■ Chi Mei to expand in China
Chi Mei Corp (奇美) plans to expand its petrochemical plants in China, it was reported yesterday. The company will invest about US$100 million to expand its petrochemical plants at Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, to make inroads into China's domestic market, a Chinese-language newspaper quoted Chi Mei vice president Hsu Chun-hua (許春華) as saying. Chi Mei plans to start construction of a new ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) production line by the end of the year and have it operational 18 months later, Hsu said. The project will increase ABS capacity at Zhenjiang to 350,000 tonnes per year from 250,000 currently. ABS resin is widely used in making toys, furniture and casings of electrical appliances.
■ China to fix energy problem
China hopes to overcome its worst energy crisis in decades and have a surplus of electrical power by 2007, the Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. China installed 50 million kilowatts of new power capacity last year, Xinhua said, citing Wang Yonggan (王永幹), secretary-general of the Chinese Electricity Council. China will add 70 million kilowatts annually to the country's power grid over the next three years, Wang was quoted as saying on Monday. The targeted annual increase is four times the current capacity of Shanghai, which has about 17 million kilowatts. By 2007, China would have a total power capacity of 650 million kilowatts and would have balanced its supply and demand, Xinhua said.
■ EVA's cargo operations expand
The cargo transportation operation of EVA Airways (長榮航空) has expanded significantly since the carrier began cooperation with Shanghai Airlines (上海航空) two years ago on a Taipei-Shanghai cargo flight route via Macau, EVA officials said yesterday. With abundant cargo sources in Shanghai, EVA's Taipei-US cargo shipments have risen to account for 60 percent of the company's total cargo business, EVA officials said. According to the officials, the company's cargo aircraft takes over Shanghai Airlines deliveries in Macau, then transports them via Taipei to six major cities in the US.
■ First Financial may make bid
First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) is considering a bid for Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀), a Chinese-language daily said, citing unidentified senior officials at First Financial. First Financial said its board endorsed the chairman's bid to seek merger and acquisition opportunities, according to a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange late Monday. There was no information about potential targets, according to the statement. Taiwan Business Bank said on July 27 that it started inviting bids from local and foreign investors as part of a government plan to speed up financial consolidation. Yesterday was the deadline for the first-round bid submission, the newspaper said.
■ NT dollar falls
The New Taiwan dollar fell against its US counterpart for a second day after a government report showed the nation's trade surplus declined, prompting speculation fund inflows from overseas will drop. The trade surplus in the first seven months of the year slumped 84 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said Monday. "The narrowing trade surplus is weighing on the Taiwan dollar," said Joseph Lee, a trader at Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行). "Fund inflows may decrease." The NT dollar slid NT$0.014 to close at NT$31.963 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$679 million, down from US$1.03 billion the previous day.
RSS