SHIPPING
Chairman tipped to change
Former Evergreen Group (長榮集團) vice chairman Bronson Hsieh (謝志堅) is expected to become the new chairman of Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), replacing Frank Lu (盧峰海), local media reported yesterday. Yang Ming Marine Transport, the nation’s second-largest container shipper in terms of fleet size, is likely to hold a board meeting today to approve Hsieh’s appointment, reports said, citing government sources. Yang Ming Marine Transport reported a net loss of NT$7.72 billion (US$239.6) last year, or NT$2.24 in losses per share, with total sales of NT$127.56 billion. Hsieh worked at Evergreen Group for more than 40 years before stepping down from his position earlier this year.
FOOD
UPE names new president
Uni-President Enterprises Corp (UPE, 統一企業), one of Taiwan’s leading food makers, yesterday elected the head of its Chinese subsidiary to serve as its president in a potential move to take over the reins from chairman Alex Lo (羅智先). The board of directors yesterday elected Hou Jung-lung (侯榮隆), president of Uni-President China Holding Co (UPC, 統一中控), to serve as the company’s new president with immediate effect, UPE said in a statement. Hou, 52, has been UPC's president since 2001.
HEALTH
Former premier to head IBMI
The government-funded Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry (IBMI, 生技醫療產業策進會) yesterday announced it had appointed former premier Simon Chang (張善政) as its new chairman, replacing Chen Wei-jao (陳維昭). Chang is to have a four-year tenure as IBMI chairman. The non-profit organization also elected National Taiwan University president Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池) as vice chairman, along with the selection of 27 new directors and nine new supervisors. IBMI was established in 1988 by former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who served as chairman for its first eight years.
SOLAR WAFERS
GW dividend approved
GlobalWafers Co Ltd (GW, 環球晶圓) yesterday obtained shareholders’ approval to distribute a cash dividend of NT$5 per share based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$5.8 per share. GlobalWafers, a subsidiary of solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (中美矽晶), said it has maintained steady growth in sales since the fourth quarter of last year thanks to better-than-expected demand for small and medium-sized wafers. However, cumulative sales dropped 7.44 percent to NT$6.21 billion for the first five months of this year from the same period last year, company data showed.
PANELMAKERS
CPT heads apologize
Flat-panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (CPT, 中華映管) chairman Lin Wei-shan (林蔚山) and president Lin Sheng-chang (林盛昌) yesterday apologized to shareholders over years of losses and said that high-ranking executives had taken a voluntary salary cut of between 10 and 20 percent from last month. To boost its efforts to turn the results around, the company said it would shift its focus to niche products, such as those used in the automotive items and industrial control segments, as well as to dispose of unprofitable affiliates and assets.
CEMENT
TCC remains cautious
Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥), the nation’s biggest cement maker, yesterday said it remains cautious about its business outlook for the near term after reporting a sharp decline in eanings per share of NT$1.56 for last year from NT$2.93 a year earlier. While the company secured shareholders’ approval to issue a cash dividend of NT$1.33 per share, Taiwan Cement dismissed market rumors that it would seek a merger with Asia Cement Corp (亞洲水泥) to help it compete in China.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
LIMITED MEASURES: The proposed restrictions on Chinese chip exports are weaker than previously considered, following lobbying by major US firms, sources said US President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips to China that would escalate the US crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions, but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, said sources familiar with the matter. The restrictions could be unveiled as soon as next week, said the sources, who emphasized that the timing and contours of the rules have changed several times, and that nothing is final until they are published. The measures follow months of deliberations by US officials, negotiations with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) yesterday said it expects any impact of new tariffs from US president-elect Donald Trump to hit the company less than its rivals, citing its global manufacturing footprint. Young Liu (劉揚偉), chairman of the contract manufacturer and key Apple Inc supplier, told reporters after a forum in Taipei that it saw the primary impact of any fresh tariffs falling on its clients because its business model is based on contract manufacturing. “Clients may decide to shift production locations, but looking at Foxconn’s global footprint, we are ahead. As a result, the impact on us is likely smaller compared to
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
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