Business and Finance

Industrial output hits new record high

CONSUMER-FACING: Sales in the retail sector rose 1.2 percent, while revenue in the food and beverage sector grew 2.9 percent — their best annual increases since 1953

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 24, 2018
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s industrial output last month expanded by 1.2 percent annually, bringing last year’s industrial production index to a record high of 109.63, up 2.9 percent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The manufacturing sector index, which contributed more than 92 percent to industrial output, last year gained 3.74 percent annually to 111.42, its highest level since records started in 1953, the ministry said.

“The continued recovery of the global economy benefited the nation’s manufacturing sector last year,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) told a news conference in Taipei.

Last month, the manufacturing sector grew 0.93 percent annually, the 20th consecutive month of annual expansion, ministry data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Meet the Company Trying to Democratize Disaster Mapping

Can open data change the way citizens respond to disasters?

The News Lens
Date: 2018/01/23
By: Morley J Weston

In the wake of 9/11, the U.S. government began urging citizens, “if you see something,

Photo Credit: Reuters / 達志影像

say something,” but whatever got reported was shunted into the black box of national security, never to be seen again.

One startup called GeoThings is trying to bring about a new paradigm of disaster reporting in which anybody can report a problem and teams of volunteers can map it out for anybody to use or solve. GeoThings’ co-founder and CEO, the ironically named Slayer Chuang (莊國煜), told The News Lensthat he saw the potential to work on this problem several years ago when he heard about uncoordinated responses to disasters.

Taiwan, Chuang said, experiences all sorts of “complicated disasters” like typhoons and earthquakes, and the country is relatively well prepared.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan launches GBP/USD, AUD/USD FX futures

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/01/22
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) launched GBP/USD and

(By Taiwan News)

AUD/USD FX futures on Monday to offer a wider range of diversified financial products for local investors to hedge against or minimize investment risks.

Dr. Liu Len-Yu (劉連煜), the chairman of TAIFEX, said the institution has continued to move forward with new financial derivatives to serve local investors. In July 2015, the exchange launched its first two RMB futures contracts (USD/CNT and USD/CNH FX futures) and today it offers up to eight futures on different currency pairs after the British Pound and Australian Dollar jumped on the bandwagon to reduce the exchange rate risk of investors.

TAIFEX has been named winner of the Financial Derivatives Exchange of the Year by Asian Bank and Emerging Exchange of the Year at the FOW Awards several years in a row. Recognized by prestigious international financial publications, the institution has continued to innovate to improve market liquidity and growth, setting new record highs of contracts traded in the exchange year over year. In 2017 alone, the number of contracts exceeded 265 million.   [FULL  STORY]

Despite MOF hype, small investors not the winners of new tax code

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/22
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Frances Huan 

Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has pitched its new tax code as being beneficial to small investors because of the tax credit they will get on dividend income, but in fact big shareholders are likely to be the major beneficiaries of the plan.

After the government’s tax bill cleared the Legislature last Thursday, the MOF said holders of stock who do not have other sources of income will come out ahead because they will not have to pay income tax on dividends of up to about NT$940,000 (about US$32.100), and could even get a tax rebate.

It actually oversold the new plan, however, because smaller investors will find there’s little difference compared with the taxes they pay at present.    [FULL  STORY]

Exports break yearly, monthly records

OVERALL STRENGTH: Handset orders from ‘a US firm’ last month drove the segment’s 22.3% growth, which could have been higher if not for lagging demand for notebooks

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 23, 2018
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s export orders surged 17.05 percent year-on-year to a record high of US$48.47 billion last month, largely driven by a US smartphone vendor’s handset orders and rising global demand for servers, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The ministry refused to name the company, but it is widely known that it was referring to Apple Inc.

The monthly data meant total export orders for last year were up 10.9 percent year-on-year to US$492.81 billion, the best annual performance since the ministry began compiling data in 1953.

“Last month represented the 17th consecutive annual growth in export orders… It has been a good year for Taiwan’s export orders,” Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) told a news conference in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

60% of Taiwan businesses recruiting during Q1 2018: poll

A survey was recently conducted by TaiwanJobs

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/01/21
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) — The weeks following Lunar New Year are generally when people in

(Image from Pixabay user Jo_Johnston)

Taiwan switch to new jobs or even change career paths, so it should come as no surprise that a large number of businesses have plans to recruit during the first quarter of this year.

