PHARMACEUTICALS
FamilyMart eyes pharmacies
Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店), the nation’s No. 2 convenience store chain, yesterday said that it plans to provide pharmacy services and organic farming products to meet demand. Taiwan FamilyMart chairman and chief executive officer Yeh Jung-ting (葉榮廷) said at a news conference that the company has decided to team up with Great Tree Pharmacy chain (大樹連鎖藥局) and foods supplier Tanhou (天和鮮物) to provide the new services in selective stores. Yeh said demand for the “large-format convenience store” is rising and that Taiwan FamilyMart would keep looking for potential partners to expand this new business.
AUTOMAKERS
Mazda cuts parts prices
Mazda Motor Corp yesterday lowered prices of imported auto parts and components, such as headlights, windshields and bumpers used for the CX-5 and Mazda 6 models, by up to 50 percent for local consumers after taking over its component supply business from its former partner Ford Distribution Taiwan Ltd (品爵汽車). The announcement comes a year after the Japanese automaker set up its local subsidiary, Mazda Motor Taiwan, to sell its cars. The company had cooperated with Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和) in selling Mazda cars for 15 years.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Eversol to aid Green Energy
Solar wafer maker Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技) yesterday said it had signed an outsourcing agreement with smaller wafer supplier Eversol Corp (旭晶能源) to cope with rising demand for high-end wafer products. Green Energy said the manufacturing agreement for ingot growth and wafer slicing with Eversol is part of its expansion plan, which is to bring its total multi-crystalline wafer capacity to more than 3 gigawatts (GW) from 2GW, making it among the world’s top three multi-crystalline wafer suppliers. The deal is also expected to increase bargaining power for raw materials, Green Energy said in a statement.
BANKING
Asset quality healthy: FSC
Taiwanese banks’ average non-performing loan ratio stayed unchanged at 0.26 percent at the end of May, reflecting healthy asset quality for the 39 domestic lenders, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the coverage ratio — loans covered by banks’ provisions and a gauge indicating the sufficiency of bad loan reserves — rose 3.52 percentage points to 490.55 percent in May, the commission said. Total outstanding loans at domestic banks stood at NT$25.23 trillion (US$811.25 billion) in May, an increase of NT$48.9 billion from April, while bad loans totaled NT$64.9 billion, a decrease of NT$300 million from the previous month’s NT$65.2 billion, the commission said.
MANUFACTURING
FPG to raise wages
Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial group, on Tuesday said it had decided to raise wages for its employees by about 4.52 percent following negotiations with its labor union. The hike includes a 3.5 percent raise in monthly salaries and NT$6,000 in allowances for the entire year, which represents a 4.52 percent increase in monthly pay for employees. The union said that although the hike was lower than it had asked for, the amount remained acceptable. The union had demanded a 4 percent raise in wages and a NT$10,000 increase in allowances.
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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