Taiwan News  
Date: 2019/05/12
By:  Central News Agency

Taiwan’s two major fuel suppliers announced reductions in fuel prices for the coming

week after eight consecutive weeks of price hikes because of a fall in international crude oil prices driven by trade friction between the United States and China.

Effective midnight Sunday, the price of CPC Corp., Taiwan gasoline and diesel will fall NT$0.20 per liter, the state-run oil refiner announced.

With the adjustments, retail prices at CPC gas stations will be NT$28.60 (US$0.92) per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$30.10 per liter for 95 octane unleaded, NT$32.10 per liter for 98 octane unleaded, and NT$26.60 per liter for super diesel.

The company adjusts its fuel prices on a weekly basis according to changes in a weighted oil price formula composed of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/12
By: Tsai Peng-min and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Summer electricity rates in Taiwan will go into effect starting June 1 and last until Sept. 30 to encourage users to reduce power consumption during the peak summer months.

Taiwan has introduced higher electricity rates during the summer months since 1989, with rates this year reaching up to 27 percent higher than standard rates from October to May, the website of state-run utility Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) showed.

Consumers with average household energy consumption of 300 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month during the non-summer period are expected to use an average of 40 percent more electricity, or 420 kWh, per month during the summer.

As a result, consumers who use a total of 420 kWh of electricity per month will pay NT$440 (US$14.20) more per month during the summer, while those who use 1,000 kWh of power a month will see their bills go up by NT$656 a month, based on Taipower estimates.    [FULL  STORY]

President Tsai Ing-wen orders government bodies to help Taiwanese businesses return from China

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/11
By: Yu-ning Hsu, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has ordered government departments and institutions to prepare for an escalation of the trade war between the United States and China.

After the U.S. decided to raise tariffs on Chinese goods Friday (May 10), Tsai met with the National Security Council, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Central Bank, Council of Agriculture, and Council of Mainland Affairs to produce an action plan in response to U.S.-China and global trade developments. The plan (因應美中及全球貿易新情勢行動綱領), released on Friday, lists eight directions for the relevant agencies to follow through on.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/11
By Chang Chein-chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) The value of production of the local integrated circuit sector is expected to grow more than 8 percent in the second quarter from a quarter earlier on rising demand for select consumer electronics devices.

The local semiconductor industry is expected to rebound from a slow first quarter, when output fell more than 17 percent from the fourth quarter of 2018, the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) said.

The institute said that while the global semiconductor sector continues to work through inventory adjustments in the second quarter, the looming peak season for the consumer electronics industry should rekindle demand and boost the fortunes of IC makers.

Makers of some consumer electronics gadgets, such as interactive toys, have seen orders grow, increasing demand for semiconductors to some extent, while other consumer electronics devices, including smartphones, remain in the doldrums.
[FULL  STORY]

Next round of banknote auctions to take place May 23

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/10
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Central Bank of Taiwan has raked in nearly NT$60 million (US$19.2 million) for the government coffers over the past eight years through an unusual moneymaking method – auctioning special-number New Taiwan Dollar banknotes.

Since 2011, the Central Bank has conducted 13 auctions that brought in an accumulated NT$57 million from sales of banknotes printed with specific serial numbers. The most sought-after notes included numbers 888888 and 666666, the pronunciations of which are homophonic with words carrying auspicious meanings in Chinese, reported UDN.

A large number of people in Taiwan, and beyond the island, are enthusiastic collectors of New Taiwan Dollar banknotes bearing specific numbers either for investment or collection purposes. The fever has spawned business opportunities from trading such notes, an activity that is particularly appealing to senior citizens, said the Central Bank, which takes charge of affairs related to issuing currency.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/10
By: Chung Jung-feng and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 10 (CNA) Terry Gou (郭台銘), chairman of Taiwanese manufacturing giant

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., has been nominated as a board member of the company, the firm revealed in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Friday.

But Gou, who declared his intention in mid-April to compete for the opposition Kuomintang’s nomination in the 2020 presidential election, responded by saying he will not seek to be reelected as chairman.

After Gou announced his presidential bid, the market has watched closely who will succeed him to become Hon Hai’s chairman to run the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic products, including Apple iPhones.

A board meeting held Friday decided on a list of nine board members. In addition to Gou, the other eight are: Lu Fang-ming (呂芳銘), Liu Yang-wei (劉揚偉), Lee Chieh (李傑), Lu Sung-ching (盧松青), Tai Jeng-wu (戴正吳) as well as three independent directors who are Wang Kuo-cheng (王國城), Kuo Ta-wei (郭大維), and Kung Kuo-chuan (龔國權), according to Hon Hai.    [FULL  STORY]

Power component supplier to Apple promises 7,000 new jobs over 3 years

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/09
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Delta Electronics, a supplier of power components to Apple Inc.,

has become the latest company to heed the government’s call to return home with an investment plan worth NT$13.2 billion (US$426 million), reports said Thursday (May 9).

As in other recent examples, the current trade war between the United States and China was at the base of the investment move, with companies looking to avoid falling victim to U.S. tariffs by relocating manufacturing away from China, the Central News Agency reported.

Delta already purchased land in northern, central and southern Taiwan to make the investments over a period of three years, according to the reports.

The plans would also result in the creation of more than 7,000 jobs across the country, though even before, Delta was recruiting 1,800 employees unrelated to the latest investment project, the company said. Most of the new staff were engineers for research and development departments.    [FULL  STORY]