The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday offered a positive outlook on the nation’s chemical industry in the second half, led by a recovery in demand for industrial chemicals.
“A growing need for chemicals used in flat panels and electric vehicles is expected to stimulate sales further” in the coming months, TIER analyst Lo Kai-chen (羅凱禎) told an investors’ conference at the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei.
Chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing, which have a high entry barrier, should also serve as a sales catalyst for some local chemical firms, Lo said.
In contrast, domestic demand for coating chemicals is likely to be dragged down by a slower real-estate market, she said.
Despite a positive sales forecast for industrial chemicals, TIER said that rising oil prices might weigh on local chemicals’ earnings performance over the next few months as costs rise.
Global crude oil prices are likely to hit US$55 per barrel in the second half, compared with US$48 per barrel in the same period last year, TIER said.
The aggregate first-half revenue of 20 benchmark chemical makers listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange totaled NT$75.06 billion (US$2.49 billion), up 3.37 percent from a year earlier, TIER data showed.
The improvement in revenue was primarily due to a strengthening global economic recovery, the think tank said.
However, gross profit during the same period declined 11.04 percent annually to NT$13.8 billion, which TIER attributed to rising raw material prices and the sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar.
Prices of titanium dioxide — an important catalyst used in air and water purification systems — reached US$3,700 per tonne last quarter, compared with US$3,484 per tonne in the same period last year, TIER data showed.
In related news, solvent maker Shiny Chemical Industrial Co Ltd (勝一化工) reported that first-half net profit reached NT$415 million, rising 12 percent from a year ago.
Cumulative revenue rose 12 percent annually to NT$3.3 billion, on shipments of 92,061 tonnes, the firm said.
Company spokesman Li Huan-yi (李歡益) attributed the robust performance to increasing revenue contribution from specific solvents used in the semiconductor manufacturing processes.
The solvent maker’s major customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest IC foundry service provider.
A better product portfolio also helped lift the company’s profitability, with gross margin rising from 26.8 percent last year to 27.2 percent in the first half, Shiny said.
The company, which operates three plants in Kaohsiung and one in Changhua, said it expects its utilization rate to reach more than 90 percent this year on robust client demand.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six