State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday inked an agreement with two local shipping companies to form a NT$29.7 billion (US$921 million) oil tanker venture, which is a part of CPC’s efforts to overhaul its aging fleet of oil vessels through cost-efficient approaches.
The new entity, Global Energy Maritime Co Ltd (環能海運), formed with private shipping companies U-Ming Marine Transport Corp (裕民航運) and Chinese Maritime Transport Ltd (CMT, 中國航運), would handle 40 percent of the 28 million tonnes of oil that CPC imports per year after completing its oil vessels.
PHOTO: CNA
To maintain cost flexibility, CPC rents vessels from other shipping companies to transport 60 percent of imported oil products and it hopes to keep the ratio unchanged in the future.
“The deal will help reduce the burden of national coffers and will also help CPC enter the oil shipping business without the operational limits that most state-run companies face,” CPC acting chairman Chu Shao-hua (朱少華) said.
CPC currently operates eight single-hull oil tankers and needs to revamp its aging fleet by 2015, when a new and stricter maritime rule takes effect and global oil tanker operators will have to upgrade their vessels to double-hull oil container ships to reduce the risk oil spillage during transportation, CPC vice president Lin Maw-wen (林茂文) said.
Global Energy Maritime, which is expected to begin operating next month, may order the first of six very large crude carriers and a small double-hull oil tanker by the end of this year, the statement said.
CPC declined to reveal the name of potential ship builders by saying that Global Energy Maritime’s board would make the decision as soon as possible. Global Energy Maritime plans to build or buy those oil tankers during the seven-year period between this year and 2016, according to the statement.
CMT chairman John Peng (彭蔭剛) yesterday said he would suggest ordering at least two vessels by year-end as shipbuilding costs have come down by between 35 percent and 50 percent over the past few years.
Peng also said now was the best time to invest.
“We have entered into this venture because of lower shipbuilding costs,” Peng said.
Last year, CMT replaced the nation’s No. 2 container shipping company, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), to become CPC’s new partner after Yang Ming pulled out of talks, which began in 2006, as it became more cautious about new investments amid the global economic recession.
CPC will be the biggest shareholder by owning a 48-percent stake in the Global Energy Maritime, while U-Ming Marine and CMT will hold 26 percent share each, according to a joint company statement.
The companies plan to arrange a syndicated loan of NT$19.7 billion to fund the formation of Global Energy Maritime.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
Industrial production expanded 22.31 percent annually last month to 107.51, as increases in demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove demand for locally-made chips and components. The manufacturing production index climbed 23.68 percent year-on-year to 108.37, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. In the first four months of this year, industrial and manufacturing production indices expanded 14.31 percent and 15.22 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed. The growth momentum is to extend into this month, with the manufacturing production index expected to rise between 11 percent and 15.1 percent annually, Department of Statistics
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
RSS