Taiwan Styrene Monomer Corp (台苯), which makes styrene monomer, yesterday said that because of declining prices it would post higher losses this quarter than losses of NT$92.98 million (US$2.93 million) last quarter.
“Plummeting oil prices led to a widespread decline in prices for all petrochemical products. However [selling] prices of our product fell deeper than our material costs, as demand in China shrank,” company chairman Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵) told reporters.
Lin said lower demand resulted from the Chinese government’s efforts to curb luxury spending and cool the housing market.
He said that oversupply would improve in China probably in March or April next year if Beijing proposes new measures to stimulate its economy, Lin said.
“The global petrochemical industry is largely affected by policy changes in China, and the nation is also the largest market for most Taiwanese companies in the industry,” Lin said.
Due to declining oil prices, the company also booked losses resulted from declining inventory prices this quarter, Lin added.
This quarter would be the second consecutive quarter for the company to register a loss, Lin said.
From January through last month, Taiwan Styrene Monomer reported profit of NT$231.85 million, or NT$0.47 per share, down 70.67 percent from NT$790.39 million, or NT$1.5 per share, the previous year, because demand in China was better last year, Lin said.
Lin said oil prices next year would not be lower than the US$50 to US$60 per barrel seen toward the end of this year.
Lin said costs for oil companies in Russia are higher than US$60 per barrel as oil sources in Russia are far from harbors, and although oil companies in Saudi Arabia are still profitable with current prices because of lower manufacturing costs, companies in other nations are not.
Lin estimated that the low oil prices might not last for a year.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS