Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only listed oil refiner, yesterday posted a 12.33 percent revenue increase to NT$86.23 billion (US$2.89 billion) for last month from July because of rising oil prices.
Last month’s figure increased 21.54 percent from a year ago because of higher production volume, according to the company’s filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Formosa Petrochemical chairman Chen Bao-lang (陳寶郎) said revenue for this quarter would be better than last quarter’s NT$200.48 billion.
MAINTENANCE
He said he did not expect the planned shut-down of one of its petrochemical factories for maintenance starting on Sept. 16 to significantly affect the company, as prices of petrochemical products remained high.
“Oil prices were driven up by rising tensions in Syria and declining oil exports from Libya, increasing prices of both our petrochemical and oil refinery products,” Chen said by telephone.
As oil prices posted sequential increases, prices for the company’s products such as ethylene, propylene and butadiene rose to US$1,270, US$1,440 and US$1,240 per tonne last month, from US$1,100, US$1,280 and US$1,000 per tonne in July respectively, Chen said.
Formosa Petrochemical enjoyed the highest growth among the four major units under the Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團). In the past eight months, the company's sales increased 7.11 percent from a year ago to NT$611.28 billion.
Three other Formosa Group units also reported revenue increases last month from the previous month and the previous year, according to their separate stock exchange filings.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC, 台灣化學纖維), which produces aromatics and styrenics, reported a 21.99 percent revenue increase to NT$38.74 billion from 31.76 billion a year ago.
The figure was 7.19 percent higher than NT$36.14 billion last month. In the first eight months, cumulative sales rose 10.41 percent to NT$292.99 billion from the same period of last year.
Formosa Chemicals president Hong Fu-yuan (洪福源) said the company’s revenue would decline this month as two of its plants, which can produce 600,000 tonnes of styrene monomer a year in total, underwent annual maintenance for 90 days, but revenue would return to its normal level after the middle of next month, as prices of styrene monomer are likely to remain high.
PLASTICS
Sales at Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the nation’s largest producer of polyvinyl chloride, rose 12.1 percent year-on-year and 2.48 percent month-on-month to NT$18.61 billion last month, while Nanya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), the nation’s largest plastics maker, saw its revenue increase by 17.58 percent year-on-year and 10.25 percent month-on-month to NT$29.46 billion last month.
In the past eight months, Formosa Plastics posted NT$143.11 billion in sales, up 8.1 percent from a year earlier, while Nan Ya's sales rose 0.68 percent to NT$204.48 billion over the same period.
Overall, the four Formosa Group units recorded NT$173.04 billion in combined sales last month, up 9.67 percent from a month earlier, with their cumulative sales in the first eight months totaling NT$1.25 trillion, up 6.86 percent from a year earlier.
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