Industry insiders believe that if Mailiao could really be turned into a free port, and direct shipping was allowed across the Taiwan Strait, then Formosa Plastics wouldn't have to go to the mainland to build a naphtha cracker plant, and could just use its sixth naphtha cracker plant to supply the mainland's mid- and downstream industries, becoming a model of cross-strait division of labor.
業界認為，麥寮港若真能設置為自由貿易港區，並成為兩岸直航港口，台塑集團甚至不必赴大陸投資輕油裂解中心，只需由六輕直接供應在大陸的中下游廠商，成為兩岸垂直分工的典範。