FPG reinforces investments in Vietnam

Taipei, May 17, 2004 (CENS)--Seeing potential development in Vietnam, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), Taiwan's leading petrochemical conglomerate, is going to launch more investments in the country to expand the operations there.

Formosa Taffeta Co., an affiliate of FPG, is planning to set up a long-fiber spinning plant in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam, with initial monthly production capacity of five million yards. Besides, the company intends to further integrate the operations of the projected plant into its other plant in Long An Province, also in the south, in the future. And the two plants are estimated to turn out together a total of 13.5 million yards of long-fiber cloths per month, the largest volume of its kind in Vietnam.

Actually Formosa Taffeta took over the plant at Long An from a Taiwanese manufacturer in 1999, and has since actively expanded the operations of the plant. Originally the plant produced mainly cloths for trousers, and Formosa Taffeta, after purchasing it, greatly reshaped the plant.

Over the past years Formosa Taffeta spent a total of near NT$800 (US$23.53 million at US$1 = NT$34) to expand and upgrade the facilities of the plant, including the installation of more than 700 textile machines. Of which, around 600 were newly purchased and more than 100 were transferred from the company's plant in Taiwan.

Currently the monthly output of Long An plant has been boosted to 8.5 million yards, and the processing capacity of its dyeing plant there has also been raised to five million yards from the original one million yards. With the expansion, the plant finally started to generate profit in March of this year.

Moreover, FPG's three affiliates--Nan Ya Plastics. Corp., Formosa Chemical & Fiber Corp., and Formosa Taffeta Co. have cooperated with King Car Food Industrial Co., Taiwan's leading food maker, to jointly establish Formosa Industries Corp. in Dong Nai. The new company, inaugurated in mid April of this year, has so far been the largest investment case in Vietnam with paid-in capital of US$480 million. And the company will focus its investments on setting up plants in Vietnam for the production of polyester, filament, spinning yarns, and electricity as well.