CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船), the nation’s leading shipbuilder, said orders are full until 2013, including two oil tankers, four commercial ships and 28 Taiwanese naval vessels, despite recent order delays by Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) and a cancelat
The Kaohsiung-based shipmaker expects revenues to remain steady this year because of rising sales in oil tankers, oil product vessels and bulk carriers, CSBC president Li Chih-cheng (李志城) said yesterday.
However, Li declined to provide a revenue forecast for the year.
The company’s sales fell 30.1 percent year-on-year to NT$2.13 billion (US$65 million) last month, while the first-half sales were nearly unchanged at NT$16.95 billion from a year earlier, it said in a statement yesterday.
Amid a downturn in the shipping industry, “The company is now focusing on major government projects from CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電),” Li said at a contract-signing ceremony with CPC in Taipei.
“International maritime regulations requiring the upgrading of oil tankers from second-generation to third-generation vessels by 2015 have also boosted CSBC’s business,” Li said.
Third-generation tankers are double-hulled vessels and are less likely to cause oil spills than second-generation tankers, which only have one layer of steel.
“The newer technology [for the upgrade] will not only reduce transportation costs and decrease carbon dioxide emission, but also be more environmentally friendly by eliminating highly toxic oil spills,” Li said.
CSBC secured an order of NT$3.2 billion (US$97 million) to produce two 40,000 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) tankers for the state-owned oil refiner.
One of the vessels is scheduled for delivery in January 2011 and the other for June 2011, CPC president Chu Shao-hua (朱少華) said at the event.
CPC will still need to replace two 6,000 TEU, two more 40,000 TEU, one 70,000 TEU and six 300,000 TEU oil tankers as the company shifts to the next generation carriers.
CSBC said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with its client, All Oceans Transportation Inc (全洋海運), to delay delivery of 14 container ships.
All Oceans is wholly owned by Yang Ming Marine.
The notice to the stock exchange came after Wan Hai asked to delay an order for 24 container ships last month and Zim Integrated announced the cancellation of six vessel orders in April.
Li said yesterday that the penalty for the Israeli’s cancelation would be about 20 percent — not the previously reported 10 percent — of the NT$7.3 billion order.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
Arm Holdings PLC approached Intel Corp about potentially buying the ailing chipmaker’s product division, only to be told that the business is not for sale, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. In the high-level inquiry, Arm did not express interest in Intel’s manufacturing operations, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. Intel has two main units: A product group that sells chips for personal computers, servers and networking equipment, and another that operates its factories. Representatives for Arm and Intel declined to comment. Intel, once the world’s largest chipmaker, has become the
RSS