Cargo rate hike plan changed
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) said yesterday it will raise its cargo rates for European routes by 15 percent instead of the previously announced increase of 45 to 50 percent, effective from Friday.
"We have adjusted the scale of the rate increase after negotiations [with freight-forwarders]," company senior vice-president Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said.
As for the carrier's US routes, it will raise cargo fares by 10 percent, he said, adding he is not aware of when the new charges will take effect.
The company had earlier said it had made no decision on price hikes for US-bound cargo shipments.
China Airlines Co (華航) announced Monday that it was raising the cost of cargo to Europe by 20 percent and the US by 10 percent in reflection of rising market demand.
Freight forwarders said cargo capacity to Europe may be reduced by 15 percent because of war-related flight cuts and diversions, leading to higher rates.
Nation's oil sources diverse
Iraq was the country's third-largest oil provider last year after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, according to customs statistics.
Taiwan imported NT$27 billion worth of crude oil from Iraq last year, while imports from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia swelled to NT$35.8 billion and NT$55 billion, respectively. Imports from Iran ranked fourth with NT$23.2 billion.
The nation has been trying to diversify its oil resources in recent years by increasing imports from countries in West Africa like Angola and the Congo, in addition to Russia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Its inbound oil shipments from the Middle East have dropped to 67 percent of the total.
A total of NT$233.5 billion (US$6.49 billion) worth of oil last year was imported into the country, accounting for 6 percent of the country's overall import trade, the same customs statistics showed.
S&P seeks a takeover
Standard & Poor's plans to buy the half of a Taiwan-credit rating venture it doesn't own from the Ministry of Finance, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing no one.
Standard & Poor's, a unit of McGraw-Hill Companies Inc, is keen to buy the half of Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) now held by the government through entities such as Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taiwan Securities Central Depositary Co, the newspaper said.
The venture, set up in May 1997, is close to becoming profitable, the newspaper reported. A decision about the takeover will be made at a meeting of Taiwan Ratings shareholders next month, the paper said.
Nan Ya Plastics mulls bond sale
Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), the country's biggest maker of chemicals used in plastics, said it will sell NT$6 billion ($US173 million) of unsecured bonds, taking advantage of low interest rates to refinance older debt.
The company will pay a fixed interest rate of 1.7 percent on NT$2.5 billion of five-year notes and 1.9 percent on NT$3.5 billion of seven-year bonds, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Nan Ya Plastics hasn't appointed a sale manager.
The processor of polyvinyl chloride, a chemical used to make plastic pipes, is using low interest rates to raise funds.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.035 to close at NT$34.753 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$418 million.
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
RSS