Taiwan's 'Big Four' Petrochemical Firms Post NT$128.9 Billion in Combined May Revenue, Down 7.6% Month-on-Month

(Central News Agency, Reporter Tseng Jen-Kai, Taipei, June 8) The US-Iran war has pushed up international oil prices and downstream petrochemical product prices. Taiwan's 'Big Four' petrochemical firms today announced their May revenues, all showing year-on-year growth. The combined May revenue of the four companies was NT$128.945 billion, a decrease of 7.6% from April but an increase of 21.6% compared to the same period last year.

Formosa Plastics Corporation reported May revenue of NT$14.951 billion, down 18.4% month-on-month, but a slight increase of 0.7% year-on-year.

Formosa Plastics explained that the month-on-month decline in May revenue was mainly due to upstream suppliers CPC Corporation and Formosa Petrochemical offering discounted ethylene and propylene feedstock in May, which lowered the operating rates for Formosa Plastics' various products. Additionally, downstream customers were unable to pass on high costs, leading to more conservative procurement and reduced production and sales volumes. The total sales volume of Formosa Plastics' main products in May decreased by 85,000 metric tons compared to April.

Nan Ya Plastics Corporation reported May revenue of NT$28.83 billion, an increase of 4.2% month-on-month and a significant 31.4% increase year-on-year. It was the only one among the 'Big Four' to achieve both monthly and annual growth in May, reaching a new high in 47 months.

Nan Ya stated that although raw material prices have recently fallen, uncertainties in the Middle East remain high, tariff disputes are unresolved, and global market concerns over inflation and interest rate hikes have increased. This has led to a lack of confidence in consumer-related industries, with buyers adopting a wait-and-see approach and carefully managing inventory.

Over 50% of Nan Ya's revenue comes from electronic materials. Benefiting from the continued resilience of the AI industry, cloud service providers have accelerated capital expenditure regardless of geopolitical conflicts and short-term economic changes, driving continuous expansion of the surrounding supply chain's output value. Nan Ya has capitalized on industry development trends and actively invested in high-value electronic materials, yielding positive results and boosting performance.

Furthermore, Nan Ya's ethylene glycol (EG) plant in Texas was unaffected by the Middle East situation. Both production lines are operating at full capacity and selling all output, leading to significant revenue growth, which also contributed to Nan Ya's strong May performance.

Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation reported May revenue of NT$27.387 billion, a decrease of 14.7% month-on-month but an increase of 15.5% year-on-year.

Formosa Chemicals & Fibre attributed the month-on-month decline in May revenue primarily to a decrease in sales volume. In May, the Mailiao ARO-3 (Aromatics Plant 3) and SM-2 (Styrene Monomer Plant 2) were scheduled for annual maintenance, impacting the external sales of PX (paraxylene) and SM, as well as the sale of raffinate oil back to Formosa Petrochemical, resulting in a combined reduction of NT$2.6 billion. Additionally, sales of PS (polystyrene), ABS, and PP (polypropylene) were affected as downstream customers, unable to pass on high prices or facing rapid market fluctuations, generally adopted a wait-and-see approach and purchased only based on immediate needs, leading to a combined reduction of NT$850 million.

Formosa Petrochemical Corporation reported May revenue of NT$57.777 billion, a decrease of 6.1% month-on-month but an increase of 26.9% year-on-year.

Formosa Petrochemical pointed out that the month-on-month decline in May revenue was mainly due to the emergence of hope for US-Iran peace talks and the fading of geopolitical premiums. The average price of Dubai crude oil in May was US$103.1 per barrel, a slight decrease of US$2.6 from April. The decline in refined product prices was steeper than that of crude oil, causing the average price of all products in Formosa Petrochemical's refining business to fall by US$15.6 per barrel compared to April.

On a year-on-year basis, the average price of Dubai crude oil in May surged by US$39.4 per barrel compared to the same period last year. The average price of all products in Formosa Petrochemical's refining business increased by US$62.2 per barrel year-on-year, driving the significant year-on-year growth in May revenue. (Editor: Chang Chun-Mao) 1150608