The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it expects about NT$200 billion (US$6.56 billion) of the approved investments by Taiwanese companies moving production back to the nation to materialize by the end of this year.
The ministry’s statement followed its announcement on Thursday that it had approved two more investment applications: Shuz Tung Machinery Industrial Co’s (旭東機械) NT$900 million and more than NT$200 million from Sunder Biomedical Tech Co (善德生化科技), which plan to expand their capacities in Taiwan.
Including the two latest approvals, the ministry has given the green light to 151 companies’ applications to invest a total of NT$623.6 billion since the beginning of this year, which are expected to create 54,970 jobs, it said.
About a third of this sum should materialize by the end of the year, Ho Kun-sung (何坤松), chief operating officer and spokesman for the ministry’s InvesTaiwan Service Center, told the Taipei Times by telephone.
“We estimated that about NT$200 billion [should materialize] by this year from Taiwanese companies returning to invest in the nation, while another NT$200 billion should materialize by the end of next year,” he said.
The ministry considers new investments as having materialized if the company has bought new land and equipment or has started construction of new factories as stated in its application, center director Emile Chang (張銘斌) said.
“That [NT$200 billion] is a practical estimate, as many companies have proceeded,” Chang said.
Shuz Tung, a supplier of machinery equipment to companies such as bicycle makers Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大) and Merida Industry Co (美利達), on Thursday said it plans to set up a smart manufacturing facility near its headquarters at the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which would focus on providing equipment for thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays and related packaging.
The Taichung-based company said its decision was prompted by its customers’ relocation plans.
It would simultaneously expand its existing plant in Taichung, as it is expanding into the aerospace industry, the ministry said, adding that the company would offer 56 job opportunities.
Sunder Biomedical said it is relocating its China orders to Taiwan amid rising trade tensions between the US and China, adding that it would purchase smart machinery equipment for its facilities in Yunlin County and Taichung’s Cingshuei District (清水).
The plan is expected to provide about 25 job opportunities.
Separately, the ministry on Thursday approved applications by four small and medium-sized enterprises to invest nearly NT$1.3 billion.
Bicycle component manufacturer Glory Wheel Enterprise Co (金盛元興業) plans to invest NT$90 million to expand its plant in Taichung’s Daya District (大雅) to develop its electric bicycle business.
Re-Dai Precision Tools Co (銳泰精密工具) is to invest NT$200 million to install a smart production line at its plant in Chiayi, while cold forming auto parts manufacturer Extend Forming Industrial Co (英鈿工業) is to invest more than NT$800 million to add advanced processing equipment to its plant in Kaohsiung.
Yu Hong Steel Industrial Corp (昱鋐實業), which specializes in the manufacturing and design of steel equipment, plans to invest NT$100 million to automate its plant in Pingtung County.
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest