Taipei-based China Man-Made Fiber Corp (CMFC, 中國人造纖維) plans to spend NT$3.7 billion (US$112 million) building a bottle-grade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) chips manufacturing plant in Taichung Port, the Taichung Harbor Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau’s director general Lee Tai-hsin (李泰興) said CMFC decided to establish a manufacturing factory in Taichung because it is eying business opportunities that are expected to follow after Taiwan and China sign an economic cooperation framework agreement.
“Taichung is very close to Xiamen [of China’s Fujian Province],” Lee said. “China has a large demand for plastic bottles. Having a manufacturing base in Taichung will enable the company to sell the products through China’s Strait-West Special District (海西特區).”
Lee said CMFC was proposing to build the plant on a 4.8 hectare property in Taichung Port’s petrochemical industry zone on the West Pier, adding that the company was planning to begin mass production in 2014.
The manufacturing plant, once in operation, will be able to produce an estimated 700,000 tonnes of PET chips a year, he said.
In addition to CMFC, other companies in the petrochemical industrial zone include CPC Corp, Taiwan (中油), China American Petrochemical Co (中美和石化), Beaming Co (貝名石化) and Pan Overseas Corp (匯僑).
Lee said the port has reserved a 6 hectare property behind the current site in case CMFC wants to expand its facilities.
Aside from CMFC, Lee said that several companies from both China and Taiwan have approached the bureau and inquired about the possibility of establishing the factories inside the port.
Since last year the bureau has also approved the new investment plan proposed by Dragon Steel Corp (中龍), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Steel Corp (中鋼).
Dragon Steel is also the largest investor in Taichung Port. Both of its first-phase and second-phase facility development plans cost approximately NT$200 billion. Currently, Taichung Port has about 500 hectares that have yet to be developed.
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