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Bicycle exports increase nearly 12%

A bicycle priced at NT$350,000 is displayed yesterday at a bicycle event organized by Merida Industry Co on the shores of Kaohsiung County’s Chenching Lake. The event attracted over 10,000 visitors. PHOTO: CNA

Bicycle exports to the EU rose 11.76 percent year-on-year to 1.9 million bikes in the first half of this year, while the export value to the EU surged by 27 percent to US$340.6 million during the same period, amid high oil prices and growing health and environmental awareness, the Taiwan Bicycle Exporters’ Association said.

“I am rather upbeat about the bicycle industry’s sales growth in the long run. And I believe sales will grow at a faster pace if more and more countries attempt to restrict motor vehicles. Many big cities in China have even banned or restricted motorcycles,” Jeffrey Sheu (�?�), spokesman of the world’s largest bicycle manufacturer, Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械), said by telephone yesterday.

Giant Manufacturing registered NT$19.5 billion (US$618.7 million) in revenues in the first half of this year, up 25.1 percent from a year earlier. Net income climbed 14.5 percent to NT$1.01 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) was NT$3.61, a company filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Aug. 22 showed.

Despite this, rising raw material costs and the appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the US currency in the first quarter took their toll on Giant’s gross margin.

“Although prices of aluminum and carbon fiber have been more stable recently, compared with three years ago, they have increased nearly three-fold,” Sheu said.

Giant exported 910,000 units of bicycles from Taiwan last year, and aims to ship more than 1 million units this year. The company’s average free on board (FOB) price of Taiwan-exported bicycles was US$340 last year, and the company expects to see a 10 percent increase this year, Sheu said.

Merida Industry Co (美利達工業), the nation’s second-largest bicycle manufacturer, posted revenues of NT$4.44 billion in the first half of the year.

Net income was NT$548 million, down 4.86 percent from NT$576 million a year earlier, because of foreign exchange losses in the first quarter. Earnings per share was NT$2.55.

William Jeng (鄭文祥), spokesman and senior vice president of Merida Industry, said by telephone yesterday that the company aims to export between 780,000 and 800,000 bicycles this year, up from 755,000 last year.

The average FOB price of the company’s Taiwan-exported bicycles fell to US$400 in the first 7 months of this year from US$410 a year earlier because of the increasing export of medium- to low-priced bicycles in the first half, Jeng said.
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