The state-run refiner yesterday announced hikes in this month’s wholesale prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reflect rising energy costs, while a major tire maker said it would again raise product prices next month because of higher raw material costs.
The latest fuel price increases came after refiners this week raised domestic gasoline and diesel prices to their highest levels in 30 months. Rising imported commodity costs also prompted makers and sellers of foodstuffs — from instant noodles to ice cream — to raise prices by 10 to 30 percent late last month.
Effective today, prices for household LPG will rise by NT$0.50 per kilogram, NT$0.30 per liter for LPG used in cars and NT$0.45 per cubic meter for household LNG, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said in a statement.
Under CPC’s pricing mechanism, household LPG prices should have gone up by NT$1.02 per kilogram to fully reflect the cost, it said.
However, to help stabilize consumer prices, CPC will absorb about half of the cost, it said.
As a result, the new price for household LPG is NT$27.36 per kilogram, while the price for a 20kg household gas cylinder has increased by NT$10 as of today, it added.
Prices for LPG used in cars will be between NT$20.20 and NT$28.95 for various categories of the fuel. Motorists who drive 1,000km per month will see an increase of NT$30 in fuel charges each month, based on an industry average of 1 liter of LPG used for every 10km traveled.
As for household LNG prices, CPC said prices should have gone up by NT$1.37 per cubic meter, but it would partly absorb the cost increases in line with the government’s efforts to contain inflation.
An average consumption of 30 cubic meters per month will mean an additional expense of NT$13.50 for each household, CPC said.
Meanwhile, Nankang Rubber Tire Co (南港輪胎), a major Taiwanese tire manufacturer, said yesterday it would raise product prices by 8 percent next month, its third hike this year following an 8 percent increase in January and a 9 percent rise this month.
The company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that the price of synthetic rubber had soared 43 percent to US$4,150 per tonne since December because of rising crude oil prices.
Cost have also increase because of a 20 percent hike in the prices of steel cords and polyester cords, two major components for making tire casing, beginning in the second quarter, the filing showed.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure