cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/44208973
Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) has agreed to halt purchases of Russian naphtha following an investigation by several environmental organizations, which found that Taiwan had become the world’s leading importer of the resource in the first half of 2025, largely due to increased imports by FPCC. A summary of the report was previously published by The Insider.
According to a statement by the environmental group Ekozashchita! (lit. “Ecodefense!”), Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin said that FPCC’s contracts for Russian oil are set to expire soon and that the company does not intend to renew them. He had earlier said Taiwan would “respect and abide by EU and G7 norms” and confirmed that the ministry had held talks with the company, though the results of those discussions were not disclosed.
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Naphtha (/ˈnæfθə/, recorded as less common or nonstandard in all dictionaries: /ˈnæpθə/) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Generally, it is a fraction of crude oil, but it can also be produced from natural-gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the fractional distillation of coal tar and peat. In some industries and regions, the name naphtha refers to crude oil or refined petroleum products such as kerosene or diesel fuel.