Taipei, Dec. 5, 2012 (CENS)--The four major member firms of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) racked up total revenue of NT$137.677 billion in November, up 3.2% year-on-year, announced the group yesterday (Dec. 4). The group noted that the business status of the petrochemical industry in the fourth quarter is worse than expectation but appears to have hit the bottom, adding that outlook for the first quarter next year is promising.
During a joint business-performance explanation conference, Lin Chien-nan, president of Formosa Plastics Corp., Wu Chia-chao, president of Na Ya Plastics, Hung Fu-yuan, president of Formosa Chemicals and Fibre, and Chao Min, president of Formosa Petrochemical, reported that their companies' profits in the fourth quarter will not be good, due to low prices of their products. They, though, believed that their business will stage an upturn in the first quarter next year.
Hung Fu-yuan remarked that the demand of the petrochemical market has hit the bottom and will not deteriorate, although it remains to be seen when the market will stage an upturn.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre recorded revenue of NT$25.04 billion in November, up 12.8% year-on-year, the highest growth among the four. Its total revenue reached NT$261.2 billion in the first 11 months this year and is expected to hit record high for the entire year.
In November, Nan Ya registered revenue of NT$14.816 billion, up 4.6% year-on-year, Formosa Plastics's revenue rose 3.8% to NT$14.782 billion, and that of Formosa Petrochemical inched up 0.3% to NT$83 billion. In the first 11 months, total revenue of the four companies upped 4.3% to NT$1.4 trillion.
Among the four, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre has the clearest outlook. Hung Fu-yuan pointed out that the company's production lines of petrochemical materials SM (styrene monomer), synthetic phenol, and acetone are running at full capacity, boosting sales, although profits outlook remains uncertain. He was confident the company's revenue and profits will both be better in the first quarter next year than the fourth quarter this year.
Lin Chien-nan reported that prices of petrochemical products dropped, as economic fundamentals remain in the doldrums, Iran resumed its export of ethylene to Asia, and mainland Chinese factories resumed production after annual maintenance.
Wu Chia-chao reported that sales of Nan Ya in the fourth quarter will drop sequentially, due to shrinking demand for electronic materials.
