The Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday that since the nation relies entirely on imports for its coal supply, it has to diversify its import sources to ensure smooth operations.
Taiwan also needs to sign long-term purchase contracts to stabilize its coal supplies, ministry officials said.
The officials said that total coal imports amounted to around 65 million tonnes last year, mainly from Australia, Indonesia and China, which accounted for 39 percent, 37 percent and 20 percent respectively.
The ministry has instructed Taiwan Power Co (台電) to step up coal exploration overseas so as to ensure a steady supply, the officials said.
World coal prices have continued to surge since 2003, mainly because of the rise of China and India, which has led to massive demand and tight supply. The officials noted that major coal producers such as Australia have seen coal prices rise by 46 percent since early this year.
China announced on Jan. 24 a suspension of coal exports for two months because of its own urgent need for coal and electricity due to heavy snowstorms that wreaked havoc in some areas of the country, while production in South Africa’s coal mines has been affected by electricity shortages during the same period, prompting it to also suspend coal exports.
“World coal supplies over the past year have been the tightest since the second energy crisis of 1979,” officials said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) secured a record 70.2 percent share of the global foundry business in the second quarter, up from 67.6 percent the previous quarter, and continued widening its lead over second-placed Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday. TSMC posted US$30.24 billion in sales in the April-to-June period, up 18.5 percent from the previous quarter, driven by major smartphone customers entering their ramp-up cycle and robust demand for artificial intelligence chips, laptops and PCs, which boosted wafer shipments and average selling prices, TrendForce said in a report. Samsung’s sales also grew in the second quarter, up
LIMITED IMPACT: Investor confidence was likely sustained by its relatively small exposure to the Chinese market, as only less advanced chips are made in Nanjing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) saw its stock price close steady yesterday in a sign that the loss of the validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing, China, fab should have a mild impact on the world’s biggest contract chipmaker financially and technologically. Media reports about the waiver loss sent TSMC down 1.29 percent during the early trading session yesterday, but the stock soon regained strength and ended at NT$1,160, unchanged from Tuesday. Investors’ confidence in TSMC was likely built on its relatively small exposure to the Chinese market, as Chinese customers contributed about 9 percent to TSMC’s revenue last
Taiwan and Japan will kick off a series of cross border listings of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this month, a milestone for the internationalization of the local ETF market, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said Wednesday. In a statement, the TWSE said the cross border ETF listings between Taiwan and Japan are expected to boost the local capital market’s visibility internationally and serve as a key for Taiwan becoming an asset management hub in the region. An ETF, a pooled investment security that is traded like an individual stock, can be tracked from the price of a single stock to a large and
Despite global geopolitical uncertainties and macroeconomic volatility, DBS Bank Taiwan (星展台灣) yesterday reported that its first-half revenue rose 10 percent year-on-year to a record NT$16.5 billion (US$537.8 million), while net profit surged 65 percent to an unprecedented NT$4.4 billion. The nation’s largest foreign bank made the announcement on the second anniversary of its integration with Citibank Taiwan Ltd’s (花旗台灣) consumer banking business. “Taiwan is a key market for DBS. Over the years, we have consistently demonstrated our commitment to deepening our presence in Taiwan, not only via continued investment to support franchise growth, but also through a series of bolt-on acquisitions,” DBS
RSS