China trade grows 22.9%
Trade with China rose 22.9 percent to US$20.88 billion in the first six months of this year over the same period last year despite the SARS outbreak, Board of Foreign Trade officials said yesterday.
The amount accounted for 16.6 percent of total trade volume in that period, up 1.8 percentage points from the same period last year, officials said.
In the first six months, Taiwan exported US$16 billion worth of goods to China via a third area, principally Hong Kong. It imported,via a third territory, US$4.89 billion worth of Chinese products, up 37.6 percent from a year ago, officials said.
New official at Citigroup Asset
Citigroup Asset Management announced the appointment of Vincent Chen (陳家豪) as the rental business head for the Taiwan office, Citigroup said in a statement yesterday.
Chen was formerly a vice president with Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
The company will introduce eight new mutual funds next month, the statement added.
China Steel profit, sales soar
China Steel Corp (中鋼) reported first-half net income more than quadrupled amid recovering demand and increased steel prices.
China Steel profit rose to NT$18.2 billion (US$532 million) from NT$4.08 billion in the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement. The company also raised its earnings per share to NT$1.98, up from NT$0.46.
China Steel's board of directors has authorized the chairman to raise the company's earnings forecast for this year after having secured a better grasp on market conditions following a recent increase in its basic domestic steel prices for the fourth quarter, it said.
CAL reports NT$905m loss
China Airlines Co (華航) had a net loss of NT$905 million (US$26 million) for the first half of the year as people shunned travel due to the SARS outbreak.
The outbreak of SARS curbed travel between Taiwan and Hong Kong, the airline's most profitable route.
For the first six months of the year, the carrier had a loss compared with a profit of NT$1.34 billion last year.
Formosa Plastics lists Q2 profit
Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the nation's biggest maker of polyvinyl chloride, had a 46 percent gain in second-quarter profit on investment gains.
Net income rose 46 percent to NT$4.21 billion (US$123 million) from NT$2.87 billion a year earlier. Three-month sales rose 19 percent to NT$19.3 billion.
The company reported first-half income climbed to NT$7.29 billion from NT$5.35 billion. Sales climbed 18 percent to NT$37.1 billion from NT$31.4 billion.
BTCO to cohost seminar
The British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) and the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce are planning to host a seminar on the information and communication technology market and new developments in Europe on Sept. 9, the BTCO said in a statement Wednesday.
BTCO said a number of speakers will address the opportunities in the UK's information and communication technology market at the seminar.
NT dollar drops
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday continued to drop against its US counterpart after overseas investment into the nation's stock market slowed, sapping demand for the currency. The local currency was down NT$0.015 to close at NT$34.209 against the greenback on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$500 million.
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