4.5% of Chunghwa offer sells
Taiwan sold 4.5 percent of shares on offer on the first day of a NT$25 billion (US$719 million) sale of a stake in Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信).
The government said it raised NT$1.13 billion from today's sale, with the highest price paid the stock's closing price of NT$52.50 today. The lowest bid accepted was NT$50, a 4.7 percent discount to today's close.
Based on the floor price set by the government, which is offering 500 million Chunghwa Telecom shares to local investors, the sale will raise NT$25 billion. The auction continues for another five trading days.
The government, which owns more than 80 percent of Chunghwa Telecom, failed last month to sell 100 million shares in the former monopoly.
Chunghwa Telecom has been a tough sell because of competition in the world's densest cellphone market and a global slump in the telecommunications industry. The government once said it would sell a third of the company by the end of 2000.
The revived offer is timed for Chunghwa Telecom's dividend of last year. April 16 is the last day on which buyers will be entitled to the payout.
CETRA looking to Middle East
The China External Trade Devel-opment Council (CETRA) is trying to organize a trade mission, which will visit several countries in the Middle East soon after the war in Iraq is over.
CETRA Secretary General Chao Yung-chuan (趙永全) said 27 companies have shown interest in joining the mission, which will go to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and some other countries in the Middle East for trade promotion as soon as peace and stability return to the region.
Chao said the government is preparing to give humanitarian assistance to Iraq and help the Iraqis rebuild the country after the war.
There will be a considerable demand in the Middle East for medical equipment, building materials, machinery, hardware, auto parts and other products in the aftermath of the war, Chao said.
The trade mission will not go to any area under international embargo, he added.
CPC may lower prices
Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC, 中油) said yesterday that barring any unexpected circumstances, it will review whether to adjust downwards the price of petroleum next week or at the end of the month.
CPC deputy president Chiu Chi-hsiung (邱吉雄) said that the US-led military campaign against Iraq is going smoothly and it is estimated that global petroleum prices should drop.
But he noted that world oil prices will hinge on political and economic situations. As there are still uncertain factors in the Iraqi war with the whereabouts of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein unknown, he said that international oil prices could shoot up if Iraqi oil fields are sabotaged.
West Texas Intermediate crude closed at US$28.85 a barrel Wednesday, up US$0.85 from the previous trading session, he said.
Chiu noted that the US currently has a stockpile of 17 million barrels of oil, down from the previous 18 million barrels, and the OPEC is also thinking about cutting back production to deal with the price cut. Therefore, the price of international petroleum under close obervation by the company, he said.
If the price continues to fall, then the CPC will review the adjustment downwards of prices for its products next week or by the end of this month, he added.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rose against its US counterpart, gaining NT$0.045 to close at the day's low of NT$34.767 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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