Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp (台塑河靜鋼鐵興業) is to study the feasibility of building a third furnace to expand production, the Ha Tinh, Vietnam-based firm said on Monday.
Demand for steel from the Southeast Asian market has been strong, prompting the company to mull the possibility of expansion, chairman Chen Yuan-cheng (陳源成) told reporters.
However, whether it follows through on the idea depends on its shareholders and on whether the Vietnamese government would support the plan, Chen added.
Formosa Ha Tinh Steel’s second furnace, located in the Vung Ang Economic Zone of Ha Tinh Province, started operations on May 18, while the first furnace became operational on May 29 last year.
Chen said that the first furnace rolled out about 1.6 million tonnes of molten iron last year, while the second furnace, which is operating at 95 percent, is expected to produce 5 million tonnes this year, generating US$2.5 billion in sales.
Production from the second furnace this year is expected to boost economic growth in Vietnam by 1.27 percentage points, up from 0.45 percentage points last year, according to an estimate by Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團).
The group, which is the largest shareholder in the Ha Tinh Steel venture, owns a 70 percent stake, while China Steel Corp (中鋼) holds a 25 percent stake and Japan’s JFE Steel Corp 5 percent.
The shareholders have invested more than US$10 billion in the steel mill, making it the largest foreign investment in Vietnam.
A feasibility plan would be conducted on the third furnace by next year at the earliest, given US-China trade tensions, and other factors, Chen said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS