STEELMAKERS
China Steel dismisses report
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s biggest steelmaker, yesterday said it has no plans to cut output next quarter, contradicting a report in the Chinese-language Economic Daily News. The newspaper yesterday reported that China Steel planned to reduce production by 10 percent next quarter in reaction to a slump in the industry. The reduction would be China Steel’s first cut in production in 15 years, the report said. China Steel said that meeting the supply needs of a new steel manufacturing venture in Vietnam would require the full operation of its remaining foundries, as one furnace is set to undergo a major maintenance beginning next quarter and lasting five months. China Steel said it is cutting costs and improving product quality to accommodate a slump in the industry.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Chailease income plunges
Chailease Holding Co Ltd (中租控股), the nation’s top leasing services provider, yesterday said that its net income last month declined 14.1 percent year-on-year to NT$593.5 million (US$18.01 million). Aggregate net income in the January-to-July period rose 2.72 percent to NT$417.87 million, from NT$406.81 million in the same period last year. The company’s shares have fallen nearly 30 percent from NT$65 on Aug. 11 and plunged 7 percent to trade at NT$45.9 in Taipei yesterday.
TRADE
TAITRA inks US deal
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) — Taiwan’s main trade promotion agency — yesterday signed a pact with the US’ Rhode Island Commerce Corp to jointly explore trade and investment opportunities. The memorandum of understanding was inked in Taipei by TAITRA executive vice president Walter Yeh (葉明水) and Rhode Island secretary of commerce Stefan Pryor, who is leading a business trade mission to the nation through tomorrow. As Rhode Island’s seventh-largest global export market, and its second-largest in Asia, Taiwan’s total imports from the state were valued at US$90.8 million last year, putting it ahead of all European nations except Germany.
SALARIES
Graduates feel underpaid
The majority of recent college graduates are dissatisfied with their salaries, with many having trouble making ends meet, according to a survey released yesterday. The survey, conducted by online job bank yes123, found that the average monthly salary of a recent college graduate is NT$25,694. However, respondents reported that their expected monthly salary is NT$28,498. According to the results of the survey, 30 percent of recent graduates receive less NT$22,000 per month. For recent graduates who have found a job, an average of 66 resumes were sent out before they received their first offer, the results showed. Among recent graduates 60.6 percent are still looking for a job, while only 39.4 percent have found work, said yes123, which conducted the poll from Aug. 4 to Friday last week.
AVIATION
V Air launches Busan route
V Air (威航), a low-cost carrier owned by Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空), launched direct flights to Busan on Monday, becoming Taiwan’s first low-cost carrier operating flights to South Korea. Flight ZV302 took off at 4:30pm from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, carrying 194 passengers in a sold out Airbus A321 jet. “We are optimistic about the market potential of the route and hope to add more flights to provide more flexible travel options,” V Air chief executive Eleni Lung (隆章琪) said.
AI REVOLUTION: The event is to take place from Wednesday to Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s halls 1 and 2 and would feature more than 1,100 exhibitors Semicon Taiwan, an annual international semiconductor exhibition, would bring leaders from the world’s top technology firms to Taipei this year, the event organizer said. The CEO Summit is to feature nine global leaders from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), Applied Materials Inc, Google, Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc, Microsoft Corp, Interuniversity Microelectronic Centre and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, SEMI said in a news release last week. The top executives would delve into how semiconductors are positioned as the driving force behind global technological innovation amid the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the organizer said. Among them,
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips should spur growth for the semiconductor industry over the next few years, the CEO of a major supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said, dismissing concerns that investors had misjudged the pace and extent of spending on AI. While the global chip market has grown about 8 percent annually over the past 20 years, AI semiconductors should grow at a much higher rate going forward, Scientech Corp (辛耘) chief executive officer Hsu Ming-chi (許明琪) told Bloomberg Television. “This booming of the AI industry has just begun,” Hsu said. “For the most prominent
Former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) yesterday warned against the tendency to label stakeholders as either “pro-China” or “pro-US,” calling such rigid thinking a “trap” that could impede policy discussions. Liu, an adviser to the Cabinet’s Economic Development Committee, made the comments in his keynote speech at the committee’s first advisers’ meeting. Speaking in front of Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) and other officials, Liu urged the public to be wary of falling into the “trap” of categorizing people involved in discussions into either the “pro-China” or “pro-US” camp. Liu,
Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said Taiwan’s government plans to set up a business service company in Kyushu, Japan, to help Taiwanese companies operating there. “The company will follow the one-stop service model similar to the science parks we have in Taiwan,” Kuo said. “As each prefecture is providing different conditions, we will establish a new company providing services and helping Taiwanese companies swiftly settle in Japan.” Kuo did not specify the exact location of the planned company but said it would not be in Kumamoto, the Kyushu prefecture in which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) has a
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