According to the latest survey by TaiwanJobs, an online recruitment platform established by the Bureau of Employment, 60.60 percent of Taiwan’s businesses surveyed have plans to recruit during the first quarter, while 24.62 percent are unsure and 14.78 percent do not have openings, so will not be recruiting.

TaiwanJobs published its results based on 1,109 completed, valid telephone questionnaires collected between Nov. 20 and Dec. 7, 2017. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.93 percentage points.    [FULL  STORY]

CPC gasoline prices to rise for sixth consecutive week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/21
By: Liao Yu-yang and William Yen

Taipei, Jan. 21 (CNA) State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan will raise its domestic

CNA file photo

gasoline prices but will leave diesel prices unchanged this week at CPC gas stations nationwide.

CPC said Sunday that its gasoline will be increased by NT$0.1 (US$0.0034) per liter, effective from midnight. It will be the sixth consecutive week of increases.

Prices islandwide will stay unchanged at NT$25.1 per liter for super diesel, but will rise to NT$27.2 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$28.7 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$30.7 per liter for 98 unleaded, the company said.

The increase was mainly due to geopolitical tension in Nigeria that could affect its supply of crude oil and also to continuing cuts in production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to CPC.    [FULL  STORY]

ASE announces pay hike for employees

REASON TO CELEBRATE: The company announced the increase and a bonus at its annual banquet, joining a host of local companies that are raising workers’ salaries

Tapei Times
Date: Jan 22, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, on Friday announced a 3 to 5 percent pay raise for workers at the company’s plants in Kaohsiung’s Nantze Export Processing Zone (楠梓加工出口區) and Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) this year, joining a slew of local companies in increasing employee payrolls.

ASE is to also give away an extra bonus of NT$10,000 to rank-and-file employees at its Kaohsiung headquarters, the company announced at its annual banquet, or weiya (尾牙) party, for employees.

The wage hikes came after ASE saw revenue increase 5.66 percent to NT$290.44 billion (US$9.87 billion) last year, compared with NT$274.88 billion in 2016.

Automotive components maker Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業) also announced on Friday at its weiya party that employees are to get a pay increase of 5 percent, along with Lunar New Year bonuses equivalent to between three and three-and-a-half months of their salary.    [FULL  STORY]

TSMC, Hon Hai help TAIEX rise to 28-year high

RUNNING OUT OF STEAM? One analyst said that as the two tech giants cannot rise indefinitely, there is a risk the weighted index will fall without additional support

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 21, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA and AFP

Local shares on Friday hit a new high, reaching the highest point in almost 28 years as large-cap electronics stocks, in particular contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), made a strong showing, dealers said.

While those two large-cap stocks posted solid gains, many other high-tech stocks, as well as non-high-tech stocks, especially in the petrochemical sector, remained sluggish throughout the session, they said.

The TAIEX on Friday closed up 79.28 points, or 0.72 percent, at the day’s high of 11,150.85, off an early low of 11.095.85, on turnover of NT$133.51 billion (US$4.54 billion). That represented an increase of 2.5 percent from a close of 10,883.96 on Jan. 12.

Friday’s close was the highest level since April 3, 1990, when the TAIEX ended at 11,119.00 points.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan firms to face anti-dumping tariffs in South Korea, Malaysia

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/01/20
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) — Authorities in South Korea have ruled that Taiwanese petrochemical

(By Central News Agency)

firms have caused damage to its industry by dumping products, while authorities in Malaysia have also determined damage caused by Taiwanese stainless steel exporters that sold their products at unfairly low prices, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Saturday.

The MOEA said the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) has suggested an 8.68 percent anti-dumping tariff to be imposed on Taiwan’s polyethylene terephthalate or polyester (PET) film makers after an investigation.

PET film is an ingredient of a wide range of products including packaging materials, solar energy panels, adhesive tape and liquid crystal displays, according to the MOEA.
[FULL  STORY]