HP may buy from Acer unit
Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) said it may add a subsidiary of Acer (宏電) to its four notebook-computer suppliers in Taiwan. "We have four notebook computer suppliers," said HP spokeswoman Daisy Lee (李惠菁). "We're requesting quotations from Acer unit Wistron Corp [緯創資通]." Hewlett-Packard said its existing suppliers include Inventec Co (英業達), Arima Computer Corp (華宇), Quanta Computer (廣達) and Compal Electronics (仁寶). Taiwan companies make about 60 percent of the world's notebook computers, according to the government-funded Market Intelligence Center. Taiwan's third- quarter shipments will rise 27 percent from a year ago to 4.6 million units, the center estimated.
EVA Air borrows US$153 million
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) took out a US$153 million loan arranged by Citibank NA to fund the purchase of one Boeing 747-400 freighter to expand its European and US businesses. The loan comprises a US$130.6 million 12-year bank guarantee facility from the Export-Import Bank of the US and a US$22.4 million five-year bank loan from five banks in Taiwan, Citibank said in a statement. EVA Air said it took delivery of the cargo aircraft in July. The carrier last week raised its 2002 profit forecast by 31 percent to NT$1.63 billion (US$47 million), because of new routes and better-than-expected cargo demand.
Lehman to sell Chinatrust bonds
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co's (中國信託金控) commercial banking arm hired Lehman Brothers Holdings to help it sell NT$5 billion (US$143 million) of debt backed by home loans. Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託銀行) signed an agreement with the US investment bank on Monday to sell asset-backed securities. The first sale of NT$5 billion, expected by the end of this year, amounts to 0.93 percent of total loans at the lender as of the end of August, spokesman Michael Jong (鍾隆吉) said. The proceeds will be used to fund new loans, Jong said, adding further sales will depend on market appetite, the bank's capital management and government regulations. Chinatrust is the fifth lender in Taiwan to announce plans to raise funds by selling asset-backed debt, following First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Cosmos Bank Taiwan (萬泰銀行) and two others. "We will also look at selling debt backed by other types of assets like credit-card receivables," Jong said.
Holiday demand boosts demand
Taiwan's four largest makers of boards that hold chips in personal computers expect demand in Oc-tober to exceed supply because of Christmas orders, a Chinese-language newspaper said, citing unidentified company officials. Asustek Computer (華碩電腦), Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉科技), Micro-Star International Co (微星科技) and Elitegroup Computer Systems Co (精英電腦) will ask workers at their factories in China to work overtime during the five-day National Day holiday, the paper said. The four companies expect to ship more than 600,000 motherboards in October, the report said. Companies in Taiwan and China supply more than 90 percent of the world's motherboards, according to the Market Intelligence Center of Taiwan.
NT dollar dips
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell against its the greenback, dropping NT$0.015 to NT$34.835 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$446 million, down from the previous day's US$470.5 million. The local unit opened at NT$34.9, but later traded in a range between NT$34.9 and NT$34.806.
CHIP WAR: Tariffs on Taiwanese chips would prompt companies to move their factories, but not necessarily to the US, unleashing a ‘global cross-sector tariff war’ US President Donald Trump would “shoot himself in the foot” if he follows through on his recent pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese and other foreign semiconductors entering the US, analysts said. Trump’s plans to raise tariffs on chips manufactured in Taiwan to as high as 100 percent would backfire, macroeconomist Henry Wu (吳嘉隆) said. He would “shoot himself in the foot,” Wu said on Saturday, as such economic measures would lead Taiwanese chip suppliers to pass on additional costs to their US clients and consumers, and ultimately cause another wave of inflation. Trump has claimed that Taiwan took up to
SUPPORT: The government said it would help firms deal with supply disruptions, after Trump signed orders imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico The government pledged to help companies with operations in Mexico, such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), shift production lines and investment if needed to deal with higher US tariffs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced measures to help local firms cope with the US tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, China and other potential areas. The ministry said that it would establish an investment and trade service center in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in different US states, plan supply chain relocation strategies and
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal