Formosa Chemicals & Fiber Corp , a unit of Formosa Plastic Group, will shut down its shut down its plant in central Taiwan next week. Reason behind this has been the denial of local government to renew permits for its cogeneration equipment.
Earlier Formosa Chemicals applied to renew the license for the power plant equipment, however the Changhua county government insisted the company apply for a new permit because the amount of coal and steam used during the manufacturing process has changed over the intervening decades, said vice chairman Hong Fu-yuan.
"We are facing a major crisis," said the vice chairman. "We have stopped shipping raw materials used in making products today," he said, adding that the application for renewal has been rejected 37 times by the county government.
A shutdown of the plant would affect 1,000 workers. About half of its output is shipped overseas, and the plant generates about T$10 billion ($320 million) in annual revenues, accounting for about 3 percent of the company's total revenue.
