Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s top two contract chip makers, yesterday said the appreciating NT dollar had impacted their sales and earnings and they would consider the rising New Taiwan dollar when setting prices.
The recent fast appreciation of the local currency against the US dollar has led to concern that Taiwan’s exporters could see their turnover and margins fall.
UMC chief financial officer Liu Chi-tung (劉啟東) told the Central News Agency that the company would consider negotiating new sales contracts with buyers that had factored in foreign exchange rate fluctuations.
Liu said that his company had taken measures to hedge against foreign exchange risks, but he admitted it was hard to accurately forecast movements in exchange rate.
TSMC said it would continue to adopt measures to hedge against currency risks and incorporate foreign exchange factors into its financial plan before opening discussions with customers on new sales agreements.
Regarding existing sales contracts, TSMC said it would bear the foreign exchange risks on its own and would not renegotiate pricing with its customers.
Last month, TSMC and UMC saw their sales fall 4.1 percent and 2.43 percent respectively from October, on a stronger NT dollar and weakening global demand for PCs.
UMC said that for every 1 -percent the local currency appreciated against the greenback, its quarterly sales could be expected to fall by 1 percent.
Meanwhile, Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s second largest PC vendor, said it had a mechanism ready to hedge against foreign exchange risks, which was limiting the impact of a rising NT dollar on the company.
Acer said it believed Taiwan’s central bank would continue its efforts to prevent rapid appreciation of the local currency and protect the nation’s exports.
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