State-run oil supplier CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) has absorbed about NT$3.3 billion (US$100 million) in fuel costs over the past two weeks to help stabilize domestic prices amid Middle East tensions, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信) said yesterday.
The government has prioritized price stability as global energy supplies face disruptions from the conflict, Lai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee in Taipei.
Under a price-stabilization mechanism, CPC absorbs at least 60 percent of cost increases while keeping domestic fuel prices among the lowest in neighboring markets, he said.
Photo: Lin Jin-hua, Taipei Times
The government has also expanded fuel tax cuts to 50 percent, lowering gasoline and diesel taxes to NT$3.415 and NT$1.995 per liter, respectively, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Lai said the ministry would continue to monitor developments closely and assist CPC with financing arrangements if needed, as global oil prices remain volatile.
On liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Lai said Taiwan’s imports of bottled gas have not been impacted by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with supplies remaining stable.
LPG is sold on the free market, with suppliers including CPC and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化). The Energy Administration maintains regular communication with industry players to help stabilize prices and monitors supply and demand to prevent hoarding or distribution disruptions, he added.
Separately, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said Taiwan currently has sufficient fertilizer raw material inventories to last between six and eight months, including supplies already in transit.
Taiwan sources fertilizer materials from multiple regions, including Southeast Asia and Australia, reducing reliance on the Middle East.
Nitrogen fertilizer supplies are expected to last until August, potash until October, and phosphate rock until December, Chen added.
However, higher shipping costs could push up fertilizer prices. If that happens, the government will absorb the price difference to ease the burden on farmers, he said.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
RSS