■ Exports rise 6.9 percent
Taiwan's exports rose 6.9 percent year-on-year to US$15.78 billion last month amid expanding demand, reversing a 10.8 percent fall in February, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Imports in March grew 14.9 percent year-on-year to US$16.17 billion, up from a 17.3 percent drop in the previous month, the ministry said. The nation posted a trade deficit of US$398.8 million for the month as compared with a surplus of US$899.2 million in February, it added. In the first three months of this year, exports rose 7.8 percent year-on-year to US$42.85 billion while imports increased 12.6 percent to US$42.56 billion. Taiwan enjoyed a trade surplus of US$292.1 million in the period, down from US$1.95 billion for the same period last year. Exports to Hong Kong and China last month amounted to US$5.86 billion, or 37.1 percent of the total, while those to the US followed at US$2.49 billion, or 15.8 percent, the ministry said. Exports to Europe amounted to US$2.04 billion, or 13.0 percent, while shipments to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations came in at US$2.07 billion, or 13.1 percent.
■ Chipmakers' revenues drop
The world's two largest suppliers of made-to-order chips said yesterday that business remained sluggish last month, with clients still trying to reduce inventories. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) posted revenue of NT$17.61 billion (US$558.5 million) last month, down 11.8 percent from NT$19.97 billion the same month a year ago. For the three months ended March 31, TSMC's revenue totaled NT$55.65 billion, a drop of 3 percent from NT$57.51 billion in the corresponding period last year. The company said it still had inventory problems last month, but expected business start picking up in the second quarter. Rival United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) said revenue last month was NT$7.01 billion (US$222.18 million), down 22 percent from NT$9.01 billion for March last year. The company's January-March revenue fell 19.8 percent to NT$20.29 billion from NT$25.33 billion a year earlier.
■ Kaohsiung probes China Steel
China Steel Corp (中鋼) president Chen Chen-rong's (陳振榮) supervision of Taiwan's biggest steelmaker may be investigated as a result of four industrial accidents, the Kaohsiung City Government said. Kaohsiung asked prosecutors to probe Chen's management after four accidents in eight months in which four workers were killed. It marks the first time this year that the Kaohsiung government has asked prosecutors to investigate a company because of industrial accidents. The city usually has fewer than 20 major industrial accidents a year.
■ TAIEX sheds 41.73 points
Stocks ended lower yesterday on concerns that a cooling down of China's economy would hurt local companies, especially in traditional sectors of the economy, analysts said. The TAIEX finished 41.73 points, or 0.7 percent, lower at 5,971.76. Dealings were valued at NT$78.7 billion (US$2.49 billion). Morris Chen, an analyst at Daiwa Securities SMBC-Cathay, said Taiwan's old-economy industries like paper, cement, glass and steel are sensitive to any signs of cooling demand in China because growth in the region had contributed a significant portion of these companies' profits last year.
■ NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against its US counterpart, up NT$0.016 to close at NT$31.555 on the Taipei foreign exchange market yesterday. Turnover was US$873 million.
RSS