Business and Finance

Taiwan Cement Turkey plan approved

ROOM FOR EXPANSION: Taiwan Cement is the sixth-largest player in the Greater China region at 75 million tonnes, and prospects for growth close to home are limited, it said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 27, 2018
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥) yesterday said that its board of directors has greenlit a US$1.1 billion investment in Turkey’s OYAK Cimento AS to expand the company’s presence beyond Asia as the Chinese market becomes increasingly saturated.

The Turkish firm is fully owned by Ordu Yardimlasma Kurumu (OYAK), the pension fund of the Turkish Armed Forces.

TCC said it would begin negotiating the terms of a joint venture holding company with OYAK, which would control the Turkish company’s domestic cement businesses.

The joint venture, tentatively named Dutch TCC Holdings, would be 40 percent owned by TCC, with OYAK controlling 60 percent, TCC said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.    [FULL  STORY]

Insurance firms in Taiwan step up investment in ‘5 plus 2’ industries: FSC

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/24
By:  Central News Agency

A wind farm (Photo by CNA)

Insurers in Taiwan seem eager to invest in the “5 plus 2” industries being promoted by the government, having poured about NT$100 billion (US$3.23 billion) into those sectors in a recent four-month period, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said.

Taiwanese insurance companies, which are looking for viable investment targets for their idle funds, invested NT$127.24 billion in those sectors between September 2017 and August 2018, according to data from the FSC, Taiwan’s top financial regulator.

Of that amount, more than NT$100 billion was invested from May to August 2018, the data showed.

The FSC did not provide more detailed figures on the types of investments made or what drove the surge during those four months other than to say that it showed insurers’ interest in investing in those sectors.    [FULL  STORY]

CSBC, Ørsted to work together on Changhua wind farm project

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/24
By: Liao Yu-yang and Flor Wang

Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) Ørsted Taiwan inked a contract Wednesday with Kaohsiung-based

Matthias Bausenwein (second right) / CNA file photo

CSBC Corporation to build wind turbine foundation pin-piles at a site off the coast of Changhua County in central Taiwan.

“We will use Ørsted designed Jacket foundations which are tailored to meet the seabed conditions in Taiwan,” said Matthias Bausenwein, general manager Asia Pacific Ørsted and chairman of Ørsted Taiwan, at the ceremony.

“Each foundation will be supported by three pin-piles that are driven into the seabed, forming a robust foundation structure to sustain the weight of the tower and wind turbine system,” he said.

“We are glad to have found a partner like CSBC, a company that has many years of experience in heavy industry and shipbuilding,” he said.

Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花), who witnessed the signing of the contract, said the deal will boost Taiwan’s offshore energy industry.    [FULL  STORY]

Macronix net profit down 18 percent

LOW-MARGIN CHIPS: Business from Japan’s Nintendo was lower than expected, the company said, adding that it is in talks with its client to digest a glut in inventory

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 25, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory chipmaker, yesterday said that its net profit last quarter fell 18 percent from the previous quarter, while gross margin dipped due to a higher inventory write-off and increased shipments of lower-margin memory chips to Nintendo Co.

Net profit last quarter fell to NT$1.92 billion (US$62.04 million) from NT$2.33 billion in the third quarter of last year, with earnings per share of NT$1.05, down from NT$1.28 a quarter ago.

“The third-quarter net profit slightly lagged behind our expectations, as business from Nintendo was a bit lower” than expected, Macronix chairman and chief executive officer Miin Wu (吳敏求) told an investors’ teleconference.

Inventory, most of which were prepared for Nintendo for the holiday shopping season, last quarter spiked 20 percent to NT$17.16 billion from a quarter ago, the company’s financial statement showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan aviation sector set for continued growth: Boeing

Boeing expects Taiwan’s commercial aviation sector to sustain continued growth for next 20 years

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/23
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

Oct. 23 (Photo courtesy of the Boeing Company)

Randy Tinseth, Vice President of Commercial Marketing at Boeing speaking in Taipei on

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s commercial aviation sector is set for continued growth over the long term, off the back of sustained demand and economic growth, according to Randy Tinseth, Vice President of Commercial Marketing at Boeing.

Boeing’s projections suggest that the aviation industry in Northeast Asia grow by an will average 2 percent over the next 20 years, and Tinseth said Taiwan’s growth will be somewhat higher than that, as Taiwan’s aviation demand is stronger than the region and its economy has recently performed well.

Tinseth spoke to the media about Boeing’s view of the aviation market, and Boeing’s offerings during a press event in Taipei on Oct. 23.

