Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday said it planned to start an expansion project of its naphtha cracker in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) after the firm won an administrative appeal against the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
The Executive Yuan on Thursday overruled the strict environmental conditions the EPA had set on the project, a joint venture with the US-based Kraton Performance Polymers to produce hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer (HSBC), a high value-added rubber product.
“Once we receive the official document on the ruling, we will contact Kraton to continue the project in Yunlin,” Formosa Petrochemical chairman Chen Bao-lang (陳寶郎) said by telephone.
Chen did not elaborate on when the company would begin the project, saying the company needed to discuss the timetable and other details with Kraton.
The project won the Fair Trade Commission’s approval in October last year and was expected to cost more than US$200 million.
Chen said Formosa Petrochemical and Kraton would share the cost equally, with each holding 50 percent in the venture, which was previously set to become operational by the second half of next year.
However, the EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment Committee made a policy change earlier this year, stipulating that volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions generated from flares, water cooling tanks, and while painting, cleaning and performing annual maintenance on water storage tanks, should also be viewed as sources of pollutants and thus subject to the regulatory VOC limit.
The committee rejected both of Formosa Petrochemical’s appeals in August and September. The company then lodged an administrative appeal with the Cabinet.
The Cabinet overruled the EPA’s decision that total VOC emissions should include not only VOCs produced in the production process, but also those produced from the five other sources.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday welcomed the news, while the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) said the EPA’s request was “unreasonable and unnecessary.”
“We think the dismissal is helpful for Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) to transform its business and is in line with our expectation and policy of helping Taiwan’s traditional industries transform and upgrade their business,” IDB Deputy Director-General Lien Ching-chang (連錦漳) said by telephone.
Lien said the EPA’s additional VOC requirement would pose barriers for the group and other petrochemical firms in transforming their businesses.
Chen said the plant, when completed, is expected to generate NT$4.5 billion (US$136.36 million) in revenue a year and the HSBC the plant produces will serve as raw materials for downstream companies, creating NT$15 billion revenue a year for the industry.
However, Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) analyst Kerry Wu (吳致勤) expressed reservations about the project’s near-term contribution to the company.
“We are neutral on this news, as the related earnings contributions will only be realized in two years,” Wu said in a note yesterday, while maintaining the firm’s “reduce” recommendation on Formosa Petrochemical’s shares, which fell 0.35 percent to NT$85.70 yesterday.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique