Business and Finance

Fuel prices at CPC pumps to rise this week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/28
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp. Taiwan (中油)

(CNA file photo)

said it will raise its domestic gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 (US$0.007) per liter this week, starting at midnight Sunday.

After the price hike, prices at CPC gas stations countrywide will be NT$21.7 per liter for super diesel, NT$24.1 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$25.6 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$27.6 per liter for 98 unleaded, the company said.

It will be the company’s second price hike in two weeks after an increase of NT$0.5 per liter for gasoline and NT$0.6 per liter for diesel last week.    [FULL  STORY]

CPC considers US investments

RED TAPE:The company expects a September start date, but said there are certain regulations for state-owned firms that could slow its foray into the changing market

Taipei Times
Date: May 29, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

State-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) is considering investing in shale gas extraction and a petrochemical plant in the US, company chairman Chen Chin-te (陳金德) said yesterday.

Chen is scheduled to depart for the US on June 14 on a fact-finding visit.

Chen said that CPC and its affiliates would like to invest about US$10 billion in the US, with the aim of adopting more advanced technology to produce higher-quality ethylene at a lower cost.

He said the first step is next month’s visit to the US, when he will be accompanied by Minister Without Portfolio Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), to explore the possibility of investing in natural gas in Louisiana.
[FULL  STORY]

Sharp president confirms US investment plans

800 billion yen is possibly sum of Sharp and Foxconn investments: Tai

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/27
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Sharp Corporation President Tai Jeng-wu (戴正吳), a close

Sharp Corp. President Tai Jeng-wu. (By Central News Agency)

confidant of Hon Hai Precision Industry (鴻海) Chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘),

confirmed in Taipei Saturday that the company planned to invest in a panel factory in the United States.

Reports of U.S. plans for the Hon Hai group, which is also known as Foxconn Technology and includes Sharp, have been rife for months. Speculation reached a new high when Gou visited the White House on April 27 and 28, though at the time he did not confirm whether he actually met President Donald Trump on those occasions.

Speaking to reporters at an event in Taipei Saturday, Tai said Sharp was looking to manufacture small and medium-sized panels in the U.S. which would not be limited to smartphones. The screens could also be used for aircraft, space shuttles, aerospace, government departments and even defense, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Electricity prices forecast to rise 10% in nuclear-free Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/27
By: Huang Li-yun and Christie Chen

Taipei, May 27 (CNA) Electricity prices in Taiwan will increase by no more than 10

(CNA file photo)

percent if the country phases out nuclear power by 2025, Economics Minister Lee Chih-kung (李世光) said Saturday, rejecting projections of a 40 percent hike.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has set a goal of creating a nuclear-free homeland by 2025, while a law was amended this year to allow the supply of green energy directly to consumers and the restructuring of the state-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower).

In keeping with the government’s goal of phasing out nuclear power, the Ministry of Economic Affairs in May released a plan for electricity generation in Taiwan, saying that by 2025, it should be 50 percent from natural gas, 30 percent from coal, and 20 percent from renewable energy sources.    [FULL  STORY]

TAIEX dips before long weekend

BARGAIN HUNTING:Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang said investors shifted attention to IC designers such as MediaTek due to their relatively low valuations

Taipei Times
Date: May 28, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA and Bloomberg

Shares closed marginally lower on Friday after moving in a narrow range throughout the session amid cautious sentiment ahead of the four-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, dealers said.

With select large-cap stocks such as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and iPhone and iPad assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) in the doldrums, IC designer firms and some old economy stocks attracted bargain hunting, which lent some support to the broader market, the dealers said.

The TAIEX ended down 6.54 points, or 0.06 percent, at 10,101.95, after moving between 10,072.84 and 10,121.88 on turnover of NT$91.77 billion (US$3.05 billion).

The market opened down 0.18 percent on a mild technical correction from a session earlier, as investors shrugged off a higher Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.34 percent overnight, the dealers said.
[FULL  STORY]

Hotai Motor’s profits jump two-fold despite stagnant sales. How did they do it?

The China Post
Date: May 27, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Over the past decade, Taiwan’s yearly car sales have seen

(Business Today)

nearly zero growth. In an unfavorable environment, only one enterprise has posted a rise in profit, with growth that’s about two-fold.

