■ AU Optronics to expand in PRC
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world's third-largest flat panel display maker, said yesterday it plans to set up a US$30 million joint venture in Xiamen to produce back-light modules and other components for flat panel display use.
"The joint venture is expected to support AU Optronics' operations on the mainland," an AU Optronics spokeswoman said. AU Optronics is expected to take a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, the spokeswoman said, while Forhouse Corp (輔祥實業) said in a statement it plans to hold another 25 percent stake in the joint venture which will be named Darwin Precisions (Xiamen) Corp (達運精密[廈門]). Forhouse is a manufacturer of electronic dartboard and back-light units in Taiwan. The joint venture investment is pending government approval, the AU Optronics spokeswoman said. Currently, AU Optronics is operating a factory for flat panel display downstream production in Suzhou.
■ E-ton shares reach milestone
Shares of E-ton Solar Tech Co (益通光能) stood above NT$1,000 on the GRETAI Stock Exchange yesterday, the first stock to exceed the mark in 15 years after Cathay Life Insurance Corp (國泰人壽). E-ton shares later declined and closed at NT$988, 1.13 percent higher from the previous trading day. E-ton, a Tainan-based solar cell maker, is currently the highest-priced stock in the local bourse and made its debut to the over-the-counter market last Wednesday. Benefitting from surging worldwide demand for solar energy, shares of E-ton are expected to pass NT$1,000 soon, analysts said.
■ Formosa Plastics hit by strike
Thai workers engaged in constructing Formosa Plastics Group's (台塑) sixth naphtha cracking plant in Yunlin County went on strike yesterday, demanding that CTCI Corp (中鼎), the project contractor, waive a meal charge of NT$2,500 and brokerage fee of NT$1,800 that are deducted from their monthly paychecks. The striking workers said that other Thai workers brokered by South Korean firm Samsung Electronics Co to work on the same project are not charged for meals and therefore those hired by CTCI should be treated the same. Wu Hsin-che (吳欣哲), a manager at the industrial zone in Mailao (麥寮), said CTCI charges the meal fee in accordance with the contract. As workers hired by Samsung and CTCI work on different parts of the project, the salary structures are different, Wu said. As the company has requested officials from Thailand's representative office to mediate the dispute, the strike should be soon over, Wu added.
■ China Motor export success
China Motor Corp (中華汽車), Taiwan's second-largest automaker, exported another 30 Mitsubishi Grunder large-size sedans last week to the Philippines, the company said in a statement yesterday. The new order followed the company's first export batch of 50 units to the Philippines in January, which was a success, China Motor y said. This made the company the first local manufacturer to export large-size sedans overseas, it said. The company also said that its Veryca/Varica cool trucks gained a foothold in Syria this month. The trucks have been the export focus for China Motor since 1994, and have been selling steadily in the Americas, Southeast Asia and Africa, according to the statement.
■ NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar advanced against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.013 to close at NT$32.500. US$680 million changed hands during the day's trading.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
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