Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only publicly traded oil refiner, said yesterday it would raise gasoline and diesel prices by NT$1.1 and NT$1.3 per liter respectively beginning today.
Following the latest price adjustment, the retail prices are now NT$36.10 for 98-octane unleaded gasoline, NT$34.60 for 95-octane unleaded gasoline, NT$33.90 for 92-octane unleaded gasoline and NT$31.90 for premium diesel at both Formosa Petrochemical and its sole rival, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) gas stations.
Formosa Petrochemical’s move came one day after state-owned CPC raised its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$3.90 and NT$4.40 per liter respectively on Tuesday.
The last time Formosa Petrochemical had raised its gasoline and fuel prices — by NT$2.8 and NT$3.1 per liter respectively — was on March 29 to reflect rising international crude oil prices, while CPC had frozen its prices since December as part of a plan by the former Democratic Progressive Party government to contain inflationary pressures.
During the past two months, Formosa Petrochemical has seen its domestic market share drop to less than 5 percent from the previous 22 percent as most motorists deserted Formosa pump stations to fill at CPC stations. The company, however, enjoys a higher export ratio.
While the company has hoped to reclaim its domestic market share following the latest changes. The adjustments still cannot fully reflect the rise in its purchasing costs and international market prices, Lin Keh-yen (林克彥), company spokesman and director of the president’s office, said at a press conference yesterday.
To ensure the survival and competitiveness of the company’s gas stations, Formosa Petrochemical had little choice but to match CPC prices, Lin said.
The nation’s gasoline and diesel prices are still the lowest in the region even after the price adjustment, the company said in its statement.
Shares of Formosa Petrochemical dropped 2.7 percent to close at NT$90.60 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, before it announced its price adjustments.
In a client note yesterday, Citi Investment Research analyst Oscar Yee maintained his “hold” rating on Formosa Petrochemical shares, citing its expensive valuation. The Hong Kong-based analyst said that given the record-high mid-distillate crack spreads against fuel oil, he expected the company to deliver a strong set of second-quarter results.
Meanwhile, Taiwan cut the commodity tax on gasoline and diesel that producers and importers pay by 19 percent and 35 percent respectively to help ease the economic impact of surging fuel costs.
The reduced tax rate took effect yesterday and will be current until Nov. 27, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its Web site. Producers and importers will pay a commodity tax of NT$5.53 a liter on gasoline and NT$2.59 a liter on diesel after the cut.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
RSS