Factory Workers for Far Eastern New Century 

In 1945, Mr. Yu-Ziang Hsu founded Far Eastern Manufacturing Company (FEMC) in Shanghai to produce the Skyscraper-brand knitting wear. This marked the beginning of the Far Eastern Textile business. In 1949, when the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan, Far Eastern also relocated to the island, setting up its knitting factory. Far Eastern Textile Ltd. (FETL) was then established in 1954 in Taiwan. In October 2009, to reflect both the company’s current structure and vision for the future, Far Eastern Textile Ltd. was renamed Far Eastern New Century Corporation (FENC).

FENC holds true to its tradition of “Sincerity, Diligence, Thrift and Prudence.” Corporate expansion led it to set up gradually stand-alone spinning, weaving, dyeing, and apparel factories. Year 1965 marked the complete integration of the upstream, midstream and downstream processes into one vertically-integrated production chain. In 1979, Oriental Chemical Fiber Corporation merged with the Company to complete the combination of fiber and textile production. In 2008, FENC acquired Oriental Petrochemical (Taiwan) Corporation for increased efficiency and competitive advantage through the integration of the petrochemical, polyester, fiber, spinning, weaving, dyeing, apparel manufacturing, and retail businesses. APG Polytech was set up in the State of West Virginia in 2018 as our first PET production site in the United States to gain advantages in raw material and energy costs and directly supply the American domestic market without trade barriers. In collaboration with two other multinationals, we built the largest integrated PTA-PET facility in the Americas. To add value to APG Polytech’s products and thereby raise the Company’s competitiveness in the US market to an even higher level, in 2019 we acquired Phoenix Technologies International, LLC, a recycled PET producer located in Ohio. The multi-phase expansion of our vertically-integrated production site in Vietnam over the years has helped us to secure a tariff advantage in international trade. With the completion of Phase I, a capacity of 400,000 tons has been added to PET production and a knitting, dyeing and finishing plant is now up and running. Phase II expansion is also underway to increase production of polyester filament and staple fibers. In addition, to secure its involvement in the circular economy, the Company has also expanded the second line of its recycled PET plant at the existing location in Japan and plans to set up another production site in a further location.

Far Eastern New Century formed the Synthetic Fiber Division and Textiles Division as part of a global strategy and to take advantage of group synergies. The Synthetic Fiber Division includes Far Eastern New Century’s Hsinpu fiber plant and Kuanyin plant in Taiwan, Far Eastern Industries (Shanghai) Ltd., Wuhan Far Eastern New Material Co., Ltd., Far Eastern Ishizuka Green PET Corporation and the largest domestic Nylon 66 corporation – Far Eastern Fibertech Co., Ltd. In 2015, the annual capacity of polyester production in this division is expected to exceed 2 million tons, making the division one of the top five polyester producers globally. Other products include polyester chip, PET bottles, PET films, polyester fiber etc. Downstream applications of these products are extensive and can be seen in healthcase, food and beverages, computers, communications, and consumer electronics, vehicle manufacture and transportation, and sports clothing. Far Eastern New Century is ahead of other firms in the industry as it seeks to enter into green industry. Other than extensively using recycled polyester and biodegradable material, Far Eastern New Century invests in the application and promotion of biomass material as a viable substitute for traditional petrochemicals.

The Textiles Division has production sites in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Mainland China. Since 1997, the division has gradually built spinning, knitting, dyeing, industrial fabrics and apparel production locations in Mainland China. In 2002, the division built an apparel factory in Vietnam to take advantage of benefits offered by ASEAN under various free trade agreements. In 2015, Far Eastern New Century expanded its investments in Vietnam for a vertically integrated production site and began production successfully. Vietnam will become the third vertically integrated production site of Far Eastern New Century, which started garment production in Vietnam in 2002, besides the ones in China and Taiwan.

Besides investing in its core business, FENC as the parent company of the Far Eastern Group has diversified its portfolio by investing in the cement, department stores, transportation, finance and telecommunications sectors to enhance shareholder value. FENC also has significant real estate land resources in Taipei, Banqiao, Neili, and Yilan, northern Taiwan, totaling more than 14.2 million square feet, of which over 7 million square feet is available for commercial development. Far Eastern Resource Development Co. was established to manage the Group’s property development. Our signature projects are located in premium areas of Greater Taipei, including Taipei Far Eastern Telecom Park (Tpark)—a hub for ICT and intelligent technology industries in Banqiao, Taipei Far Eastern Plaza—office buildings in downtown Taipei, and Mega Tower—the tallest skyscraper in New Taipei City that houses one of FENC’s shopping malls, Mega City. These have boosted local economic prosperity and raised the land values in nearby areas. Tpark’s first-completed office building, TPKA, is now fully rented and occupied. The second one, TPKC—FET’s cloud computing center, won a Platinum Award in Excellent Intelligent Green Building Design Class in the 2019 TIBA Awards (the 3rd Taiwan Intelligent Green Building and System Product Awards). The third one, TPKD, is Google’s innovative Engineering Hub, which is anticipated to bolster New Taipei City’s economy, bring prosperity to local communities, create employment opportunities, foster an overall industrial upgrade and raise Taiwan’s visibility in the world. A building permit has been issued for the construction of the fourth building, TPKE, which is scheduled for completion in 2022 followed by transfer to the tenant. The premium residential project located in Tpark has a gross floor area of more than 7,000 pings (23,140 m2) for sale and is expected to generate a significant income. In addition to the project in Banqiao, we have also applied to Taoyuan City government for land rezoning of our old textile plant in Neili to fit into the city’s urban renewal program. It will be converted into a branch of the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in Taoyuan City and become a locus for the biochemical and pharmaceutical industries and join the artistic architecture on the campus of Yuan Ze University and Far Eastern International Convention Center as one of the new landmarks in northern Taiwan. The management of Far Eastern Resources Development Corporation is committed to maximizing the value of our assets and invigorating the local economy with our development projects. We believe that the appreciation in land value will continue to yield nutrients essential to the growth of FENC’s operations across the board.

FENC continues to instill its staff with new concepts and skills in the tradition of “Sincerity, Diligence, Thrift and Prudence”. With innovative thinking, superior technology, and management’s commitment to excellence, FENC aims to continue its leadership in the polyester and textile industry, maximize the value of its property and equity holdings, and bring happiness and prosperity to our global community.