ENERGY
LNG terminal gets approval
The Environmental Protection Administration yesterday approved an environmental impact assessment for state-owned oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣中油) construction of a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Taichung. CPC said that it has leased the No. 11 and No. 12 piers at the Port of Taichung from Taiwan International Ports Corp (台中港務) to construct the new terminal. The terminal is needed to maintain the domestic supply of natural gas, CPC said in a statement posted on its Web site. The government plans to boost the proportion of electricity generated by natural gas from about 35 to 50 percent by 2025.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
UPE names two copresidents
Uni-President Enterprises Corp (UPE, 統一企業), the nation’s largest food and beverage producer, on Wednesday elected two senior executives to serve as copresidents in charge of domestic and foreign markets. The board of directors elected Hwang Jau-kai (黃釗凱) and Lee Ching-tien (李清田) to replace Hou Jung-lung (侯榮隆) effective immediately, UPE said in a statement. The board also resolved to issue up to NT$5 billion (US$160.8 million) in unsecured corporate bonds to raise funds for loan repayment and financial structure improvement, the company said.
BATTERIES
Synergy expands production
Lithium battery maker Synergy ScienTech Corp (興能高科技) on Wednesday said that it has added a second plant in Kunshan, China, and has increased the capacity of its first plant from 3.6 million to 4 million units. Total production capacity is projected to reach 5 million units in the upcoming quarter, the company said at an annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu. Synergy ScienTech reported cumulative revenue of NT$836 million in the first five months of this year, up 41.84 percent from NT$589.39 million in the same period last year. Shareholders approved a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.2 per share, representing a payout ratio of 55.3 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$2.17.
CREDIT
Line unveils rating service
Line Corp yesterday unveiled new services from an artificial intelligence-powered robot receptionist to credit scores, as the operator of Japan’s dominant messaging platform seeks to expand beyond chat. The feature is to go live today in Japan. Line Score would rate users based on information they provide, as well as their interaction with other services on the platform. That would determine interest rates and credit limits for a loan service to be made available this summer, executives said. Line Score would also be used to generate personalized offers and discounts from partners, including Airbnb Inc and branded-goods rental service Laxus Technologies Inc, they said.
EQUITIES
Chinese firm hits 1,000 yuan
China’s equity market finally got its first 1,000 yuan (US$145.42) stock — although only briefly. Liquor giant Kweichow Moutai Co (貴州茅台) yesterday reached a record 1,001 yuan in intraday trading, after advancing as much as 2.2 percent. The stock pared its gain to close up 1.7 percent at 996.35 yuan. The alcohol producer’s shares have rallied 69 percent this year. Reaching that milestone at a time when markets are hobbled by uncertainties ahead of a G20 meeting illustrates the continued flight to quality, analysts said.
Taiwan’s rapidly aging population is fueling a sharp increase in homes occupied solely by elderly people, a trend that is reshaping the nation’s housing market and social fabric, real-estate brokers said yesterday. About 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident, the Ministry of the Interior said. The figures have nearly doubled from a decade earlier, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said, as people aged 65 and older now make up 20.8 percent of the population. “The so-called silver tsunami represents more than just a demographic shift — it could fundamentally redefine the
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Businesses across the global semiconductor supply chain are bracing themselves for disruptions from an escalating trade war, after China imposed curbs on rare earth mineral exports and the US responded with additional tariffs and restrictions on software sales to the Asian nation. China’s restrictions, the most targeted move yet to limit supplies of rare earth materials, represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry, threatening to stall the chips powering the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. They prompted US President Donald Trump on Friday to announce that he would impose an additional
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Thursday reported a 12.3 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for last quarter to NT$257.86 billion (US$8.44 billion), but it expects revenue to improve in the second half on traditional holiday demand. The fourth quarter is usually the peak season for its communications products, a company official said on condition of anonymity. As Apple released its new iPhone 17 series early last month, sales in the communications segment rose sequentially last month, the official said. Shipments to Apple have been stable and in line with earlier expectations, they said. Pegatron shipped 2.4 million notebook
RSS