The production value of the nation’s machine tool industry is expected to increase this year by about 4.5 percent year-on-year on the back of a global economic recovery, according to a research report released on Wednesday.
In the report, the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) at the Industrial Technology Research Institute forecast that the output of the machine tool industry will total NT$143.95 billion (US$4.8 billion) this year, up from NT$137.75 billion last year.
Riding the wave of a global economic recovery, the aviation and auto businesses worldwide will drive the growth of the machine tool industry, the IEK report said.
However, it said that Taiwan has to be aware of escalating competition from machine tool manufacturers in China and South Korea, which have been intensifying their efforts to increase their share of the global market.
China is keen to stage a price competition, while building its own machine tool industry so as to lower imports, a strategy that could affect Taiwan’s exports, the research group said.
Nonetheless, Taiwanese machine tool exporters think that their products are of better quality and more suited to their customers’ needs, which gives the domestic industry a competitive edge over China, the IEK said.
Meanwhile, the IEK said, its research indicates that an imminent free-trade agreement between South Korea and China will adversely affect Taiwan’s exports of machinery products.
Furthermore, Taiwan’s exports of steel, automobiles, flat panels and petrochemicals are likely to suffer as a result of the agreement, the IEK said.
Taiwan exports about US$20 billion of machinery a year and China accounts for 30 percent of the sales, the IEK said.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI