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Shares fall over fears

Taiwanese shares closed 0.31 percent lower yesterday amid fresh worries over the US economy following weak consumer confidence data and a sharp drop in home prices there, dealers said.

The weighted index closed down 27.07 points at 8,768.02 off a high of 8,842.52 and a low of 8,712.39. Turnover was NT$183.34 billion (US$6.11 billion).

Decliners led risers 1,363 to 789, with 281 stocks unchanged.

A total of 21 stocks closed limit-down and 32 were limit-up.

LG Display eyes AmTRAN stake

LG Display Co, the world's second-largest maker of liquid-crystal displays (LCD), said it is considering an alliance with Taiwan's AmTRAN Technology Co (瑞軒科技).

LG Display may also cooperate or form partnerships with other companies, the Seoul-based panel maker said in a regulatory filing yesterday, without providing details.

The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported last week that LG Display is discussing the purchase of a stake in AmTRAN, a Taipei-based assembler of LCD televisions.

LG Display may buy 30 percent of AmTRAN or form a joint venture with the Taiwanese company's affiliate, Vizio Inc, the newspaper said.

LG Display chief executive officer Kwon Young-soo said last month that it may announce partnerships with other companies within the first half of this year.

He didn't identify potential candidates.

Chip sales to fall: UBS

Global semiconductor sales will rise at a slower pace than earlier expected because of weak prices of memory chips and slowing consumer spending, UBS AG said.

Revenue in the industry will rise 4 percent to US$273 billion this year, Uche Orji and fellow analysts at UBS wrote in a report yesterday.

The brokerage had previously predicted growth of 7 percent.

Chinese corn on its way

China shipped a cargo of corn to Taiwan for the first time in four years to help ease a supply shortage, China's biggest grain trader said.

The shipment, which left the port of Dalian on Monday and may arrive at Kaohsiung by tomorrow, was allowed under a special quota issued by China's State Council, the Beijing-based Cofco Ltd said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.

China halted corn exports from the end of last year to ease local shortages, the statement said. Cofco is the only Chinese company approved to export corn to Taiwan, and the shipment may "reduce costs of raising livestock on the island."

China had not shipped corn to Taiwan since January 2004, the statement said.

Taiwanese cafe set for Lhasa

A Taiwanese cafe franchise will open a store in Tibet in October despite the recent unrest in the Himalayan region controlled by China, a corporate source said yesterday.

Lee Kuo-yen (李國彥), vice president of Cross Strait Cafe (兩岸咖啡) -- a Hangzhou-based Taiwanese company that has opened more than 430 cafe restaurants under its franchise around China since 2003 -- told CNA that when the Cross Strait Cafe store opens on Lhasa's bustling Yutuo Road in October, it will be the largest cafe in Tibet and the company's first outlet there.

The Tibetan partner is expected to initially invest between 2 million yuan and 3 million yuan (US$250,000 and US$375,000) to build the cafe, which will cover floor space of about 2,000m2, Lee said.
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