The Executive Yuan has instructed state-run Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTL) and Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar) to increase their production lines for 75 percent alcohol, hoping to fix a lack of stock by this week amid fears over the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
The coronavirus has led to a shortage of surgical masks and alcohol-based sanitizers containing at least 75 percent alcohol in Taiwan, with media reports that some people have been stealing from hospitals after failing to purchase sanitizers.
TTL management said that its staff have been working around the clock since the end of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Photo: CNA
To meet rising demand, the Executive Yuan has instructed the two state-run manufacturers to increase production lines for 75 percent alcohol, on top of their existing production lines for 95 percent alcohol.
For every 10 bottles of 95 percent alcohol produced, 13 to 15 bottles of 75 percent alcohol could be made, which would rid customers of the need to dilute, said a TTL manager who asked to remain anonymous.
Producing more bottles would mean that more people could buy them, the manager added.
A Taisugar manager said that the company only has one production line for 95 percent alcohol.
It would consider outsourcing the production of 75 percent alcohol and is planning later this month to ship 200,000 to 300,000 350ml bottles, the Taisugar manager said.
TTL is to start production of 75 percent alcohol at its factory in Pingtung County, followed by another three to four factories across Taiwan, depending on how the situation develops, said a second TTL manager, who also asked to remain anonymous.
To ensure availability, TTL would produce 330ml, 110ml and 60ml bottles of 75 percent alcohol, with the first batch expected to be delivered by its Pingtung factory today, the second TTL manager said, adding that production capacity is 2,000 to 3,000 dozen bottles per day.
Taisugar and TTL promised to sell 75 percent alcohol at an affordable price, adding that factories would not cease production, so there would be no need to stock up on the product.
More than 8 million additional bottles of alcohol-based sanitizers are expected to enter the market this week, the state-run manufacturers said.
Separately, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) on Thursday said that the nation was producing 3.2 million surgical masks per day, but hopes to boost the figure to 3.9 million this week and 4.6 million next week.
The Executive Yuan on Jan. 31 also approved a plan to build 60 production lines to make an additional 6 million masks per day to meet demand.
Adding the projected capacity of 4.6 million masks per day, that would eventually bring total production to more than 10 million masks per day, hopefully by early next month, Shen said.
921 EARTHQUAKE: The magnitude 7.3 quake left 2,456 people dead and 10,718 injured, while 53,661 houses were fully destroyed and 53,024 houses damaged The Central Weather Bureau yesterday received about 50,000 views on Facebook after it posted the data that it collected on Sept. 21, 1999, when the nation was devastated by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake. The data showed that the 921 Earthquake hit the nation at 1:47am, with the epicenter being 7km southwest of the bureau’s quake detection center in Nantou County’s Yuchi Township (魚池) at a depth of 8km. The quake left 2,456 people dead and 10,718 injured, while 53,661 houses were fully destroyed and 53,024 houses damaged, with the cost of the damage estimated at NT$300 billion (US$10.8 billion at the current
British newspaper The Mail on Sunday reported that Prince Charles met with Bruno Wang (汪家興), a Taiwanese fugitive who describes himself as a Chinese philanthropist and donated ￡500,000 (US$683,522) to the prince’s charity, the Prince’s Foundation. The newspaper reported that Wang is wanted in Taiwan on charges related to money laundering and being a fugitive from justice, allegations he denies, and drew comparisons between Wang and the Russian banker Dmitry Leus. Investigation and cooperation with foreign authorities have found that Bruno Wang’s father, Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), had stashed proceeds from a scandal involving the procurement of Lafayette frigates in 61 bank accounts,
AT ODDS: The KMT called on the government to seek bilateral dialogue with Beijing to resolve the issue that led to the ban on custard apple and wax apple imports Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials and lawmakers yesterday condemned China’s sudden ban on imports of custard apples and wax apples from Taiwan as “obvious political retaliation,” while the opposition called for a scientific investigation into Beijing’s claim to have found pests in imports of the fruits. China earlier yesterday announced a ban on the importation of the two fruits from today, citing repeated discoveries of Planococcus minor, a type of mealybug. The announcement follows a similar ban on Taiwanese pineapples imposed in February. At least Beijing gave a few days’ notice when it banned pineapple imports, an unnamed government official said yesterday. This time
BY OTHER MEANS: China could see CPTPP membership as a means of circumventing trade restrictions imposed by the US, amid an ongoing trade dispute between them The US could invoke a clause in its trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to block China’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a government official said yesterday. Under Article 32.10 of the Exceptions and General Provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), if either Canada or Mexico enter a free-trade agreement with a nonmarket economy — such as China — the US could withdraw from the agreement. “If that clause applies to multilateral free-trade agreements such as the CPTPP — which Mexico and Canada are members of — that might be cause for the two
RSS