Formosa Plastics Corporation () is a Taiwanese plastics company based in Taiwan (formerly called "Formosa") that primarily produces polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins and other intermediate plastic products. It is the corporation around which influential businessman Wang Yung-ching formed the Formosa Plastics Group, and it remains central to the Group's petrochemical operations. The president of Formosa Plastics Corp. (FPC) is Jason Lin (林健男). In 2019, Chemical & Engineering News ranked Formosa Plastics as the world's sixth largest chemical company by sales in 2018, with US$36.9 billion. That same year, Forbes ranked the company as No. 758 on its Global 2000 list of the world's largest public companies. Formosa has received substantial criticism over widespread pollution and reprisal tactics against environmental activists. History The company was founded in 1954, by Wang Yung-ching and Wang Yung-tsai with a US$798,000 loan from United States aid agencies. The first PVC plant was constructed in Kaohsiung and production began in 1957. As of 2005, FPC is the largest producer of PVC resins in Taiwan. When FPC's American operations are also considered, the company's total PVC resin capacity is 2.83 million metric tons per year, the second highest in the world after Shin-Etsu Chemical, which has 3.55 million metric tons per year as of May 2010 (expanding to 3.85 million metric tons per year by the end of 2010). FPC maintains numerous subsidiaries throughout Taiwan, jointly held with other members of the Formosa Plastics Group. In addition, Formosa Plastics Corporation, USA was founded in 1978 as a wholly owned subsidiary of FPC. That subsidiary has, in turn, created four wholly owned chemical manufacturing subsidiaries in Delaware City, Delaware, Illiopolis, Illinois, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Point Comfort, Texas. Formosa Plastics Corporation's operations include chemical and petrochemical manufacturing. In 1994, Formosa formed the Formosa Transrail to operate a rail fleet. Recent updates St James Parish, Louisiana In April 2018, Formosa Plastics and sister corporation Formosa Petrochemical Corporation announced a new US$9.4 billion chemical manufacturing complex, set to be located across a 2,400-acre site in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Branded as "The Sunshine Project," the complex, made up of 14 facilities, including 10 plants, would produce ethylene glycol, polyethylene, and polypropylene. Construction was initially set to begin in 2019, with the initial opening date set for 2024 and the final stage of the development being completed by approximately 2029. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) approved the air permits