Business and Finance

With high temperatures, power consumption hits year high

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/18
By: Huang Li-yun and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 18 (CNA) With temperatures repeatedly hitting record highs in Taiwan for 2017, power consumption also reached a new high for the year on Tuesday, according to state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower, 台電).

Electricity consumption peaked at about 36.11 million kilowatts at 1:48 p.m. on Tuesday, a high for 2017, as Taipei, the capital city, recorded a new high of 36.8 degrees Celsius.

Before Tuesday, Taipei had not experienced a temperature above 36 degrees Celsius so far this year. On Tuesday the temperature in the capital was the highest around the island, with the peak temperatures in central and southern Taiwan topping 34 degrees Celsius, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).    [FULL  STORY]

MOEA under fire on Mining Act review

COMMITTEE MEETING:A DPP lawmaker called the ministry lazy for failing to send its draft amendment for review, but an official said it was still in the public notice period

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 19, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday came under fire from lawmakers for failing to introduce an amendment to the Mining Act (礦業法) as they began a review of proposed revisions prompted by a public outcry over the mining industry’s effect on the environment.

“Lawmakers have been talking about amending the law since February and yet the ministry failed to send an amendment. It is so lazy,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), co-convenor of the Economics Committee, told a meeting of the Legislative Yuan committee.

Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Yang Wei-fu (楊偉甫) said the ministry’s draft amendment is undergoing a 60-day public notice and so could not be sent to the Legislative Yuan yet.

The committee is to review a bill submitted by lawmakers article-by-article today and tomorrow, including a ceiling on the amount that can be mined, the extension length of mining rights and how to retroactively impose new regulations on companies.
[FULL  STORY]

‘One Belt, One Road’ gives Taiwanese glass fiber firm a geographic advantage

The China Post
Date: July 18, 2017
By: The China Post

Established by Taiwan Glass Industrial Corp. (台玻集團), Taichia Chengdu Glass Fiber

Image: taiwanglass.com

Co. (台嘉成都玻纖公司) in Sichuan province is an important glass fiber manufacturing base in western China.

Hu Wenliang (胡文亮), general manager of Taichia Chengdu Glass Fiber, said the region had great potential for development and that the company was set to reap indirect benefits from Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative.

In 2012, Taiwan Glass built the glass fiber plant in Qingbaijiang District of Sichuan capital Chengdu.

The plant not only produced glass fiber but also wove it into fiberglass cloth, a material used in circuit boards. The fiber and cloth were made under one roof, something that major manufacturers were unable to do.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipower losses top NT$7.1 billion in first half of 2017

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-16

Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) racked up more than NT$7 billion (US$234.54 million) in the first half of the year. That’s in stark contrast with the NT$24.7 billion (more than US$800 billion) surplus in the first half of 2016.

Taipower posted the biggest gains of any of the state-run companies in 2016 with a surplus of NT$39.6 billion (over US$1.3 billion). But it was the only state-run enterprise to not report a profit in the first six months of 2017.

Taipower attributed its losses in 2017 to both weakened revenues and higher costs. It said that revenues went down because of a 9.56% cut in electricity rates that took effect in April, 2016. That has led in part to accumulative losses for the company of more than NT$100 billion (US$3.3 billion).

On the cost side, the drop in Taipower’s nuclear-power generation because of reactor shutdowns and maintenance forced the company to buy extra fuel oil and natural gas to make up for the power deficit.    [SOURCE]

CPC to cut fuel prices

Focus Taiwan
Date: 017/07/16
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp. Taiwan (中油) said it will cut its

CNA file photo

domestic gasoline prices by NT$0.3 (US$0.01) per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.4 per liter this week, starting at midnight Sunday.

After the price cut, prices at CPC gas stations countrywide will be NT$20.4 per liter for super diesel, NT$22.9 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$24.4 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$26.4 per liter for 98 unleaded, the company said.

CPC lowered its prices after the average price of crude oil based on its weighted formula fell to US$46.44 per barrel this week from NT$47.70 per barrel a week earlier, according to its website.  [FULL  STORY]

TTL sets sights on Latin America market, in particular Paraguay

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/16
By: Central News Agency

Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp. (TTL, 台酒) said Saturday that it has set its sights on the Latin American market, in particular targeting Paraguay, which just signed an economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan earlier this week.

