The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would widen an investigation into suppliers of clouding agents suspected of contamination with the chemical di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, triggering a panic sell-off of local food, beverage and chemical stocks.
“Within one week, we will complete inspections of 19 suppliers of clouding agents and track down where any contaminated agent went,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) said during the question-and-answer session of the legislature’s Economic Committee meeting.
However, the ministry declined to provide any preliminary estimates of the losses attributable to the incident to prevent stocks in related industries from tumbling, an Industrial Development Bureau official said.
“We need more time to collect information and to quantify the impact, because the number of companies affected is still rising,” the official said by telephone.
The DEHP scare has driven down share prices for food and bio-technology stocks traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, which has caused a NT$10 billion (US$346.86 million) reduction in the market value of large-cap stocks in these two sectors since Thursday, Chinese-language United Evening News reported yesterday.
Shares for convenience store chain operators, food makers and biotechnology firms nosedived yesterday, bucking the TAIEX’s uptrend, as the scare unnerved investors.
The market value of food manufacturers and biotechnology firms has shrunk during the past three trading sessions after reports of local products being contaminated by banned chemicals.
The worries sent shares for President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), the operator of the nation’s largest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, down 3.54 percent to NT$163.50, while shares of rival Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利超商) fell 3.69 percent to NT$130.50.
Sales of sport drinks are expected to bear the brunt of the food scare because many of them contain a clouding agent, said Jane Shiang-tang (簡相堂), head of the planning office at the Food Research and Development Institute (財團法人食品研究所).
“Extra logistics costs and safety concerns may cost drink makers between NT$100 million and NT$200 million,” Jane said by telephone. “The figure could climb to NT$300 million or higher if the crisis lingers longer than a month.”
Shares of Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), the nation’s largest food manufacturer, closed down 1.23 percent to NT$40.05, while Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品), the second-largest food company, closed down 1.08 percent to NT$31.10, stock exchange data showed.
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