United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday saw its shares rally to nearly the 10 percent daily limit after the nation’s No. 2 contract chipmaker said it hiked prices for 8-inch wafers to offset higher costs for silicon wafers and other raw materials, as well as tight supply.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker said it is running short of 8-inch wafers and has little room to boost capacity in Taiwan.
As a result, it plans to increase the capacity of its Chinese subsidiary Hejian Technology (Suzhou) Co Ltd (和艦科技), UMC said, adding that the subsidiary would see its monthly 8-inch wafer capacity rise from 65,000 wafers to 75,000 by the end of this year at the earliest, UMC said.
“We have adjusted prices [for 8-inch wafers] only, to match price increases in raw materials,” company spokesman Liu Chi-tung (劉啟東) said in a telephone interview.
Liu’s comments came after UMC co-president Jason Wang (王石) told investors: “We are not increasing prices just because of tight supply. We are raising prices because of raw material costs, especially in the area of 8-inch wafers. We made some adjustment there.”
The chipmaker would also continue planned capacity expansion at a 12-inch fab in Xiamen, China, it said, adding that it plans to boost the fab’s monthly capacity from 17,000 wafers to 25,000 wafers by end of this year.
UMC said that it expects its wafer shipments to grow by between 2 and 4 percent this quarter from last quarter, but average selling prices would remain flat in US dollar terms, while factory utilization would be a percentage in the mid-90s.
The stock yesterday surged 9.79 percent to NT$18.5 in Taipei trading, surpassing rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), which saw its shares jump 1.31 percent to NT$232. Both stocks outperformed the TAIEX, which inched up 0.26 percent.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RSS