Stainless steel pipe manufacturer Froch Enterprise Co (彰源企業) is to invest more than NT$600 million (US$19.66 million) to set up a new plant in Yunlin County’s Douliou City (斗六), the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, as it added the firm’s application to the list of companies returning to invest in Taiwan.
A total of 154 companies have pledged up to NT$697.7 billion in investments since the ministry started a program in January to encourage Taiwanese firms to return and invest at home.
The ministry also announced that it has given the green light to four companies’ applications to invest more than NT$4.6 billion to take part in another government program aimed at encouraging local firms to deepen their roots in Taiwan while upgrading their businesses.
Taichung-based Gain How Printing Co (健豪印刷) plans to invest NT$1.3 billion by introducing smart production lines at a new plant in the Taichung Industrial Park (台中工業區) as it looks to sharpen its competitive edge, the ministry said.
As the trade conflict between the US and China weighs down on the steel industry, carbon steel pipe manufacturer Tension Steel Industries Co (天聲工業) plans to invest NT$1.2 billion by setting up a smart production facility to optimize and elevate its production process, the ministry said.
Wooden furniture hardware manufacturer Zyh Yin Enterprise Co (至盈實業), which supplies Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, is to invest more than NT$900 million by establishing a smart production plant in Kaohsiung’s Yanchao District (燕巢).
The company is also to transform its existing warehouse into a smart facility, the ministry said, adding that Zyh Yin would continue to work with the Industrial Development Bureau to apply artificial intelligence technology at its plant.
Automatic optical inspection specialist Machvision Inc Co (牧德科技), whose clientele covers about 90 percent of Taiwan’s printed circuit board makers, is to invest NT$1.2 billion to expand its production capacity at the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) to support clients relocating to Taiwan, the ministry said.
The program, launched in July, has welcomed 24 companies’ applications, representing more than NT$54.1 billion in investments thus far, the ministry said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
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
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased 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 snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,