The Changhua County government yesterday confirmed that Formosa Plastics Group (
"We are delighted about the proposed project, as it will bring more money and jobs to the county," Lai Chih-fu (賴致富), director of the county government's press room, said yesterday.
Lai said that Changhua County Commissioner Wong Chin-chu (
A county government press release had said that it wanted a coal-fired power plant, steel refinery or related industries to invest in the zone, lending weight to speculation that Formosa Plastics has taken up the county government's offer and intends to set up a steelmaking factory.
Formosa Plastics, a petrochemical giant, has been searching for a site to build its steel refinery since 1995. It was reportedly looking at sites in North Korea and China's Qingdao Province, Fujian Province and Zhejiang Province.
A local Chinese-language newspaper reported last week that Formosa Plastics may build a NT$100 billion (US$3 billion) steel plant in China to tap demand in the world's largest market for the metal, citing Wang.
The report said the company was considering Mei Shan island, southeast of Shanghai, because restrictions on emissions of carbon dioxide would be easier to meet there.
Public relations officials at Formosa Plastics said they had no idea about the steel mill investment plans in either Changhua or China.
Chinese-language newspaper reports have suggested that Wang would establish a steelmaking factory in Changhua that is capable of producing 100 million tonnes of steel plates per year, as well as a downstream auto parts factory on the land and 4,000 hectares around it.
The project, however, is subject to the approval of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Industrial Development Bureau, which, if it gives a green light, would allocate a development fund of NT$75 million to the plan, Lai said.
After approval, it would take the government and the company two years to conduct an environmental evaluation before the company can start construction work, said Lin Chih-wei (林智偉), an official at the county government's industry division.
Daphne Lee (李冠盈), administrator of investment relations at state-run China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation's largest steelmaker, made no comment on its potential rival's move, saying that China Steel was likely to boost output before Formosa Plastics.
"We are working on an expansion plan at a Taichung steel factory and may soon increase steel supplies before Formosa Plastics can make its products since it will still take the company a long time to build up the infrastructure," Lee said.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
ROUGH RECORDS: Bonds in Japan, as well is in New Zealand, Australia and the US, are seeing the effects of a nervy market as stock exchanges across Asia edge down A deepening slump in Japanese government bonds added fuel to the selloff in global debt markets as rising oil prices stoked inflation fears and pushed yields to multi-decade highs. Japan’s 30-year yield yesterday surged as much as 20 basis points to the highest level since the tenor’s debut in 1999, before paring some of the move. Shorter-maturity Japanese debt was also under pressure, underscored by weak demand at a sale of five-year notes that offered a record-high coupon of 2 percent. Concerns over inflation and government spending rippling through markets including the US, Australia and New Zealand are being amplified in Japan,
The US has cleared about 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia Corp’s second-most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) chip, the H200, but not a single delivery has been made so far, three people familiar with the matter said, leaving a major technology deal in limbo as chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) seeks a breakthrough in China this week. Huang, who was not initially listed in a White House delegation to Beijing, joined the trip after an invitation from US President Donald Trump, a source said. Trump picked him up in Alaska en route to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Wall Street is licking its chops over an unprecedented slate of massive initial public offerings (IPOs) set to arrive in the coming months, beginning with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) next month. That is expected to be followed by artificial intelligence (AI) rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The trio of mega listings, each eyeing valuations around US$1 trillion or more, constitutes a heady period of elevated risk and reward. SpaceX is targeting an IPO that would raise up to US$80 billion — about double the funds generated from all IPOs last year. OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing IPOs raising US$60 billion. “We’re
RSS