Taiwan's Formosa Plastics says Q1 net down 58 pct

TAIPEI, April 30 (Reuters) - Formosa Plastics (1301.TW), one of Asia's biggest petrochemical producers, posted a 58 percent drop in its first-quarter net profit as the global economic slowdown sapped demand and prices.

Formosa Plastics' net profit was T$2.92 billion ($88 million) in January-March, sharply lower than T$6.96 billion in the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange late on Wednesday.

The decline comes as Formosa Plastics and its global rivals are getting hit by the economic recession, which deepened late in 2008 and spilled over into early this year.

Shares of the company were 7 percent limit up on Thursday, in line with the broader market's 6.74 percent surge, its best one-day gain in 18 years.

($1=T$33.2)

(Reporting by Faith Hung)