■ Bilateral trade up 15 percent
Bilateral trade between Taiwan and China in the first eight months of the year increased 15 percent to US$45.6 billion, the Board of Foreign Trade said yesterday. Taiwan posted a trade surplus US$19.87 billion on its trade with China, up 4.7 percent, as exports to the mainland period rose 11.7 percent to US$32.74 billion and imports were up 24.5 percent at US$12.87 billion. The figure represented 18.9 percent of Taiwan's total foreign trade during the period, compared with 17.9 percent a year earlier, it said. The January-August shipments to China accounted for 27.1 percent of Taiwan's total exports during the period, compared with 25.9 percent a year earlier, the board said. Imports from China during the period accounted for 10.7 percent of the nation's total imports, up from 9.6 percent.
■ China Steel declines
China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan's largest steelmaker, had a 9.5 percent decline in third quarter profit as costs rose and prices fell. Net income declined to NT$13 billion (US$386 million) from NT$14.3 billion a year earlier. Sales climbed 1.9 percent to NT$46.2 billion, the Kaohsiung-based company announced yesterday.
A jump in China's steel output led to a 27 percent drop in Asian steel prices in the past six months. That forced China Steel to lower prices for Taiwan customers for the first time in about three years. The steelmaker sold about 25 percent of products to overseas clients.
China Steel shares fell 0.8 percent to NT$25.75 by the Taiwan Stock Exchange's 1:30 p.m. close. The stock has plunged 24 percent this year, compared with an 8.3 percent decline in the benchmark TAIEX index.
Profit for the nine months ended Sept. 30 climbed 24 percent to NT$45.8 billion, while operating costs rose 14 percent to NT$86.2 billion, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
■ Online shopping may leap
The scale of Taiwan's online shopping market stood at NT$38.9 billion (US$1.158 billion) last year, and the figure is likely to exceed NT$90 billion for 2006, according to the Market Intelligence Center (MIC, 市場情報中心).
The top three most popular items purchased over the Internet are books and magazines, computers and other high-tech products and beauty care goods, MIC said in a report, adding that online shops have become very popular in Taiwan in recent years thanks to cheaper product prices, easy and convenient access and home delivery services. The public is also gaining greater confidence in online shopping, as more and more bricks and mortar shops have opened online branches.
■ President chain revenue up
President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), which operates the world's third-largest 7-Eleven franchise with over 4,000 outlets nationwide, yesterday announced revenues for the first third quarters to reach NT$70.49 billion (US$2.1 billion), up 15 percent year-on-year. After-tax profit in the preiod is NT$3.16 billion, or NT$3.45 per share. The sales jump is largely attributed to its successful marketing campaign featuring collectible Hello Kitty magnets in the summer peak season. Also, it started to roll out ready-to-drink Starbucks beverages and "parado" cosmetics on shelves to achieve a market segmentation, the company said.
It expects stronger fourth-quarter performances as it launched a Disney-themed miniature figure give-away last week in hopes of driving up profits during the three-month period, it said.
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