Texas’ governor has been touting his state’s natural resources in a bid to encourage Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) to expand its investments in the state, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday.
In a meeting with FPG president Wang Wen-yuan (王文淵), Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the state has abundant shale oil, natural gas, water and power resources, the newspaper said.
FPG has two ethylene plants in Texas and is building a third.
The corporation’s investments in the state from 1980 to 2011 totaled about US$6 billion, the paper said.
During Wang’s visit to Texas earlier this month, Abbott briefed him on investment conditions in Orange County, California, as well as the Texas cities of Victoria, Houston and Corpus Christi, which the governor said were advantageous for a petrochemical firm such as FPG, the paper said.
Wang said that two of FPG’s affiliates — Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台化) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) — are studying the possibility of investing in Louisiana, but FPG would map out a broader US investment plan to include increased investment in Texas, the newspaper reported.
However, FPG would have to take into consideration factors such as moving its workers overseas, the report said.
Wang said that while the US has advantages, such as sound rule of law and a huge domestic market, FPG has a better understanding of the Chinese market, where Taiwan’s petrochemical products remain very competitive.
FPG has a production base in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.
FPG’s flagship enterprise, Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), and its three affiliates — Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), Formosa Chemicals & Fibre and Formosa Petrochemical — are four of the top large-cap companies listed on Taiwan’s main board.
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