Fuel prices to increase
Gasoline and diesel prices will both increase by NT$0.6 per liter effective today, state-owned oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and its private rival, Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), announced yesterday.
After the adjustment, CPC’s price for a liter of 98-octane unleaded gasoline will be NT$28.2, 95-octane unleaded gasoline will be NT$26.7 and 92-octane unleaded gasoline will be NT$26.0. Diesel will cost NT$23.2 per liter.
Toshiba files DVD suit in US
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp said yesterday it had filed a lawsuit in the US against eight firms, including discmaker Imation Corp, for allegedly infringing on its DVD patents.
Toshiba filed the suit with a district court in Wisconsin on Thursday, seeking to recover damages and stop the firms from producing and marketing recordable DVD media products at the center of the dispute.
The eight companies include Moser Baer India Ltd of India and two Taiwanese firms — CMC Magnetics Crop Corp (中環) and Ritek Corp (錸德). Toshiba said the recordable DVDs were sold under the Imation and Memorex brands in the US.
China Eastern opens local office
China Eastern Airlines Corp (中國東方航空), China’s third-largest carrier, opened its first Taiwan office in Taipei yesterday in an effort to better serve passengers on the cross-strait route, the carrier said in an e-mailed statement.
Taiwan and China in December resumed direct shipping, air and postal links, shaving time and transport costs for two economies with US$125 billion in annual trade between them.
China may boost incentives
China may raise tax incentives for exporters to the maximum level possible under local rules in a bid to boost weak overseas sales, an official said yesterday.
“A full rebate on the value-added tax is a reasonable request for companies to have and the just right of Chinese exporters,” Yao Jian (姚堅), a commerce ministry spokesman, told reporters.
“In order to make sure our companies gain an equal footing in international competition, this measure has become increasingly urgent and important in the face of the grim export situation,” he said.
The export tax rebate scheme allows Chinese enterprises to get back part or all of the money they have paid in value-added tax for items that have gone into the production of export goods.
Value-added tax now stands at up to 17 percent.
China’s average export tax rebate rate now stands at 12.4 percent, up from 9.8 percent after six hikes since last year, Yao said.
NT dollar rises again
The New Taiwan dollar rose for a fourth week on speculation the opening up of cross-strait relations with China will draw overseas funds and help pull the economy out of recession.
The NT dollar rose NT$0.005 to NT$32.950 at the 4pm close yesterday, statistics from Taipei Forex Inc showed.
For the week, the NT dollar climbed 0.3 percent and touched NT$32.767 on Wednesday, the strongest since Dec. 31.
The advance in the NT dollar was limited this week as funds abroad sold stocks following a three-week rally, Barclays Capital Plc reported.
“The structural dynamics remain good for Taiwan’s dollar,” said Leong Wai Ho (梁偉豪), a regional economist at Barclays in Singapore, citing prospects that Asia will lead the global economic recovery.
The selling of Taiwanese shares is likely to be temporary, Leong said.
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