Machinery maker Hiwin Technologies Co (上銀科技), which has set up branches in nine countries, on Friday said that seeking investment opportunities in Japan would be its top priority this year.
“We are considering purchasing a plot of 7,800 ping [25,785m2] in Kobe, Japan, to build an innovation center, warehouses and ball screw production lines, and to better serve customers there,” Hiwin chairman Eric Chuo (卓永財) said at the company’s annual banquet for staff in Taichung.
Hiwin is also considering building plants in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, he said, adding that the company plans to finalize its decision in the third quarter of this year at the earliest.
Photo: CNA
The company also aims to cement its position in Japan by acquiring a Japanese machinery maker by the end of this year, Chuo said, adding that in the coming months, Hiwin plans to expand capacity in South Korea and Italy, where it already has subsidiaries.
“To fund those overseas projects, we do not rule out the possibility of raising capital this year,” Chuo said.
Chuo declined to elaborate on the company’s capital expenditure budget for this year, but he provided an optimistic business outlook, saying the global machinery market is expected to remain undersupplied throughout the year because of a shortfall of key machinery components.
The shortage of linear guideways and ball screws, the Taichung-based machinery maker’s two benchmark products, is expected to persist this year, but higher prices resulting from the tight supply would boost the company’s revenue, Hiwin said.
Hiwin was also upbeat about its subsidiaries, and said that Hiwin Mikrosystem Co (大銀微系統) has set a sales target of NT$3 billion (US$102.6 million) for this year, compared with last year’s nearly NT$2.4 billion.
Hiwin Mikrosystem, which is mainly engaged in the research and manufacturing of precision machinery components, plans to make its debut on the Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Board in the fourth quarter, Chuo said.
Luren Precision Co (陸聯精密), Hiwin’s metal cutting machine tool unit, is expected to break even this year, he said, adding that Luren is to expand its distribution channels in Europe through collaboration with the UK-based Matrix Machine Tool Ltd.
Hiwin on Friday posted a record-high revenue of NT$2.26 billion for last month, up 77.76 percent from NT$1.27 billion a year earlier, company data showed.
The figure came after the company reported revenue of NT$21.17 billion for last year, up 31.3 percent from 2016 and also a record high.
“We believe Hiwin will continue to run at full capacity in the first quarter, but expect sales to decline 6 percent quarter-on-quarter owing to the Lunar New Year holiday, while year-on-year growth will stay above 30 percent,” Morgan Stanley analysts Melrose Chiu (邱詩閔) and Sharon Shih (施曉娟) said in a note on Jan. 8.
They added that its operating margin would stay at a relatively high 17.1 percent.
Hiwin shares on Friday gained 1.07 percent to close at NT$377 in Taipei trading, the highest level in the company’s history.
Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), founder and CEO of US-based artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Friday celebrated the first Nvidia Blackwell wafer produced on US soil. Huang visited TSMC’s advanced wafer fab in the US state of Arizona and joined the Taiwanese chipmaker’s executives to witness the efforts to “build the infrastructure that powers the world’s AI factories, right here in America,” Nvidia said in a statement. At the event, Huang joined Y.L. Wang (王英郎), vice president of operations at TSMC, in signing their names on the Blackwell wafer to
AI BOOST: Although Taiwan’s reliance on Chinese rare earth elements is limited, it could face indirect impacts from supply issues and price volatility, an economist said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has sharply raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 5.6 percent, citing stronger-than-expected exports and investment linked to artificial intelligence (AI), as it said that the current momentum could peak soon. The acceleration of the global AI race has fueled a surge in Taiwan’s AI-related capital spending and exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products, which have been key drivers of growth this year. “We have revised our GDP forecast for Taiwan upward to 5.6 percent from 4 percent, an upgrade that mainly reflects stronger-than-expected AI-related exports and investment in the third
RARE EARTHS: The call between the US Treasury Secretary and his Chinese counterpart came as Washington sought to rally G7 partners in response to China’s export controls China and the US on Saturday agreed to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle. Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation. Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the APEC summit. In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that
CHINESE EXPORT CURBS: A dispute between China and the Netherlands could halt chip supply, affecting vehicle production, US and European auto associations said Groups representing major automakers late on Thursday warned that a chip disruption stemming from a dispute between China and the Dutch government could quickly affect US auto production. Automakers and their suppliers received notice from chipmaker Nexperia (安世半導體) last week that it could no longer guarantee delivery of its chips, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said, adding that manufacturing could be significantly disrupted. In the US, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai and nearly all other major automakers, urged a quick resolution. “If the shipment of automotive chips doesn’t resume — quickly — it’s going to
RSS