The government is considering measures to break Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp's (台塑石化) dominance of the nation's fuel market, according to an official.
The government may cut tariffs on oil products and lower required stockpiles for fuel suppliers to create incentives for companies to import fuels, Wang Yunn-ming (王運銘), deputy director-general of the Bureau of Energy, said yesterday.
These moves may lower costs and encourage international oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil Corp, to import petroleum products into Taiwan, breaking the dominance of Formosa Petrochemical and state-run Chinese Petroleum, the nation's only oil refiners.
"We hope there'll be importers to compete with the two refiners," Wang said. "We're considering whether to lower barriers for importers."
Taiwan currently requires fuel importers to have a minimum stockpile of 50,000 kiloliters and imposes a 10 percent import duty on gasoline, according to a report by the bureau.
Chinese Petroleum controls about 70 percent of Taiwan's gasoline and diesel market, while Formosa Petrochemical has the rest.
Esso Petroleum Taiwan Inc, a local venture of Exxon Mobil, was granted permits to import gasoline and diesel fuel to Taiwan in February 2002. It exited the market in September 2003, according to the report.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS