Formosa Plastics Group - History

History

The Formosa Plastics Group was formed in 1958 to reflect vertical integration of the PVC manufacturing process by the Formosa Plastics Corporation (FPC). Nan Ya Plastics Processing Corp. was formed to purchase PVC resins produced by FPC. A third member of the group, New Eastern Plastics Product, was formed to manufacture those processed resins into consumer goods. Nan Ya and New Eastern were later merged into a single entity, Nan Ya Plastics Corp., and upstream integration was achieved in the 1990s through the construction of an ethylene-producing naphtha cracking plant and a coal-burning power plant. In Taiwan, FPG has also diversified into many other fields, including textiles, electronics, medicine, skin care, automobile manufacturing, gasoline retail and petroleum refining. The complete list of constituent firms is below.

FPG’s overseas expansion has focused primarily on the United States and mainland China. The group has purchased or constructed many PVC factories and chemical production facilities in both countries. American holdings also include Texas properties containing over 200 oil wells and lands rich in natural gas, pipeline and production firms, and an ethylene plant in Point Comfort, Texas that was constructed in 1988. Chinese expansion has included a power plant in Zhuangzhou, Fujian Province and at least 40 FPG-built factories across the country.

FPG’s non-manufacturing operations include the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, named after the late father of the FPG chairman, Wang Chang-gung. Since its founding in 1976, the non-profit hospital has expanded to 5 cities in Taiwan. In 1984, the Linkou branch undertook the first liver transplant operation in Asia.