Yangming Marine Transport Corp last week succeeded in raising NT$10.3 billion (US$343 million) of capital, which would help the firm further expand its operations in Southeast Asian nations, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said on Tuesday.
The firm last year had accumulated financial losses of about NT$15 billion. It started to restructure its finances by reducing its capital by NT$16 billion at the end of last year.
The firm raised its capital again in December last year and in June to NT$10.3 billion.
Photo: CNA
The move was made possible after state-run Taiwan International Port Corp (TIPC) converted the debt owed by Yangming into an investment and changed its role from a creditor to a shareholder, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said.
“The two companies can work together more closely in finance and business. The partnership is also part of the strategy stipulated to address five major shortages facing the nation,” Hochen said, adding that state-run companies are major powerhouses for GDP growth.
China’s booming e-commerce market has stimulated the growth in air and sea cargo services, he said.
“We can combine the shipping lines offered by Yangming, ports owned by TIPC and the logistics services provided by Chunghwa Post so the goods would not only be delivered from port to port, but can also can be delivered from port to door,” he said.
Yangming chairman Bronson Hsieh (謝志堅) said that the company has conducted a series of reforms in addition to raising capital, including restructuring its organization, developing better strategies to canvass cargo and refining computer systems.
Meanwhile, as the global shipping sector rebounds from last year’s slump, the firm generated a profit of NT$1.2 billion in the third quarter of this year, Hsieh said, adding that the company has also reduced its losses by 99 percent compared with the first three quarters of last year.
Hsieh laid out the firm’s development strategies following internal reforms.
The company is to retire 20 cargo ships in the next three years, he said, adding that the capacity of the ships is between 3,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and 8,000 TEUs.
The company is formulating a plan to lease or build new cargo ships with similar or bigger capacity, Hsieh said, adding that a majority of the new ships would be used for shipping services in the Southeast Asian region targeted by the New Southbound Policy.
Hsieh said that Yangming’s partnership with TIPC would allow them to jointly expand the market in those nations, which is new territory for the shipping firm.
Both have taken the first step by establishing a container freight station in Surabaya, Indonesia, which is scheduled to begin operations in the first quarter of next year, Hsieh said.
They could also cooperate in investing or operating a logistics service industry in Southeast Asia, he said.
Supply in the global shipping industry would still exceed demand next year, but the industry is expecting a good year in 2019 if oil prices remain low, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Frank Fan (范植谷) said.
“The question is: Is the nation ready for a bull market?” Fan said.
Asked whether China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative would create obstacles for Taiwan in seeking business opportunities in Southeast Asia, Hochen said that there would be competition, but that does not necessarily mean that there would be obstacles, if the companies can find the right partners or services in which to invest.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data