Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only listed oil refiner, yesterday said its sales in the third and fourth quarter of the year would be higher than the current quarter because of rising global demand.
The company, which generated about 44.42 percent of its revenue last year from overseas sales, said it is aiming to produce more intermediate petrochemical products and look for more business opportunities abroad this year as the global economy continues its gradual recovery.
“Stronger demand starting next quarter will increase the company’s profit margin,” Formosa Petrochemical chairman Chen Bao-lang (陳寶郎) said on the sidelines of a shareholders’ meeting.
The company plans to increase its oil production by 15 percent to 17.15 million kiloliters this year from the 14.58 million kiloliters produced last year.
However, the prospects for the petrochemical products market remain murky, Chen said, citing uncertain demand from downstream companies.
The company has set a production target of 2.8 million tonnes of ethylene this year, an increase of 8.7 percent from the 2.6 million tonnes it made last year, although it expects ethylene prices to remain low due to increasing supplies from the US, the Middle East and China, he said.
Formosa Petrochemical also plans to produce 2.2 million tonnes of propylene this year, up 7.6 percent from last year’s 2 million tonnes.
Last year, oil refinery products accounted for 65 percent of the company’s NT$892.63 billion (US$29.91 billion) in revenue, while petrochemical products accounted for 26.7 percent, the company said.
From January through last month, the company’s revenue dropped 0.34 percent year-on-year to NT$382.05 billion, it said.
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