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IN RECENT MONTHS, Taiwan has been burdened with declining business numbers, a massive oil spill, and a warning that retaliatory trade action may be taken against its export businesses by the US. Still, chemical companies continue to expand and undertake new operations in Taiwan, while industry analysts maintain their recommendations to invest in Taiwanese business.
The latest investor is Chang Chun Group, Taiwan's largest producer of petrochemical-derived specialties, which has finalized plans to build 11 chemical plants in Mailiao, which will stand adjacent to Formosa Plastics Group's (FPG) massive, nearly completed refining/petrochemicals complex. The total investment for the 11 new plants is $530 million and will include facilities to manufacture acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, polyvinyl alcohol and vinyl acetate monomer.
The new plants will be built on 33 hectares that were reclaimed by FPG and sold by that company to Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs. Chang Chun Group acquired the site through an open bid in mid-2000.
Construction is slated for this spring and is expected to be completed by year's end. The plants will be phased into commercial production within the first quarter of 2002. Feedstocks will be piped in from the neighboring FPG complex.
A Chang Chun Group spokesman...