Of Taiwan exports in 1965, more than 50 per cent were sold to two countries — Japan and the United States.
The Foreign Exchange and Trade Commission reported Japan bought 31.07 per cent of all exports and the United States 20 per cent.
The sales to Japan totaled US$151,628,000, representing a 8.3 per cent increase over 1964. Exports to the United States, totaling US$97,682,000, showed a 16.3 per cent gain.
Major exports to Japan were bananas, rice, sugar, timber products, bamboo shoots, vegetables, salt, and canned pineapple. Japan bought 99.4 per cent of banana exports, 100 per cent of the rice, and 80.4 per cent of salt. Other items of importance were bamboo shoots, 64.3 per cent; vegetables, 38.1 per cent; and sugar, 37.6 per cent.
Dramatic increases were noted in the sale of bananas and rice, each up by more than US$20 million. Bamboo shoots and preserved fruits increased by US$1 million each. Taiwan had no record of asparagus sales to Japan before. Last year the amount exceeded US$1 million.
Exports that showed a decline included sugar, vegetables, salt, and coal. The lower value of sugar sales was not due to reduction in quantity but because of lower prices.
The exports to the United States were marked by significant increases in canned mushrooms, textiles, and canned pineapple. Only sugar and hat bodies saw a decline.
The United States bought 54.8 per cent of all Taiwan timber exports, mostly plywood. Textiles to the United States accounted for 30.8 per cent of the total and canned pineapple for 41.6 per cent. About 30 per cent of Taiwan canned mushrooms were sold to the United States and the share of sugar was 13.2 per cent.
Malaysia Trade Fair
The first Chinese trade fair in Malaysia was opened at Kuala Lumpur April 15 for 20 days. Malaysian Commerce Minister Lim Swee Aun and Chinese Minister of Economic Affairs K. T. Li officiated at the opening, which drew some 1,000 guests, including Malaysian government officials and business leaders.
The fair was sponsored by 207 Taiwan manufacturers who sent more than 1,100 items for display.
Minister Lim said the Republic of China has rapidly changed the agricultural economy of Taiwan into a mixed one of agriculture and manufacturing. Today the island is no longer dependent upon American aid, he said.
Minister Lim expressed hope that the fair would stimulate trade. He extended a warm welcome to exhibitors from Taiwan.
Minister Li cited the trade fair as a demonstration of Chinese determination to promote economic cooperation with Malaysia. He said technical cooperation between the countries also would be strengthened.
The trade fair was held on a site of more than 14,400 square feet about two miles from Kuala Lumpur. Exhibits included such products as automobiles, motorcycles, power tillers, refrigerators, transistor radios, petroleum products, canned food, handicrafts, electric fans, electric rice cookers, cosmetics, construction materials, paper, and ceramics.
Reports from Argentina said the Chinese trade fair at Buenos Aires April 1-15 was successful. This was the first such exhibition in Latin America. Argentina television stations provided good coverage.
The Republic of China was represented at the Osaka International Trade Fair that opened April 9. About 30 countries entered the fair and the Chinese pavilion was one of the most attractive, a report from Japan said.
After participating in the international trade fair at Melbourne, Australia, last March, the Republic of China presented its palace-style pavilion to the state government of Victoria. Chinese exhibits at the fair were mostly bamboo and wooden manufactures.
Miss Tao Tai-ken of the Taiwan Handicraft Promotion Center left for San
Francisco in April to take charge of Chinese participation in the eighth U.S. World Trade Fair there. The fair opened in May and about 600 items of Taiwan products were shown.
The Republic of China has decided to attend a trade fair sponsored by the Ryukyuan government at Naha August 17-23. An official invitation has arrived in Taiwan and many manufacturers are preparing to send exhibits.
The Republic of China also will be represented at an international trade fair in Bogota, Colombia, September 1-20. Shipments of exhibits have left Taiwan.
The first Asian international trade fair will be held at Bangkok in November and the Republic of China is one of the sponsors.
William C. Gibson, Pacific area public relations representative of the Port of New York Authority, came to Taiwan in April to extend an invitation for Chinese participation in the World Trade Fair at New York in 1967. He visited a number of industrial, plants.
