PETROLEUM
CPC cuts LPG prices
State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it would cut prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) items this month, while keeping those for liquefied natural gas (LNG) products unchanged from last month. Effective today, prices are to drop by NT$3.9 per kilogram for household LPG and NT$2.1 per liter for LPG used in cars to reflect a fall in international LPG contract prices, CPC said in a statement. The price of a 20kg household gas cylinder would decrease by NT$78, CPC said.
STOCK MARKET
China changes IPO rules
China has dropped its requirement for initial public offering (IPO) subscriptions to be paid in advance, regulators said on Thursday, to curb stock market volatility. The change was to take effect yesterday and “manifests a market-oriented reform direction,” the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement. China’s lawmakers last week authorized the central government to make changes to the system. Authorities have pledged to reform the IPO rules, allowing companies to decide the details of the new share offers themselves instead of the regulator.
TRADE
Official reassures farmers
The government will not neglect the interests of farmers when negotiating a trade-in-goods agreement with China, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭) said on Thursday. The government would only consider allowing the import of agricultural goods from China that Taiwan does not grow itself and already imports from other nations, Cho said. If allowing the imports prompts China to reduce its tariffs or open its market to more produce, it will benefit farmers, he said.
Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador. He credits Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s decision to bank on bitcoin three years ago with changing his life. “Before I was unemployed... And now I have my own business,” said the 39-year-old businessman, who uses an app to charge for rides in bitcoin and now runs his own car rental company. Three years ago the leader of the Central American nation took a huge gamble when he put bitcoin
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
PARTNERSHIPS: TSMC said it has been working with multiple memorychip makers for more than two years to provide a full spectrum of solutions to address AI demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has been collaborating with multiple memorychip makers in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications for more than two years, refuting South Korean media report's about an unprecedented partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. As Samsung is competing with TSMC for a bigger foundry business, any cooperation between the two technology heavyweights would catch the eyes of investors and experts in the semiconductor industry. “We have been working with memory partners, including Micron, Samsung Memory and SK Hynix, on HBM solutions for more than two years, aiming to advance 3D integrated circuit
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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