Given environmental pressures and limited scale, the sector sees just two options: move into specialty chemicals or invest overseas. Despite environmental and other challenges, Taiwan’s chemical sector continues to thrive. In 2018, the industry was forecast to grow by 4.88% – the highest growth rate of any industry in Taiwan – to reach NT$4.68 trillion…
The state-owned company looks to invest in high-value-added chemicals and green projects at home while exploring upstream opportunities overseas. The CPC Corp. was established in Shanghai as the Chinese Petroleum Corp. in 1946 and relocated to Taiwan three years later. The state-owned firm plays a crucial role in ensuring Taiwan’s energy security, and is also…
On January 1, 2017, Taiwan implemented Phase 4 of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). In accordance with Phase 4 of GHS, Taiwan will require chemical companies to make full disclosure of health hazards on a Safety Data Sheet (SDS). However, while many of Taiwan’s global counterparts require chemical companies…
Despite local opposition from environmentalists, the industry continues to thrive based on low oil prices and expansion abroad. Cancellation of the Kuokuang petrochemical complex project in 2011 was a watershed in Taiwan’s industrial and environmental history. Touted as the largest investment in petrochemicals in decades – the estimated cost was over NT$600 billion (around US$20…
Performance chemicals offer higher margins, but the entry barrier is also steep. After nearly five years of planning, evaluation, and construction, last fall the US$200 million factory of the Kraton Formosa Polymers Corp. (KFPC) started operations at the Mailiao complex of the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG). A joint venture between Taiwan’s FPG and U.S….
The world’s largest chemical company by sales, Germany’s BASF, expanded its investment in Taiwan with the opening of its new facilities in the Kuanyin Industrial Park in Taoyuan on February 5. The new facilities will provide advanced processing chemicals and materials such as ultra-pure electronic grade sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and ammonia water (NH4OH), as well…
