SHIPPING
Yang Ming head optimistic
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) chairman Bronson Hsieh (謝志堅) yesterday gave a positive outlook on the global cargo shipping sector this year, saying that he expects a supply glut-induced slump in freight rates to ease. This year marks a trough for the sector, as demand is expected to grow 3.8 percent, exceeding a 3.2 percent rise in supply, setting the conditions for a recovery, Hsieh said. The sector is also to be helped by lower fuel costs, he said, adding that crude oil prices are expected to hover at about US$65 per barrel, compared with last year’s average of US$70. “It is all good news to us as long as the US$70 mark is not breached,” Hsieh said. As a trade dispute between Beijing and Washington continues to unravel, the company is closely monitoring the migration of factories to alternate destinations outside of China to better plan its service routes, he said.
PETROLEUM
CPC facing pricing pressure
CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) vice president Lee Shun-chin (李順欽) yesterday said that the company is facing increasing pressure to keep its 2007 promise to maintain Taiwan’s oil prices as the lowest among Asian nations. Instead of a NT$0.8 hike to reflect rising international crude prices as dictated by its floating pricing mechanism, the state-run refiner is to slash its rates by NT$0.1 per liter, Lee said, adding that in the past, the mandated pricing limit did not affect the company’s ability to reflect fluctuations in global crude prices. However, in this month alone the company has been unable to raise its prices due to its pledge, Lee said, adding that the firm is drafting a new pricing mechanism similar to the Mean of Platts Singapore, an assessment process employed by the city-state. In related news, amid rumors of a leadership shakeup, CPC chairman Tai Chein (戴謙) did not attend an annual media gathering in Taipei yesterday.
SMARTPHONES
Samsung upbeat on sales
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday said that it expects sales of its latest Galaxy S10 series of flagship smartphones to rise more than 10 percent annually from last year’s Galaxy S9. The technology giant forecast that sales of its premium S10 and larger-screen S10+ would each make up 40 percent of sales, while the budget S10e model would contribute 20 percent this year. The company said that it also aims to improve its sales distribution of flagship, midrange and low-end smartphones in Taiwan from a 20 percent, 20 percent and 60 percent split respectively to a healthier 30 percent, 30 percent and 40 percent mix. Samsung added that it has not ruled out introducing its US$1,980 folding smartphone to Taiwan.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Yuan deposits extend fall
Yuan deposits held by Taiwan’s banks last month dropped for the fourth consecutive month to 290.27 billion yuan (US$43.21 billion), a 2.74 percent decrease from a month earlier, as investors lost interest in the currency, the central bank said yesterday. The figure represented the lowest level since June 2014 as the yuan increasingly loses its appeal as an investment tool. The retreat in yuan deposits was linked to corporate accounts wiring money to China to settle payments and distribute year-end bonuses, the central bank said, adding that the People’s Bank of China eased monetary operations to help support the Chinese economy, which lowered yuan-based borrowing costs.
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