ya, FCFC, and Formosa Petrochemical have shareholdings in FPC. Other FPC shareholders include the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and the Wang family. These shareholders together own more than 50% of FPC, and the rest is traded on the Taipei stock exchange. Some Formosa Plastics Group …