Amtran Technology Co (瑞軒), which makes TVs for Vizio Inc and Xiaomi Corp (小米), yesterday said that it plans to accelerate its capacity expansion in Vietnam to help clients circumvent heavy tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese goods.
The company started shipping slim-screen TVs to clients from its Vietnamese plant last month as it reallocated some production out of its Chinese manufacturing site in Suzhou, Amtran said.
The first-phase expansion to produce 2 million TVs per year is expected to cost US$39.6 million, Amtran said.
Washington in September raised tariffs on TVs imported from China to 20 percent from 5 percent amid a trade dispute with Beijing.
“To minimize operational risks, we have started a new development plan to build a second plant adjacent to the existing one in Vietnam,” Amtran spokesman Scottie Chiu (邱裕平) said by telephone yesterday.
Amtran expects to complete the second-phase expansion in the third quarter next year, Chiu said.
He did not provide financial details for the new expansion plan as it is still subject to the approval of the company’s board of directors.
As Amtran is ahead of its rivals in reallocating TV manufacturing outside China, the company has an advantage when capturing new orders amid a changing global trade environment, Chiu said.
The company started assembling TVs for Samsung Electronics Co at the end of last year, and it is expecting orders to increase gradually this year and next year.
The Vietnamese plants would also serve as a stepping-stone to ASEAN and EU nations, given their geographic advantages, Chiu said.
Vietnam has signed numerous free-trade agreements with other nations, including one with the EU which is to take effect next year, allowing Vietnamese goods to enjoy preferential tariffs, he said.
Amtran aims to ship 4 million flat-panel TVs this year, up 17.65 percent from 3.4 million last year, he said.
The company has 1,800 employees in China and 1,300 in Vietnam.
In the first three quarters, Amtran’s net profit more than tripled to NT$144.31 million (US$4.78 million), or earnings per share of NT$0.18, from NT$31.41 million in the same period last year.
Revenue grew 13.61 percent year-on-year to NT$11.02 billion in the first three quarters.
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