Sinosteel to visit Taiwan
Sinosteel Corp (中國中鋼), China’s second-largest iron-ore trader, plans to visit Taiwan’s China Steel Corp (中鋼) and Yieh United Steel Corp (燁聯鋼鐵) this month after Beijing agreed to lift investment curbs from last Friday.
“The tour is arranged under government guidance to push mainland companies to invest in Taiwan,” Sinosteel spokesman Li Kejie (李可傑) said yesterday in a phone interview. “We already have cooperation with Yieh United and China Steel. So far, the cooperation hasn’t reached the stage of stake purchases.”
Chinese companies are allowed to buy stakes in Taiwan’s industries from this month, the Ministry of Commerce said last week, as ties improved since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office last May. China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) agreed on Thursday to buy 12 percent of Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳), the first investment by a Chinese state-owned company in Taiwan in 60 years.
Sinosteel has agreed to provide raw materials, fuel and equipment to Yieh United, a stainless steel producer, Sinosteel said yesterday on its Web site, citing a Feb. 10 agreement with the Kaohsiung-based company.
Sinosteel also plans to set up an office in Taipei to coordinate its work with Yieh United, it said.
Tsingtao denies report
Tsingtao Brewery Co (青島啤酒), a Chinese brewer partly owned by Asahi Breweries Ltd and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, denied a newspaper report that it plans to build a plant in Taiwan.
The Taipei-based Economic Daily News, citing a weekend report by the Nanfang Daily newspaper, quoted Tsingtao spokesman Zhang Ruixiang (張瑞祥) as saying the company may set up a Taiwan brewery following the consensus reached on Chinese investment in Taiwan.
“We have no plan to build our own plant” in Taiwan, Zhang said in a phone interview yesterday. “We already have a beer venture through a collaboration in Taiwan and have a good relationship with our partner.”
He also denied having been interviewed by the Guangzhou, China-based Nanfang Daily.
Tsingtao in 2002 gave Taiwan’s Sanyo Whisbih Group brewing technology and the use of its brand name for a venture able to make 100,000 tonnes of beer a year, Tsingtao said in a statement at the time. Tsingtao gets royalties, Zhang said yesterday, declining to say how much.
Tsingtao may take as much as a 30 percent stake in the venture after Taiwan begins letting Chinese companies investing, the statement said.
NT dollar rises again
The New Taiwan dollar rose for a third day on speculation closer ties with China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, will help end a recession and draw foreign funds.
The currency climbed to its highest level this year after an agreement was signed last week ending a six-decade ban on Chinese investment in Taiwan and increased direct flights.
“Fundamentally, things are quite supportive for the [New] Taiwan dollar and, like South Korea last week, Taiwan is expected to report improved trade and export numbers,” said Wai Ho Leong, an economist at Barclays Capital Plc. “The improvement in China and Taiwan trade and investment ties has also been quite supportive.”
The NT dollar rose 0.6 percent to NT$33.050 against the greenback as of 3:30pm and climbed as high as NT$32.833 before declining as much as 0.4 percent midday on suspected central bank intervention.
At its 4pm close, the local currency closed at NT$33.192 against the greenback, or up NT$0.041, on turnover of US$2.511 billion.
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