Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾電子), the nation’s biggest solar materials producer, yesterday said that it exports most of its solar silver paste to Europe and China, rather than to the US, defying speculation about a potential patent infringement lawsuit in the US.
Giga Solar’s statement came after the Chinese-language Economic Daily News yesterday reported that US-based DuPont Co plans to file a patent infringement suit against the firm in the US.
DuPont also told other local solar cell manufacturers, including Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶), not to use solar silver paste from Giga Solar to avoid legal disputes, the newspaper reported.
“The company has no information about whether our customers use our solar silver paste in manufacturing products that are later shipped to the US,” Giga Solar said in a statement filed yesterday with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Gintech said it had not received any written warning from DuPont.
Giga Solar shares plunged 6.48 percent to NT$447.5 in Taipei trading yesterday, while Gintech shares fell 1.78 percent to NT$19.35.
Separately, Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光), the nation’s biggest solar cell maker, said it has signed a contract with Canadian Solar Inc to next year begin supplying 400 megawatt solar cells, deepening its partnership with the Ontario-based company.
The deal provides relief to Neo Solar after negative ripple effects from US anti-dumping and anti-subsidiary probes into Chinese and Taiwanese solar companies.
“We are glad that we have signed a major supply contract with Canadian Solar, which has been a long-term partner of Neo Solar since 2007, when Neo Solar began supplying solar cells to the company,” Neo Solar chairman Quincy Lin (林坤禧) said in a statement.
“This deal will help drive Neo Solar’s growth and will help Canadian Solar’s rapid business expansion next year,” Lin said.
Neo Solar attributed its NT$153 million (US$4.93 million) loss last quarter to a US investigation and preliminary tariff proposal.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
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