■HOUSING
Taiwan rental prices drop
The average price of apartments in Taiwan fell to the lowest in almost two years last month, with replacement demand from home owners ebbing as the country’s economy enters recession. Housing prices declined 7.8 percent to an average NT$228,700 (US$6,800) per ping (3.3m²), the lowest since March 2007, said Stanley Su, senior researcher at Sinyi Realty Co, Taiwan’s only listed property broker. Prices in the capital Taipei averaged NT$368,800, he said. “Dwindling replacement demand is the main reason prices fell,” Su said yesterday. “Home owners who wish to move into nicer apartments in better locations are holding back as the recession deepens.”
■EMPLOYMENT
Cabinet to create jobs
The Cabinet expects to create more jobs this year to help combat the rising number of unemployed, an economic planning official said on Friday. Vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development San Gee (單驥) said the number of created jobs would be increased to 330,000 this year, from 150,000 jobs estimated previously. To help solve the unemployment problem for college graduates, the government will offer 35,000 internships in local enterprises for unemployed college graduates who got their degrees between 2006 and last year, at a monthly salary ranging from NT$22,000 to NT$35,000, San said. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the National Science Council would offer the same monthly pay to college graduates serving as assistants in research projects.
■CONSUMING
Ma La Sun sold in China
The “Ma La Sun” millet wine made famous by Taiwan’s blockbuster movie Cape No. 7 has made inroads into China’s market even before the movie opens there next Saturday. The millet wine producer, the Shinyi Hsiang Farmers’ Association from Nantou County, has already begun exporting the liquor to a Xiamen-based trading company that is serving as its exclusive distributor in China. Jin Jun (金君), the deputy general manager of the trading company, said yesterday that the Ma La Sun millet wine went on sale in China on Jan. 8.
■OIL
Offshore Group bought
Colombia and South Korea’s state oil companies announced on Friday their US$900 million purchase of US-based Offshore International Group Inc, whose main asset is the oil developer Petro-Tech Peruana SA. Ecopetrol SA and Korean National Oil Corp will each have a 50 percent interest in Petro-Tech, which has 11 blocks in Peru — one in production and the rest in exploration. Petro-Tech has been operating on the country’s northern coast since 1994, producing nearly 12,000 barrels of crude daily and has more than 100 million barrels in reserves, Ecopetrol said in statement issued in Bogota.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Glaxo eyes Piramal
British drug developer GlaxoSmithKline PLC is reportedly in talks to buy Indian generic drug developer Piramal Healthcare Ltd for about US$1.5 billion. Late on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that people familiar with the potential deal said the companies are at an early stage of talks. GlaxoSmithKline said it would not comment and Piramal could not be reached for comment. In December, GlaxoSmithKline agreed to buy Bristol-Myers Squibb Pakistan Ltd and certain associated trademarks for about US$36.5 million, adding an emerging market to its business.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
RSS