TAIEX down on profit-taking
The TAIEX opened higher yesterday, surging past the 9,000 mark, before profit-taking sent it lower to close down 0.58 percent, dealers said.
The index fell 51.96 points to 8,892.88, after moving between 8,888.21 and 9,026.18, on turnover of NT$112.85 billion (US$3.92 billion).
China tightens mineral exports
China said yesterday it would expand export quotas for rare earths to include iron alloys containing the elements, further tightening shipments of the minerals used in a variety of high-tech industries.
Starting today, iron alloys containing more than 10 percent of rare earths by weight will fall under the export quota system, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
The ministry said the move would “more effectively protect the exhaustible materials and the environment.”
China has previously imposed export quotas for pure rare earths only — 17 elements critical to manufacturing everything from iPods to low-emission cars, wind turbines and missiles.
Green Tech board OKs loan
Green Energy Technology Inc’s (綠能科技) board approved plans for a five-year syndicated loan of no more than US$84 million to fund equipment for ingot and wafer production, the Taipei-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co (台北富邦銀行), First Commercial Bank Co (第一銀行), Mega International Commercial Bank Co (兆豐銀行) and Far Eastern International Bank (遠東銀行) are among arrangers of the loan, which is currently expected to be US$70 million, the company said.
Lightweight car body planned
China Steel Corp (中鋼) and its partners in World Auto Steel, a global steel group, have come up with a plan to develop an environmentally friendly lightweight car body for electric car production, the nation’s largest steelmaker said yesterday.
China Steel said the “Future Steel Vehicle” plan is aimed at developing a car body structure that would weigh 35 percent less than cars on average and cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 70 percent.
The company said the plan, three years in the making, will reduce the thickness of steel plates used in the car body, but reinforce the strength of the steel by meeting a broad list of global crash and durability requirements.
Standard Chartered sells bonds
Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Ltd (渣打銀行) said yesterday it raised NT$19.35 billion via a bond sale to meet its medium-term capital needs.
The bank said in a statement it sold nine tranches of senior unsecured bonds, with maturities of between two and seven years. The bonds carry coupon rates of between 1.03 percent and 1.6 percent, it said.
Fitch Ratings assigned a “AAA(twn)” national long-term rating to Standard Chartered’s bond issue, with a “stable” outlook.
The bank had 87 branches and a market share of 2.3 percent in deposits at the end of last year, Fitch said.
UMC sells Chipbond shares
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,聯電) sold 5.7 million shares of Chipbond Technology Corp (頎邦科技) at an average of NT$52.78 per share, for a total of NT$302.6 million, the Hsinchu-based company said in an exchange filing yesterday.
NT dollar retreats
The New Taiwan dollar slid NT$0.002 against the US dollar to close at NT$28.852 on turnover of US$824 million yesterday.
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While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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