Taipei, June 12, 2008 (CENS)--In addition to a large-sized steel mill with annual production capacity reaching 15 million metric tons, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) will also duplicate its naphtha-cracking success in Vietnam by setting up a major oil-refining and petrochemical production site.

The group will develop between 5,000 and 6,000 hectares to facilitate oil refining and petrochemical production in Vietnam, a mega investment project surpassing its investment scale in Taiwan.

FPG will likely soon be licensed by the Vietnamese government to build the proposed production site, with the construction to start the end of June. FPG founder Y.C. Wang, aged 90, will personally host the groundbreaking ceremony of the development project.

FPG will set aside US$8 billion subscribed by its four major subsidiaries, including Formosa Plastics Corp. (FPC), Nan Ya Plastics Corp. (Nan Ya), Formosa Chemical & Fibre Corp. (FCFC) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (FPCC), to build the large steel mill in Vietnam.

The steel mill will be built in two stages, with the first development stage to include a blast furnace to be capable of rolling out 7.5 million metric tons of steel per year. The blast furnace is expected to come online in three years. In the second development stage, the group will expand the annual production capacity of the blast furnace by 7.5 million metric tons of steel.

The Vietnamese government reportedly has promised to offer ample land to help FPG to realize the production project, which will also include setting up an industrial harbor sized 1,700 hectares.

With Vietnam being an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member, FPG`s products made in Vietnam stand a better chance to penetrate the markets in other ASEAN member nations.

(by Ben Shen)