Passive components maker Yageo Corp (國巨) yesterday said it plans to invest NT$10 billion (US$325.71 million) over the next three years to build a plant for high-end multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) and other passive components used in vehicles, filling a supply gap to be left by its Japanese peers.
Yageo, the world’s third-largest MLCC supplier, said it is to build the plant in Kaohsiung rather than China to minimize risks from the US-China trade war.
The company is the latest in a slew of local manufacturers that have announced their intention to relocate Chinese production lines or build new plants in Taiwan to avoid an extra burden on manufacturing costs caused by the trade dispute.
Photo: Chang Huei-wen, Taipei Times
Yageo said the investment would boost its MLCC capacity by 20 percent to 60 billion units a month by the end of next year, compared with 50 billion units by the end of this year.
In 2020, the capacity is to climb to 70 billion units a month, it said.
Yageo “aims to expand capacity for medium-to-large MLCCs and automotive-grade MLCCs as Japanese suppliers are to pull out of the market next year and the year after,” it said.
The expansion would also “fulfill the increasing demand for high-end components from new applications,” it said.
Japanese MLCC supplier Murata Manufacturing Co earlier this year told its customers that it plans to withdraw from certain traditional MLCC markets and focus on high-end MLCCs mostly for electric vehicles, Yageo said.
Murata plans to stop producing certain products in the spring of 2020, Yageo said.
The company’s exit would provide a boon to other manufacturers, as demand would increase by 20 percent and supply would be squeezed further, it said.
Yageo operates three MLCC plants: two in Kaohsiung and one in Suzhou, China.
Yageo’s board of directors yesterday approved a plan to acquire 21,000m2 of land in Kaohsiung’s Dafa Industrial Park (大發工業區) for NT$790 million in cash.
Including investments in land, the plant, equipment and environmental protection facilities, Yageo is to invest about NT$10 billion in capital expenditure over three years.
The company as of Sept. 30 had accumulated NT$36 billion in cash or cash equivalents, ensuring its ability to fund the expansion.
Shares of Yageo yesterday closed at NT$324, down more than 73 percent since its yearly high on July 2 of NT$1,230 on concern over demand headwinds.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
RSS