Taiwan Pulp and Paper Corp (TPPC, 台灣紙業) yesterday said it is shifting its business focus from papermaking to producing high-added-value chemicals, with a new plant set to begin producing hydrochloric acid for semiconductor companies and LCD panel makers by the end of this year.
The new chemicals plant, which is being built in Tainan’s Sinying District (新營), is expected to manufacture between 400 tonnes and 420 tonnes of hydrochloric acid per month, the company said.
“We have been producing chemicals for years and expect the new products to be the main sales drivers for the company next year,” TPPC chairman Phil Hsu (許良宇) told reporters after an investors’ conference in Taipei.
Citing a high entry threshold, Hsu said hydrochloric acid for use in the electronics industry — which is especially widely used in integrated circuit manufacturing — tends to have a better profit margin than other chemicals in the company’s product portfolio.
The company already runs a chemicals plant in Sinying and produces potassium carbonate, potassium hydroxide and liquid chlorine, the company’s data showed.
Hsu said he is confident that the company would see growth in revenue generated by chemicals this year.
He declined to elaborate on any sales targets.
The new business strategy came after the company folded up its unprofitable papermaking business in Taiwan, the company said.
Last year, TPPC closed its pulp and paper operation in Tainan, as aging facilities led to losses of nearly NT$1.75 billion (US$58 million) over the past five years, company data showed.
However, the company said it would continue to expand its footprint in Vietnam’s emerging papermaking industry, hoping to grab more business opportunities there.
Cheng Yang Paper Mill Co Ltd — in which TPPC holds a 27 percent stake — is to raise its production capacity from 100,000 tonnes of industrial paper per year to 440,000 tonnes per year in the near term, TPPC said.
TPPC reported a net profit of NT$90.5 million in the first half of the year, an 81 percent jump from NT$49.96 million in the same period last year, but revenue plunged 31 percent to NT$1.46 billion from NT$2.12 billion over the same period, company data showed.
The company, which found itself in a bitter management struggle at the beginning of this year, attributed its mixed performance to an ongoing reorganization.
TPPC shares rose 5.58 percent to NT$22.7 in Taipei trading yesterday, beating the broader market, which edged up 0.09 percent to 10,594.82 points.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS