Formosa Petrochemical matches CPC's fuel hikes

Formosa Petrochemical Corp, the nation's second-largest oil refiner, yesterday announced it would match Chinese Petroleum Corp's (CPC) price hikes, starting at 12pm yesterday.

CPC announced on Friday that it would increase prices for wholesale gasoline and diesel products by NT$1 (US$0.03) per liter, respectively.

Su Chi-yi (蘇啟邑), Formosa Petrochemical's spokesman and executive vice president, told reporters that the company was raising prices to reflect operating costs, in the face of rising crude oil prices worldwide over the short term.

The company suffered more than NT$5 billion (US$154 million) in domestic losses during the first half of the year, he added.

Although CPC reported losses of NT$19.6 billion in the first half of the year, Formosa Petrochemical earned nearly NT$24 billion over the same period. CPC mainly supplies the domestic market, while Formosa Petrochemical exports about 70 percent of its products to overseas markets, where they can be sold at a higher price.

Gas stations purchasing gasoline products from Formosa Petrochemical can decide whether to raise retail prices or not, the company said in a statement.

Separately, Minister of Economic Affairs Morgan Hwang (黃營杉) said yesterday morning that a ministry committee would review a proposal by CPC to increase the price of natural gas by 15 percent sometime this week.