This company isn’t a high-tech firm with an arsenal of unique technology, and it’s not a manufacturing firm with iron-willed management.

It is Hotai Motor Co. (和泰汽車), whose cars richly populate Taiwan’s roads.

With yearly revenue of NT$170 billion, Hotai Motor is Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota’s first overseas distributor. It has not only been ranked No. 1 in the automotive market for 15 consecutive years, but has also enjoyed a 30 percent market share in Taiwan. While the company’s name is not as much of a household name as automaker Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), it has become an industry authority under the leadership of Hotai’s cofounder Su Yann-huei and now his son Justin Su, in the 70 years since it was founded. Hotai’s market share surpassed Yulon’s in 2002, and Hotai’s share prices now hover at NT$360 with market value reaching NT$200 billion, again surpassing rival Yulon and allowing it to sit comfortably atop the throne of the domestic automobile market.
[FULL  STORY]

CSC to lower prices to ensure competition

Taipei Times
Date: May 27, 2017
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s largest and only integrated steelmaker, yesterday said it would lower steel prices by 5.28 percent on average for shipments in the third quarter in response to fluctuations in global markets.

Prior to the cut, the steelmaker had raised prices by 12.6 percent and 6.9 percent for deliveries in the first and second quarter respectively to reflect soaring raw material costs.

Given decreasing global steel prices, the latest adjustment would ensure that its downstream customers can compete with their peers overseas, as some of them are facing fierce competition from cheap steel plate imports in Taiwan, CSC said in a statement.

Based on the adjustment, CSC is to lower prices of its products by NT$1,142 (US$37.91) per tonne for next quarter’s contracts, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

Gogoro 2 priced cheaper than iPhones

New Gogoro 2 prices driven down to NT$19,700 through special package.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/26
By: Judy Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Telecommunication company FarEasTone smartphone clients

New Gogoro 2 extends Gogoro’s Smartscooter family to an even broader audience. (PRNewsfoto/Gogoro)

that have signed a two-year binding contract will be able to purchase the ergonomic electric scooter Gogoro 2 at a bargain price of NT$19,700 (US$654.16), making it cheaper than an iPhone, said Gogoro founder Horace Luke (陸學生).

FarEasTone clients paying a monthly fee of at least NT$1,799 over a period of two years, will be given the option to buy the scooter at a discount price, and given an additional NT$5,000 worth of accessories.

For non-FarEasTone clients, government subsidies will slash the cost of the electric scooter from the original retail price of NT$73,800 to NT$44,800, and the lowest price for acquiring the smartscooter for users trading in an old bike for a new one is NT$38,800.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s economy seeing sluggish growth

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/26
By Chen Cheng-wei and Ko Lin

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Taiwan’s economy turned sluggish in April, with the overall

(CNA file photo)

monitoring index flashing “yellow-blue” for the first time after nine consecutive months of stable growth, according to business indicators published on Friday by the National Development Council (NDC).

The NDC uses a five-color system to gauge the country’s economic performance, with blue indicating economic recession, yellow-blue representing economic sluggishness, green denoting stable growth, yellow-red referring to a warming economy and red pointing to economic overheating.

The economic slowdown in April was primarily due to the strong New Taiwan dollar, which has had a short-term impact on the overall economy, the NDC said.
[FULL  STORY]

US hikes duty on CSC plates to 75.42%

RARE RULING:Raising the duty 10 times higher than the previous decision is uncommon, and other nations were not handed such steep hikes, an official said

Taipei Times
Date: May 27, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The US Department of Commerce on Wednesday dramatically raised an anti-dumping duty on carbon and alloy steel plates from Taiwan’s China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) from 6.95 percent to 75.42 percent in an amended final decision that affects imports from eight countries, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The ruling came one day after the US International Trade Commission initiated an investigation into imports of solar cells and modules, including products from Taiwan, the ministry’s Bureau of Foreign Trade said.

“We think the amended anti-dumping duty indicates a move toward trade protectionism by the US government,” a bureau official, who declined to be named, said by telephone.

The department on April 28 last year began an anti-dumping investigation on imports of carbon and steel alloy cut-to-length plates from eight countries — Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium and Austria.    [FULL  STORY]