MANUFACTURING
Sentiment rises on recovery
Sentiment in the manufacturing sector rebounded last month after two consecutive months of decline, as the global economy continued to recover slowly, according to a survey released by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) yesterday. The manufacturing composite indicator rose to 98.08, up 0.65 points from September, the survey showed. Manufacturers’ sentiment was boosted by the performance of Taiwan’s exports, which increased 9.4 percent year-on-year last month, partly due to a global economic recovery, the institute said. The service sector composite indicator also rose 2.92 points from September to 89.94, while the construction sector composite indicator fell 1.35 points to 86.18.
PACKAGING
Green Seal to expand output
Green Seal Holding Ltd (綠悅控股), which supplies biaxially oriented polyamide film for food product packaging, has started construction of four new production lines at the Xinyang Industrial Park in Haicang District of Xiamen, China, which are expected to double current capacity after they are fully installed by 2019. The new lines are to use machine manufacturer Bruckner Group’s latest LISIM simultaneous stretching technology, which enables higher output and production of high-end products, Green Seal said. The firm’s revenue last month rose 9.9 percent year-on-year to NT$582.2 million (US$18.2 million), with cumulative revenue for the first 10 months of this year rising 8.47 percent to NT$5.58 billion, it said.
CHIPMAKERS
Inotera delisting approved
DRAM chipmaker Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) yesterday said it has received approval from the Taiwan Stock Exchange to delist its shares from the main bourse on Dec. 6. Inotera shares yesterday closed unchanged at NT$29.75. US firm Micron Technology Inc, which owns a 33 percent stake in Inotera, is expected to complete a NT$132.5 billion acquisition deal on Dec. 6, making Inotera a fully owned subsidiary.
STOCK MARKETS
Shenzhen-HK link to open
A long-delayed trading link between the Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock markets is to open on Dec. 5, regulators said yesterday, opening up the mainland’s tech shares to foreign investors for the first time. Originally slated to launch last year, it was delayed after a massive market run-up and subsequent rout. The start date was decided by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the SFC said in a statement, adding that the agencies had “established mechanisms to protect the integrity of both markets.” The scheme is to link mainland China’s second stock exchange, the world’s eighth-largest with a market capitalization of US$3.3 trillion as of September, with the bourse in Hong Kong.
PANELMAKERS
Japan Display eyes ‘bailout’
Japan Display Inc could raise as much as ¥100 billion (US$884.6 million) from a Japanese government-backed fund, a deal that amounts to a bailout of the struggling display maker. The Tokyo-based supplier of screens to Apple Inc has explored ways to win a cash injection from Innovation Network Corp of Japan, its largest shareholder. Both sides are now leaning toward a sale of preferred stock to avoid diluting common stock, said people familiar with the matter, who asked for anonymity, adding that the capital raised would go toward the development of displays for cars and next-generation smartphone screens.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last