The combined revenue of Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPG, 台塑集團) four major subsidiaries last month fell by a double-digit percentage point from a year earlier, as the COVID-19 pandemic weakened downstream demand and reduced average selling prices.
The consolidated revenue of Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維) totaled NT$76.57 billion (US$2.57 billion), a decline of 40.4 percent, the firms’ stock exchange filings on Friday showed.
On a monthly basis, their combined revenue was up 1.5 percent from April on the back of a 15.9 percent increase in revenue at Formosa Petrochemical, the nation’s only listed oil refiner.
It said its revenue grew 15.9 percent month-on-month to NT$25.69 billion, as sales in its refining business rose 25.2 percent and its naphtha business expanded 11.2 percent.
It attributed its strong refining business expansion to higher refining output and oil prices, while the growth in naphtha business was mainly due to a sales increase in olefins.
Compared with a year earlier, revenue fell 55.9 percent as the COVID-19 outbreak and a collapse in demand caused sales at the refining business to plunge 61.7 percent and those at the naphtha cracking business to tumble by 50.5 percent, Formosa Petrochemical said.
Nan Ya Plastics reported the smallest annual decrease in revenue of the four, down 21.7 percent to NT$19.42 billion, a drop of 4.86 percent from April.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had a continuous impact on global economics and led to a sluggish end market demand, dragging down sales volume and product prices,” Nan Ya Plastics said in its filing.
The company, whose lineup includes plastics, chemicals, polyesters and electronic materials, said revenue generated from its Taiwanese operations decreased 21.5 percent from a year earlier and revenue from its Chinese operations fell 15.17 percent, while the US revenue dropped 37.31 percent.
Flagship unit Formosa Plastics Corp reported revenue of NT$13.45 billion, down 29.2 percent annually as the prices of its major products fell by 19.58 percent from a year earlier.
Revenue was 8.8 percent lower, which Formosa Plastics attributed to a decline in sales of polyvinyl chloride amid lower demand in Europe and the US, falling sales of ethylene vinyl acetate used for shoes affected by the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, as well as a decreased demand for polypropylene (PP) from customers.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre’s reported revenue fell 31.7 percent year-on-year to NT$18.01 billion, a decline of just 0.7 percent from April.
Selling prices of its major product acetone remained steady on the back of epidemic prevention demand, it said.
However, the prices of other products were affected by COVID-19, lower oil prices and new production capacity in China, with the exception of the prices of phenol, acetone, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and PP, it said.
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