■ Power consumption rises
Amid a gradual economic re-covery, power consumption increased by 5.4 percent last year over the year-earlier level, according to statistics released yesterday by the Directorate General of Bud-get, Accounting and Statistics.
Officials said that in 2001, amid a global economic slump, the nation's power consumption increased by only 0.9 percent over the previous year, compared with an increase of 8.1 percent for 2000. The increase in 2001 was the lowest in nearly a decade.
Over the past decade, the growth in power consumption each year has for the most part hovered between 5.3 percent and 9 percent.
The economic recovery over the past two years has been reflected in a gradual rise in power consumption, with year-on-year increases of 5.3 percent and 5.4 percent for 2002 and last year, respectively, the officials said.
■ Yulon predicts bumper year
Combined sales of Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) and its affiliate, Yulon Nissan Co (裕隆日產), are expected to double Yulon Motor's sales last year to NT$84.4 billion in 2004, the companies said in a joint statement released yesterday.
Yulon Nissan is a joint venture of Yulon Motor, the nation's third-largest automaker, and Japan's Nissan Motor Co. The company was formed last October to sell Nissan vehicles in Taiwan and take charge of the company's re-investments in China.
Before-tax profit will only inch up to NT$8.5 billion from about NT$8.1 billion last year, according to the statement.
The statement came after the two companies held separate board meetings yesterday.
Yulon Nissan's board decided to hold a special shareholders meeting on March 30 to discuss a proposal to push for the company's share offering plan.
■ Memory chip prices may rise
Spot prices of the most widely used computer-memory chip may rise in the final days of this month because suppliers are shifting output to other more profitable products, Dramexchange.com said in a forecast.
The spot price for a 256-megabit, 333-megahertz double-data-rate dynamic random access memory chip may gain as much as 9.8 percent to US$4.60 by Sunday, the Taiwan-based exchange said.
The price fell US$0.01 yesterday to US$4.19.
"Supply is still the key that determines pricing in the spot market," the exchange said.
Suppliers are shifting production to so-called flash memory chips used in mobile phones and a higher speed computer-memory chip called DDR2 that's been promoted by Intel Corp, the world's largest chipmaker.
Prices have rebounded from a Jan. 5 low of US$3.69 as suppliers such as Samsung Electronics Co, the world's largest memory-chip maker, and No. 3 Hynix Semiconductor Inc halted sales to the Tai-wan spot market on expectations of better prices.
■ Central bank warns against bets
The head of foreign exchange at the central bank, George Chou (周阿定), warned traders against bets in the New Taiwan dollar, a Chinese-language newspaper in Taipei reported.
"The foreign exchange moves are affected by a lot of variables," Chou said at dinner with currency traders on Tuesday, the report said.
"Do not bet on the year-end exchange rate," he said.
The NT dollar has gained 2.6 percent against the US currency this year, spurred by demand from overseas stock investors and rising exports.
The NT dollar rose NT$0.007 yesterday to close at NT$33.10 against its US counterpart, with a turnover of US$631 million, according to the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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