The nation’s two oil refiners yesterday said they were lowering gasoline prices by NT$0.3 per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.4 this week, effective today, representing their third weekly price cut in a row.
CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said in a press release that the price cut reflected a 1.87 percent decline in its average crude oil costs to US$71.82 a barrel last week.
The state-run refiner said the price cut came on weak crude inventories and gasoline stockpiles data last week amid concerns over the US and European economies.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said in a separate statement that the market sentiment improved late last week on a weak US dollar and a decline in new US weekly claims for unemployment benefits. Still, crude prices remained lower than the previous week, it said.
“The market is still worried about the global economic prospects,” Formosa said.
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An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
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