Tinseth said that Taiwan’s aviation market has doubled in size over the past 10 years, and has grown above worldwide trend. This growth is caused by a rebound of air freight and increased tourism.    [FULL  STORY]

Clevo head unveils Twin Towers plan

ZERO CHINESE CAPITAL  :Kent Hsu said his team would work with the US architecture firm that designed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, adding that he has already secured loans

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 24, 2018
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Contract computer maker Clevo Co (藍天電腦) and its affiliate Hongwell Group (宏匯集團) yesterday shed light on their plans for a multibillion-dollar development project near Taipei Railway Station.

The consortium is one of two teams that submitted a tender for the Taipei Twin Towers development project, whose winner is to be announced by the city government in December.

“We are 100 percent Taiwanese investors without a penny of Chinese capital,” Clevo chairman and the consortium’s head Kent Hsu (許坤泰) told a media briefing in Taipei.

Hsu, who owns Chicony Electronics Co (群光電子) and the China-based Buynow (百腦匯) retail chain, said he and his family have been at the helm of Hongwell Group since its establishment in 1997.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s China Airlines not excluding possibility of introducing A350-1000 aircraft

China Airlines Chairman says airline will weigh the option of introducing Airbus A350-1000 aircraft 

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)— Taiwan’s China Airlines Chairman Ho Nuan-Hsuan (何煖軒) said the airline will weigh the option of introducing Airbus A350-1000 aircraft after receiving delivery on Monday of the last one of the 14 A350-900 aircraft the company had purchased in 2008, according to a Chinese-language Liberty Times report on Monday.

In 2008, China Airlines made a purchase of 14 new A350-900 double-engine, wide-body jetliners and the option of six more A350 model aircraft.

Therefore, the airlines still has the option to choose other models of the remaining six A350 aircraft yet to be delivered, the report said.

Ho said the airline will consider introducing A350-1000 aircraft because of its fuel efficiency and the capacity to carry 366 passengers, 60 more than A350-900 is capable of handling.    [FULL  STORY]

Jobless rate for September dips to 18-year low: DGBAS

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/22
By: Pan Tzu-yu and William Yen 

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Taiwan’s jobless rate in September fell to its lowest level for the month since 2000 due to a continued economic recovery and a stable local job market, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) on Monday.

In September, the local unemployment rate fell 0.11 percentage points from a month earlier and 0.01 percentage points from a year earlier to 3.76 percent, the lowest level since September 2000, when it was 3.10 percent, DGBAS data showed.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for September was 3.70 percent, up from 3.69 percent a month earlier and unchanged from last year, according to DGBAS data.
[FULL  STORY]

Export orders hit highs, miss forecasts

SLOWING MODERATELY: Export orders rose to the most for the month of September, but the amount was lower than the range forecast by the Ministry of Economic Affairs

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 23, 2018
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s export orders last month continued to rise and set new records, but the level fell short of previous forecasts, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

Export orders rose 4.2 percent year-on-year to US$47.86 billion, the highest level for the month of September, but the amount was lower than the US$48.2 billion to US$49.2 billion range forecast by the ministry a month ago.

The annual pace of increase was also lower than DBS Bank Ltd’s 6.7 percent growth forecast and weaker than the 7.1 percent increase recorded in August.

The launch of major smartphones and wearable devices continued to drive export orders throughout the supply chain, while emerging technology trends including artificial intelligence have helped offset cooling demand for products used for cryptocurrency mining, Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) said.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s CIER calls for domestic demand stimulus to combat trade war

CIER calls for government stimulus to lessen impact of trade war, including NT$420 billion infrastructure program

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/19
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Consumers at shopping center in Taipei. (By Wikimedia Commons)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research’s (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) most recent forecast predicts Taiwan’s GDP growth to taper off in 2019 due to the U.S.-China trade war, leading the think tank to call for the government to implement policies to stimulate domestic demand.

Taiwan’s economy is likely to be adversely affected by a decline in exports due to the trade war, leading CIER to call for the government to launch a host of stimulus policies to boost domestic demand.

CIER released its economic forecast for Q4 2018, predicting that Taiwan’s GDP will grow by 2.61 percent in 2018, and 2.18 percent in 2019.

In response to the trade war, CIER recommends for the government to implement a host of measures to boost domestic demand, including a four year NT$420 billion (US$13.58 billion) infrastructure investment scheme, reforms to the tourist industry, and loosening of restrictions to service industries, reported Liberty Times.    [FULL  STORY]