Far Eastern New Century Corporation (Stock code: 1402, hereinafter referred to as “FENC” or “the Company”) has successfully bid around NT$ 1 billion for a PET plant in West Virginia and a research center in Ohio in the U.S. on 1 February 2018. The annual capacity of the PET plant is around 360,000 tons on a 424 acres site. It is a strategic action and will be FENC’s first production site in the U.S. The aforesaid PET plant in Apple Grove was previous owned by M&G, which has filed for bankruptcy protection, and the closing shall be consummated subject to the bankruptcy court approval on 2 February 2018 (Taipei time).
FENC is the top 5 PET producer globally in terms of capacity and was the first PET producer in Asia. Currently the Company has PET production sites in Taiwan and China, with its new Vietnam PET plant to start operation in June 2018. With expansion in the U.S., the Company considered several factors: Regarding sales, the U.S. is one of the major FENC’s PET markets and an American based plant will be close to the Company’s clients. Second, the U.S. has been increasing the non-tariff barriers to trade for importing to the American market (for example, U.S. producers continuously launched anti-dumping case against Taiwanese PET makers in recent years). Regarding production, a complete supply chain of the upstream feedstock has been built in the U.S. and tax reform bills have reduced corporate tax rates. This, in conjunction with cheaper energy cost, and the appreciation of the Taiwan Dollar against U.S. Dollar mean that now is an excellent time to invest in the U.S.
