Business and Finance

Young Taiwan rice farmer finds a market in Hong Kong

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 05 March, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

Wei Jui-ting’s own brand of rice

A young rice farmer from Taitung has built up a brand and found an eager market in a place where Taiwanese rice is largely unknown: Hong Kong

Wei Jui-ting is an enterprising young man. This farmer from southeastern Taiwan has won praise for his rice in Hong Kong.

Rice imported into Hong Kong is subject to quota restrictions, with most imports coming from Thailand.

Still, Wei has broken into the market. After bringing some of his rice to Hong Kong last year, he received an order for four metric tons of rice to be delivered in June. He has also signed a three-year contract with Hong Kong buyers.

Now, Wei could well be the first Taiwanese farmer to enter the Hong Kong market with his own independent brand.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipower told to pay GE US$158 million in nuclear plant deal dispute

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/05
By: Tsai Peng-min and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) State-run Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Tuesday that based on international

CNA file photo

arbitration, it must pay American company General Electric Co. (GE) US$158 million in a dispute over payment for a reactor system for use in Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant.

Expressing regret at the ruling, which also stipulates that the payment must be made before June, Taipower said it will decide whether or not to accept the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC’s) ruling or appeal it after discussing the matter with its team of attorneys.

In April 2014, then-Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) announced that the two GE-built reactors at the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District, New Taipei, would be mothballed amid rising public outcry against nuclear power following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan on March 11, 2011.

The procedure of mothballing the plant was completed in July 2015 and the plant has been kept mothballed ever since.    [FULL  STORY]

DBS trims yearly CPI forecast

FOOD uncertainty: The minimum wage increase is to have a minimal impact on consumer prices due to slow GDP growth and subdued inflation, the lender said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 06, 2019
By: Kao Shih-ching  /  Staff reporter

Given strong deflation momentum, DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday trimmed its consumer price index (CPI) forecast from 1 percent to 0.7 percent for this year, but said that the uncertainties would come mainly from volatile food components.

Inflation is easing faster than expected in Taiwan, as headline inflation dropped to 0.2 percent in January, down from 0.5 percent last quarter and 1.7 percent in the third quarter of last year, the Singapore-based lender said in a report.

Oil prices have started to rebound thanks to a recovery in global risk appetite, China’s policy stimulus and optimism regarding US-China trade talks, the bank said, adding that they might rise in the coming months, given that OPEC members have started to cut production and the US’ waiver on sanctions on Iran is to expire at the end of next month.

Brent crude oil prices would drop to about US$65 per barrel on average in the first half of this year, but advance to between US$70 and US$75 in the second half, driving full-year energy inflation growth toward zero, the bank said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs opposes increase in electricity prices

The minister expressed confidence that the country’s power supply will remain sufficient from 2019 to 2025

Taiwan News 
Date: 2019/03/04
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said Monday he is not

Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin attends a Legislative Yuan session on Mar. 4 (Source: CNA)

inclined to advise increasing current electricity prices, but the ministry will respect the final decision made by a review committee later this month.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs reviews electricity prices twice a year, with a committee meeting held to determine wether there will be adjustments to electricity prices. The next meeting is scheduled at the end of March.

Speaking before a Legislative Yuan session on Monday, Shen said the ministry will express its stance in the meeting that it is not inclined to raise the current electricity prices, since the global oil price has remained stable this year compared to last year, reported the Central News Agency.

The minister expressed confidence that the power supply in the country from 2019 to 2025 will remain sufficient, with the yearly and daily operating electricity reserve margin staying respectively around 15 percent and 10 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Electricity prices projected to rise to NT$3.39 per kWh by 2025

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/04
By: Liao Yu-yang and Evelyn Kao 

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) Electricity consumption in Taiwan is projected to grow by 1.86 percent annually from 2018 to 2025 and electricity prices to increase 29 percent to NT$3.39 (US$0.11) per kilowatt hour (kWh) by 2025, as long as fuel prices remain unchanged, Economics Minister Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said Monday, citing the ministry’s latest electricity consumption report.

The estimated 1.86 percent annual growth is an upward revision from the 1.26 percent estimated by the ministry in 2017 after factoring in large scale investments in the semiconductor sector, more overseas Taiwanese businesses returning and investing at home, climate change and the emergence of electric vehicles, Shen said at a legislative hearing.

