Gasoline and diesel prices are to remain unchanged this week from last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday.
Gasoline prices at CPC stations are to stay at NT$30.2, NT$31.7 and NT$33.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while the price of premium diesel is to remain at NT$28 per liter, the state-run refiner said in a statement.
In compliance with government policy, which keeps consumer prices stable and the nation’s fuel prices lower than neighboring markets, CPC said that it would absorb the cost increases, although international crude oil prices moved higher.
International crude oil prices last week increased from the previous week, as market sentiment rose given a gradual easing of COVID-19 control measures in Shanghai, CPC said.
Global oil prices were also pushed higher because of seasonal demand in the northern hemisphere, it said.
CPC this week should have raised gasoline prices by NT$5.1 per liter and diesel prices by NT$6.6 per liter, as the cost of crude oil increased 3.26 percent from a week earlier, but the company used a price stabilization mechanism to keep fuel costs unchanged, the company said.
In the first four months of this year, CPC spent NT$8.14 billion to absorb higher fuel costs, it said.
Formosa Petrochemical’s prices for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline are to stay at NT$30.2, NT$31.7 and NT$33.7 per liter respectively, while the price of premium diesel is to remain at NT$27.8 per liter, it said.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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