Bananas for Korea
Taiwan will sell bananas to Korea and the Ryukyus at lower prices than to Japan. The Foreign Exchange and Trade Commission said in April that the price for Japan is US$7, for Korea and the Ryukyus US$6 per basket, f.o.b. Keelung.
Reports from Seoul said the Republic of Korea would import US$110,000 worth of bananas from Taiwan this year. According to Korean agricultural-forestry officials, five Seoul companies will be allowed to purchase the fruit with foreign exchange earned through export of Korean apples to Taiwan.
An 18-member inspection mission organized by fruit importers and traders of the Ryukyus visited Taiwan in April. The members were mainly interested in purchase of bananas.
In selling 150,000 tons of rice worth US$25 million to Japan, Taiwan agreed to buy 300,000 tons of ammonium sulphate fertilizer worth US$13 million. Unit price is US$45.30 per ton, lower than the US$48.10 of last year.
The Foreign Exchange and Trade Commission announced in April that any trader may sell cypress logs to Japan. Foreign exchange settlement can be effected at the Bank of Taiwan without prior approval from FETC.
The U.S. Army authorities in Japan in April placed orders for procurement of canned food from Taiwan. Included are mushrooms, bamboo shoots, rabbit meat, and pickled vegetables.
The China Productivity and Trade Center reported that many Taiwan commodities could be sold to Sabah, a state of the Federation of Malaysia. Included are oranges, onions, canned fruits, refined sugar, cigarettes, diesel oil, pharmaceuticals, cement, and shirts.
Local shoe manufacturers said their products are selling well in the United States. Shoes included those made of plastic, rubber, and straw. No quantity was reported.
The Foreign Exchange and Trade Commission Said in April that Taiwan may sell semiprecious stones, human hair, and canned mixed vegetables to the United States with a certificate of origin.
Petrochemical Development
The Chinese Petroleum Corporation has announced that its principal objectives for the future will be search for further natural gas resources and the development of petrochemicals.
The CPC annual report discloses that in the areas of Chingshui, Chukuangkeng, and Tiencheshan in northern Taiwan, proven natural gas reserves now total 20 billion cubic meters.
Natural gas is being used by two industrial plants. The Mobil China Allied Chemical Industries Ltd. consumes 400,000 cubic meters per day in the production of urea fertilizer. The Taiwan Power Company uses 200,000 cubic meters daily as fuel for its power station at Tunghsiao.
Together, the two plants will not use more than 6,450 million cubic meters, or 32 per cent of the proven reserve, in 15 years. Thus natural gas is available for other purposes, the company says.
The Taiwan Fertilizer Company is building at Hsinchu a large urea plant that will use natural gas as a raw material. It will have daily capacity of 550 tons of liquid ammonia, 300 tons of urea, and 450 tons of ammonium sulphate, compared with annual capacity of the Mobil China Allied plant of 100,000 tons of urea and 45,000 tons of ammonia.
CPC says that since last October, it has been installing a large-diameter pipeline to supply natural gas to industrial centers and cities of Taiwan.
CPC says natural gas also can be used to support the production of man-made fibers and plastics. The Chinese government is helping private companies establish a man-made fiber production center at Toufen, Investment projects of the Chang Chun Plastics Company and the Taita Chemical Company have been approved by the government to produce methanol. All these plants require natural gas as a raw material.
For the development of petroci1emicais, CPC is investing NT$180 million (US$4.5 million) to build a plant at Kaohsiung to supply 50 million pounds of ethylene a year. To be in production before 1968, the plant has signed a contract with the Taiwan Polymers Corporation to supply 45 million pounds of ethylene annually for the latter's production of polyethylene. Taiwan Polymers is an investment of the National Distillers and Chemical Corporation of the United States. Plant construction has begun at Kaohsiung.