By 2025, it is estimated the average cost of electricity to consumers will increase to NT$3.39 per kWh, up from the current level of NT$2.62, Shen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Innolux renewing fabs to shift focus

‘RED OCEAN’: China’s irrational LCD panel investments could lead to a supply glut, to which Innolux is responding by focusing its production on fingerprint sensors

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 05, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff Reporter

LCD panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that it is modernizing its old fabs to manufacture higher-margin fingerprint sensors and miniLED backlights for public displays and TV panels, instead of investing heavily on next-generation fabs.

The Miaoli-based company said that it began looking for new products that can be produced at its less-advanced factories about six years ago in a bid to shift away from the standard flatpanel market amid China’s frenzy of investing in 8.5 and 10-generation LCD panel factories.

China’s irrational investments would lead to a supply glut and “put Taiwan under heavy pressure,” C. K. Wei (韋忠光), an assistant vice president of Innolux’s technology development center, told a media briefing in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Gasoline prices to rise this week; diesel prices to stay flat

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/03
By: Evelyn Kao and Tsai Peng-min and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) The price of gasoline will increase by NT$0.2 (US$0.07) per liter this week but diesel prices will remain unchanged, Taiwan’s two major fuel suppliers said Sunday.

State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp. Taiwan said prices at its gas stations nationwide will go up to NT$26.5 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$28.0 per liter for 95 unleaded, and NT$30.0 per liter for 98 unleaded with effect from midnight Sunday. The price of super diesel, however, will remain at NT$25.5 per liter, CPC said.

Based on CPC’s pricing formula, which follows international crude oil price fluctuations, its gasoline prices would have increased by NT$1.3 this week but the company said it decided on a NT$0.2 per liter hike to keep domestic fuel prices below regional levels.   [FULL  STORY]

Egis to benefit from phone biometrics

CREDIT SUISSE OUTLOOK: Under-display finger-sensing is expected to become the predominant biometric identification method for high-end Android phones

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 04, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Taipei-based Egis Technology Inc (神盾) is likely to be one of the under-display finger-sensing chipmakers to benefit from the growing use of biometric identification among premium Android smartphones this year, Credit Suisse Group AG said in a recent report.

Its recent supply-chain check suggests that Android smartphone brands are turning more aggressive in adopting under-display finger-sensing, instead of 3D facial recognition, as they seek to increase a smartphone’s viewable area at an affordable cost, Credit Suisse said.

Higher build-of-materials (BOM) for 3D-sensing facial recognition, which was adopted by Apple Inc for its iPhone X, was one of the main reasons behind the shift to under-display finger-sensing, the report issued last month said.

China’s Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀), Xiaomi Corp (小米) and Huawei Technologies Co (華為) have launched several high-end models with optical under-display solutions since the second half of last year, the report said.    [FULL  STORY]

Central bank unlikely to change interest rates: economists

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/02
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang 

Taipei, March 2 (CNA) Taiwan’s central bank is expected to maintain its current interest rates when it holds its quarterly policymaking meeting on March 21, economists said Saturday.

Although the domestic economy has been showing signs of a slowdown, it does not warrant an interest rate cut anytime soon, two local economists said.

At its last quarterly policymaking meeting in December 2018, the central bank kept the discount interest rates at 1.375 percent, the rate on accommodations with collateral at 1.750 percent, and the rate on accommodations without collateral at 3.625 percent, for the 10th consecutive quarter.

Norman Yin (殷乃平), a professor in the Department of Money and Banking at National Chengchi University, said the domestic economy is unlikely to plunge anytime soon, despite a slowdown, so it is not necessary for the central bank to loosen its monetary policy right now to stimulate the economy.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s first theater equipment expo kicks off in Taipei

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 01 March, 2019
By: Jake Chen

First Taiwan Theatre Expo Launched in Taipei City. (CNA Photo)

Taiwan’s first ever exhibition of theater equipment has kicked off in Taipei.

The 2019 Taiwan Theater Expo launched on Friday afternoon at Taipei National University of Performing Arts. A number of local companies have presented their latest equipment, including lights and mobile stages. Many from the local performance art scene have attended the opening of the expo to show their support.

The event will run through March 3.    [SOURCE]