SALES INTEREST: ‘We are not going to alter our capital spending for this year, nor are we going to revise our revenue growth outlook,’ TSMC chairman Mark Liu said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 10, 2020
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter, in Hsinchu

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday left its record capital expenditures plan unchanged for this year as robust client demand for 5-nanometer technology is expected to quickly fill a capacity hole after the US government announced restrictions against supplying Huawei Technologies Co (華為).

The world’s biggest contract chipmaker had said that it planned to spend between US$15 billion and US$16 billion this year primarily to expand capacity for advanced 5-nanometer and 7-nanometer technologies, and develop 3-nanometer technology.

“It looks like we will see a hole in demand for 5-nanometer capacity this year, but I believe this hole will soon be filled,” TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) told a media briefing after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu.

If HiSilicon Technologies Co (海思), a semiconductor arm of Huawei, cancels orders, TSMC’s other clients would make up for that lost capacity, as they have approached the company about placing orders, Liu said in response to shareholder concern that the US’ latest chip supply restrictions on foreign chipmakers might put a damper on TSMC’s revenue growth.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/08
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Popular bakery outlet Bread Société (布列德) has announced the closure of all its Taiwan stores by the end of June, citing the impact of the pandemic.

The company is looking forward to making changes to its business model, which it declined to elaborate on.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/08/2020
By: Chang Hsiung-feng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 8 (CNA) The number of furloughed employees in Taiwan rose by more than 2,000 over the last seven days, bringing the total to over 28,000, as the world's largest footwear contractor, Taichung-based Pou Chen Corp., is believed to contribute to the increase, according to statistics released Monday by the Ministry of Labor (MOL).

As of June 7, 1,263 companies had unpaid leave programs, while a total of 28,345 workers had agreed to go on furlough, up by 2,022 in terms of workers but down 67 companies from the previous week's figures.

Pou Chen announced in mid-May that it planned to furlough workers from June until the end of this year, including 2,600 at its Changhua plant.

By industry, the manufacturing sector had 13,735 workers on furlough over the past week, the highest of any industry, including 4,597 workers in the chemical manufacturing sector, according to the ministry.    [FULL  STORY]

PANDEMIC’S INFLUENCE: Exports of textile products plummeted 35.1 percent, but shipments of electronic components rose 13.2 percent to a record US$10.24 billion

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 09, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s exports last month declined 2 percent year-on-year to US$27 billion, as cheaper crude oil prices dampened sales of products heavily reliant on raw materials, overshadowing shipments of electronic components, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

It was the third straight month the critical economic gauge remained negative and exports might not improve this month or even for the rest of this year, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a news conference in Taipei.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on sales of products using raw materials, as seen in a 57.3 percent plunge in exports of mineral products,” Tsai said.

Likewise, shipments of base metals, plastic and chemical products dropped 15.2 percent, 19.9 percent and 15.6 percent year-on-year respectively, the ministry said in a report.    [FULL  STORY]

Travel bans on four countries to be lifted, Taiwan not included

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/06
By: Chris Chang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Japanese government is discussing measures to loosen the entry ban on business travelers, and planning to waive quarantines on visitors from certain countries as long as they have submitted negative test results and provide detailed visiting plans.

The goal is to facilitate business travel and start reviving the economy. Partnering countries that Japan is discussing measures with are Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand, Nikkei reported.

Anyone who wants to enter Japan from the partnering countries needs to have polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, an accurate genetic test for the coronavirus, and provide the negative test results plus visiting plans to local Japanese embassies for the visas. The plans need to list the visitors' destinations and accommodation in Japan within two weeks after entry.

Businesses in Japan that receive visitors also have to submit managing plans and proof to the authorities, explaining the necessity of having foreign arrivals. Once the process is completed, visitors will not have to undergo the two-week quarantine.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/07/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 7 (CNA) The Taiwan government's stimulus measures are likely to spur domestic consumption in the short term, as the country relaxes its COVID-19 restrictions, but the country's economic future will depend on the recovery of Europe and the United States from the pandemic, an economist said Sunday.

The measures include the "Triple Stimulus Voucher" program to be launched July 15, which will allow Taiwan nationals and their foreign spouses to buy NT$3,000 (US$100) worth of shopping vouchers for NT$1,000, and a domestic travel subsidy that starts July 1 in an effort to revive the tourism sector.

While those packages and others are expected to help stimulate domestic consumption in summer as some COVID-19 restrictions are eased, the boost is likely to be only temporary, said Wu Dach-rahn (吳大任), director of the Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development at National Central University.

If the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and the U.S. does not recede in the second half of the year, and global demand remains sluggish, Taiwan's export-reliant economy and its labor market will be hard hit, which will hurt consumption growth, Wu said.    [FULL  STORY]

Travel bans on four countries to be lifted, Taiwan not included

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/06
By: Chris Chang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Japanese government is discussing measures to loosen the entry ban on business travelers, and planning to waive quarantines on visitors from certain countries as long as they have submitted negative test results and provide detailed visiting plans.

The goal is to facilitate business travel and start reviving the economy. Partnering countries that Japan is discussing measures with are Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand, Nikkei reported.

Anyone who wants to enter Japan from the partnering countries needs to have polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, an accurate genetic test for the coronavirus, and provide the negative test results plus visiting plans to local Japanese embassies for the visas. The plans need to list the visitors' destinations and accommodation in Japan within two weeks after entry.

Businesses in Japan that receive visitors also have to submit managing plans and proof to the authorities, explaining the necessity of having foreign arrivals. Once the process is completed, visitors will not have to undergo the two-week quarantine.    [FULL  STORY]