Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp (新光合纖) on Saturday said it planned to expand its production in Thailand on expectations that demand for artificial fiber would increase from quarter to quarter this year.
Shingkong Synthetic Fibers, one of Taiwan’s leading textile suppliers, said it aimed to expand production capacity of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle-grade resin at its Thailand plant by 10 percent to 20 percent, since the artificial fiber industry is expected to do better in the second half of the year than the first.
The company’s subsidiary in Thailand started operations in 1997. It also has production lines in Taiwan and China.
Shinkong Synthetic Fibers said the artificial fiber sector, including PET bottle grade resin, has showed signs of recovery since May and is expected to grow for the rest of this year.
CURRENT PRODUCTION
Currently, the Thailand plant produces 15,000 metric tonnes of PET bottle grade resin a month, and all of the products are sold on the Thai market. Taiwan’s production lines churn out 30,000 metric tonnes of PET bottle grade resin a month for both local and overseas markets.
Earlier this year, Shinkong Synthetic Fiber chairman Wu Tong-sheng (吳東昇) said that with the global economy on the way to recovery, the inventory level in the China market has been on the decline, adding that his company was likely to see its bottom line improve later this year given such favorable conditions.
Shinkong Synthetic Fiber last year posted NT$1.42 billion (US$47.33 million) in net profit, or NT$0.55 per share, compared with NT$1.59 billion, or NT$0.71 per share, in 2011.
In the first quarter of this year, the company’s earnings per share stood at NT$0.11, up from NT$0.04 over the same period of last year.
The textile maker is looking beyond the artificial fiber business, aiming to enter the telecommunication industry, Wu said.
It has filed an application with the government to bid for a 4G license to operate in Taiwan.
A total of seven business groups, including Shinkong Synthetic Fiber, Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團), Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications (遠傳電信), will be competing for 4G licenses at an upcoming auction.
4G LICENSE
Wu said that if his company secured a 4G license, it would begin to set up base stations next year, expecting its 4G network to become operational in the second half of 2015.
He said the company could break even in 2017 and start to make a profit in 2018 at the earliest.
According to Shinkong Synthetic Fiber, the 4G operations are expected to cost the company about NT$20 billion, including the NT$4 billion to NT$5 billion expenditure to build at least 3,000 base stations.
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