To get its first look at the market, TTL is taking part in a 10-day agriculture product exhibition sponsored by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), a government-sponsored trade promotion group, that kicked off in Asuncion on Friday.

TTL is demonstrating its full product line there, including Taiwan Beer, Gold Medal Taiwan Beer, fruit-flavored beer as well as its Omar Single Malt Whisky.

According to the company, many Paraguayan visitors to the show have been impressed by Omar Single Malt Whisky, which has received awards at several international competitions such as the IWSC International Wine & Spirits Competition and the World Whiskies Awards.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei sees steepest drop in land prices

OUT OF REACH:Home prices were 9.24 times the average salary, meaning it would take nine years to buy a home if the purchaser bought nothing else, a report said

Taipei Timeas
Date: Jul 17, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Urban land prices continued to fall as the local property market remained in the doldrums, with Taipei prices falling at the steepest rate, statistics released on Saturday by the Ministry of the Interior showed.

The urban land price index, an important measure of the local property market, fell 0.49 percent during the period from Oct. 1 last year to March 31 from the previous half-year, data from the ministry’s second semi-annual report showed.

An earlier report said that urban land prices dropped 0.35 percent from April 1 to Sept. 30 last year.

The latest drop was the steepest since 2010, the ministry said, adding that Taipei, the most closely watched property market in the nation, suffered the largest fall of 1.53 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Gartner: Worldwide semiconductor revenue to reach US$400 billion in 2017

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/13
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to total

6-1.TIF

US$401.4 billion in 2017, an increase of 16.8% from 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. This will be the first time semiconductor revenue has surpassed US$400 billion. The market reached the US$300 billion milestone seven years ago, in 2010, and surpassed US$200 billion in 2000.

“A shortage of memory is creating a boom in the overall semiconductor market,” said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. “Memory vendors have been able to increase their price for DRAM and NAND, driving revenue and margins higher.”

The booming memory market, with revenue forecast to increase 52% in 2017, is expected to shake up semiconductor market share rankings. “As the largest memory supplier, Samsung Electronics is set to gain the most,” said Norwood. “This gives Samsung its best shot at capturing the No. 1 position from Intel for the first time.”    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s power consumption hits year’s new high on Thursday

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/13
By: Huang Li-yun and Romulo Huang

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Electricity consumption in Taiwan on Thursday recorded its

(CNA file photo)

new high for this year due to continued high temperatures througout the country and only limited afternoon showers, state-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said.

Electricity usage peaked at 35.749 million kilowatts at 1:43 p.m. Thursday, with the operating reserve margin falling to 4.57 percent, or 1.64 million kW, flashing an orange light for the ninth time so far this month.

According to Taipower statistics, Thursday’s power consumption was the fourth-highest ever recorded by the state-owned company, Taiwan’s sole electricity supplier.

The previous three records all fell in July last year, with the highest of 36.199 million kW recorded on July 28, followed by the 35.987 million kW on July 29, and
the 35.821 million kW on July 27.    [FULL  STORY]

TSMC: TSMC revenue dips amid inventory glut

BRIGHTER OUTLOOK:The company said it would have have the most advanced technology in the market next year and expects to outperform the industry in the fall

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 14, 2017
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted the

Back row, from left, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co co-chief executive officers C.C. Wei, Mark Liu and chief financial officer Lora Ho yesterday attend an investor conference in Taipei. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

lowest quarterly net profit in five quarters, but it expects a strong rebound starting this quarter, thanks to a speedy ramp-up in production of 10-nanometer mobile phone chips and the depletion of excessive inventory in the supply chain.

TSMC, which supplies 10-nanometer chips to Apple Inc for the latest iPhone series, expects revenue this quarter to expand by up to16.6 percent to between US$8.12 billion and US$8.22 billion, compared with NT$213.86 billion (US$7.04 billion) in the prior quarter.

“This growth is driven by fast ramp-up of 10-nanometer mobile customer products, but moderated by [fabless customers’] continuous inventory adjustment,” TSMC co-chief executive officer Mark Liu (劉德音) told investors..    [FULL  STORY]