Middle East Conflict Escalates, Formosa Plastics Group Forecasts Petrochemical Supply Shortage to Persist Until Year-End
Due to escalating conflicts in the Middle East causing damage to key energy production facilities, Formosa Plastics Group anticipates that petrochemical supply shortages will continue until the end of the year. This situation, however, may accelerate the recovery of the Asian petrochemical industry and has led to a significant increase in the group's first-quarter profits.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 13, 2026 at 11:55
- 🔍 Collected: April 13, 2026 at 12:00 (5 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 13, 2026 at 12:05 (5 min after Collected)
Formosa Plastics stated that the Middle East conflict has impacted energy production facilities, with Israel's airstrike on Iran's largest petrochemical industrial park on April 4th completely halting production at a plant with an annual output of 72 million tons. Additionally, the Bahrain refinery and a petrochemical plant in the United Arab Emirates were damaged by Iranian attacks. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), approximately 72 oil and gas fields, refineries, and natural gas facilities in the Middle East have been damaged, and restarting related equipment will require significant time and capital.
Formosa Plastics' analysis suggests that even if the U.S.-Iran conflict ends, energy and petrochemical raw material supplies will remain tight, severely affecting market supply and potentially accelerating the recovery of the Asian petrochemical industry.
Lyu Wen-chin, President of Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp., also stated that it is unpredictable when the U.S.-Iran conflict will end. In addition to the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, petrochemical industries in Persian Gulf countries have suffered varying degrees of damage, significantly impacting their supply capabilities. He expects the petrochemical supply shortage to continue until the end of the year.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. announced that after the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war at the end of February, the crisis of raw material supply disruption immediately emerged. After careful evaluation, a force majeure statement was issued on March 24th to inform customers of potential supply disruptions and to proactively negotiate future supply arrangements, hoping that both parties could plan ahead and mitigate the impact.
Lyu Wen-chin pointed out that Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. will prioritize consolidating domestic demand at this stage, encouraging domestic customers to stock up, and providing full support. After meeting domestic customer needs, there will still be capacity to accept orders from Japanese contract customers, with pricing adjusting to market conditions. In Q2, the company will continue to monitor supply conditions, seek alternative material sources, strive to maintain operating rates, operate with low inventory, avoid high-priced raw materials to mitigate the risk of price drops, and endeavor to avoid losses.
Benefiting from lower-priced raw materials and product profits from in-transit inventory, Formosa Plastics Group's four major subsidiaries announced profitable first-quarter self-reported earnings last Friday, with a combined net profit attributable to the parent company of approximately NT$44.177 billion, an increase of about 10.8 times compared to the same period last year, and about 5.4 times compared to Q4 last year. Furthermore, the renewed escalation of tensions in the Middle East pushed oil prices up, leading to a rise of over 4% in the stock prices of the four Formosa Plastics Group subsidiaries in early trading today. (Editor: Lin Chia-hsien) 1150413
Formosa Plastics' analysis suggests that even if the U.S.-Iran conflict ends, energy and petrochemical raw material supplies will remain tight, severely affecting market supply and potentially accelerating the recovery of the Asian petrochemical industry.
Lyu Wen-chin, President of Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp., also stated that it is unpredictable when the U.S.-Iran conflict will end. In addition to the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, petrochemical industries in Persian Gulf countries have suffered varying degrees of damage, significantly impacting their supply capabilities. He expects the petrochemical supply shortage to continue until the end of the year.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. announced that after the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war at the end of February, the crisis of raw material supply disruption immediately emerged. After careful evaluation, a force majeure statement was issued on March 24th to inform customers of potential supply disruptions and to proactively negotiate future supply arrangements, hoping that both parties could plan ahead and mitigate the impact.
Lyu Wen-chin pointed out that Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. will prioritize consolidating domestic demand at this stage, encouraging domestic customers to stock up, and providing full support. After meeting domestic customer needs, there will still be capacity to accept orders from Japanese contract customers, with pricing adjusting to market conditions. In Q2, the company will continue to monitor supply conditions, seek alternative material sources, strive to maintain operating rates, operate with low inventory, avoid high-priced raw materials to mitigate the risk of price drops, and endeavor to avoid losses.
Benefiting from lower-priced raw materials and product profits from in-transit inventory, Formosa Plastics Group's four major subsidiaries announced profitable first-quarter self-reported earnings last Friday, with a combined net profit attributable to the parent company of approximately NT$44.177 billion, an increase of about 10.8 times compared to the same period last year, and about 5.4 times compared to Q4 last year. Furthermore, the renewed escalation of tensions in the Middle East pushed oil prices up, leading to a rise of over 4% in the stock prices of the four Formosa Plastics Group subsidiaries in early trading today. (Editor: Lin Chia-hsien) 1150413