Textile maker Far Eastern New Century Corp (FENC, 遠東新世紀) yesterday said it expects Vietnam to become its third-largest production base after a capacity expansion project is completed in 2020.
“Revenue generated at the Vietnamese plant is likely to take up 30 percent of the firm’s total sales over the next three years, up from less than 5 percent at present,” a company official who declined to be named said by telephone.
The forecast is in line with the company’s business strategy to reduce reliance on its two major production bases, Taiwan and China, the official said.
Taipei-headquartered FENC reported NT$132.4 billion (US$4.36 billion) in revenue last year, down 0.4 percent from 2015.
Revenue from Taiwanese plants takes up nearly 60 percent of the firm’s total sales, while the Chinese plants contributes 40 percent, company data showed.
Aided by expanded capacity in Vietnam, revenue generated in Taiwan is expected to account for 40 percent of total sales in 2020, with sales from China taking up 30 percent, FENC said.
The capacity expansion is aimed at creating a complete supply chain for fabrics and garments in Southeast Asia, and is projected to cost more than US$700 million, it said.
The company, which manufactures a wide range of petrochemical and textile products, has an annual production capacity of nearly 2 million dozen garments in Vietnam, company’s data showed.
As part of the expansion plan, a new plant that makes knitted fabrics began operations this quarter, while several new factories making polyester garments are set to start production by the end of next year, it said.
The 66-year-old company also expects that the launch of several high-end products could drive sales growth in the near term.
FENC is considering expanding production capacity of several nylon products used to manufacture car airbags and seatbelts as it eyes the growing automotive safety components market, the company official said.
It is also planning to raise the capacity of polyester staple fiber for diapers and sanitary products at its Taiwanese and Chinese plants.
Shareholders on Wednesday approved the firm’s proposal to pay cash dividends of NT$0.8, based on last year’s earnings of NT$6.3 billion, or earnings of NT$1.26 per share.
The company is a subsidiary of Far Eastern Group (遠東集團), which also operates department stores and mobile services businesses in Taiwan, including Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信).
FENC’s assets total nearly NT$520 billion, including reinvestments in other affiliated units within the group.
The polyester and textiles businesses accounted for 28 percent of the firm’s total assets last year, while reinvestments and its real-estate sector contributed 42 percent and 30 percent respectively, data showed.
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
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the