Business Briefs

■ UMC to build chip plant
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world's second largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday it will begin construction of a 12-inch wafer plant in Taiwan by the end of this year.
"Market conditions will determine our plans for installation of production equipment, which is expected to account for more than 90 percent of the total investment for a wafer plant," a company spokesman said.
Total investment amount and production specifics were yet to be decided.
However, a 12-inch wafer plant with a monthly capacity of 40,000 units costs about NT$100 billion (US$3.09 billion).

■ Bad loans hit new peak
The bad loan ratio of cash cards hit a new high in May but is expected to fall in the next two months after seeing more steady repayment flood in from indebted cardholders, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of cash cards shot to 7.84 percent in May, up 1.09 percentage points from the previous month or 7.01 percentage points from a year ago, according to the latest figures released by the commission's Banking Bureau.
The NPL ratio for credit cards declined by 0.05 percentage points month-on-month to 3.33 percent in May, the data showed.

■ NT dollar gains
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, appreciating NT$0.089 to close at NT$32.310 on a turnover of US$846 million.