With a US$15 million loan from the Oranzio de Nora Electro-Chemical Works of Milan, Italy, CPC is expected to increase its facilities for the production of petrochemicals. The company has a solvent works at Chiayi that can process 225,000 barrels of reformate annually. Products include 260 tons of mixed xylenes for making paint solvents, 5,300 tons of toluene, also for paint solvents, and 1,290 tons of benzene for such farm insecticides as DDT and BHC.
When expansion is completed, CPC says, the Chiayi works will be able to process 1,535,000 barrels of reformate a year. Production of benzene, toluene, and xylene then will be greatly expanded to cover such products as:
(l) 6,780 tons of benzene for processing into 2,246 tons of dodecyl benzene to support the production of detergents.
(2) 25,100 tons of toluene for making methanol to support the production of nylon.
(3) 18,000 tons of xylene for supply of:
a. 2,480 tons of ethyl benzene to produce 2,100 tons of styrene for making plastics.
b. 4,570 tons of a-xylene for making 4,700 tons of phthalic anhydride to support the production of plasticizers.
c. 7,100 tons of M-xylene for solvent raw material.
d. 3,850 tons of P-xylene for 4,300 tons of tere-phthalic acid to make polyester fiber.
The Chinese Petroleum Corporation is a government enterprise supplying fuels, lubricants, and petrochemicals. Annual revenues exceed US$60 million.
The company has a large and modern refinery at Kaohsiung processing 160 million kiloliters of crude oil annually, mostly from the Middle East. It produces high-octane gasoline, aviation gas, jet fuel, diesel, and other fuel oils.
To enable giant tankers to discharge crude oil without docking, the company is installing facilities to offload oil by monobuoy off Kaohsiung. This will reduce the fire hazard, save time, and economize on wharfage.
The Kaohsiung refinery is expanding its facilities to produce petroleum coke and start polymerization of propylene. New machinery also is being added to the hydro-desulfurization system.
Production of petroleum coke is expected to begin this year. Waste products from the lube oil process will be made into coke for smelting. Planned output is 100 tons per day.
The plant for polymerization of propylene will increase gasoline production -and produce dodecene. Dodecene is a raw material for making dodecyl, which in turn is a raw material for detergents. A dodecyl, benzene plant has been in production at the refinery since 1964.
Expansion of hydro-desulfurization facilities will take two years. When completed, the plant will have additional processing capability of 4,000 drums of oil daily.
In cooperation with the Gulf Oil Corporation of the United States, the Chinese Petroleum Corporation operates a lubricants plant near the Kaohsiung refinery. It has a daily production of 1,500 drums, of which 1,050 are exported.
Doubling of PVC
Taiwan will double its production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) this year. A plant was opened last month and two more will come into production this summer.
The newly opened plant, operated by the China Plastics Corporation, has daily capacity of 40 tons. Plants soon to be opened by Cathay and I Fan Plastics Corporation will have daily production of 35 and 25 tons, respectively.
Thus the three new plants will turn out 100 tons per day. The Formosa Plastics Corporation, an older producer, already has daily output of 100 tons.
The China Plastics Corporation, with its plant at Toufen, also produces caustic soda. It is a sister enterprise of the Taita Chemical Company, an investment of the U.S. Mobil Chemical Corporation.
PVC is the only plastic raw material produced in Taiwan. Several other enterprises are building plants for producing other plastic raw materials, including polystyrene and polyethylene.
Among the investors, the Lings Petrochemical Ltd. is building a plant at Shihtse near Taipei and the Taita Chemical Company a plant at Kaohsiung. Both will produce polystyrene at an annual rate of 2,500 and 1,100 tons, respectively.
The Taiwan Polymers Corporation, an investment of the U.S. National Distillers and Chemical Corporation, is building a plant at Kaohsiung to produce 40 million pounds of polyethylene a year. When all plants are completed, Taiwan will have a sufficient supply of plastic raw materials.
The island has about 300 plastic processors making household items, construction materials, artificial flowers, and plastic wear. Exports exceed US$12 million annually, mostly to the United States and Southeast Asia.
Taiwan has a number of favorable conditions for the development of plastics. There is an abundant supply of such raw materials as chlorine and polyethylene. Plastic production requires a large supply of electricity, and Taiwan power is cheap.