Oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) announced that it would today cut gasoline prices by NT$0.4 and diesel prices by NT$0.5 per liter to reflect the continued decline in international crude oil prices last week.
The second straight week of price cuts reflected the still-weak market sentiment, which is due to a supply glut after Libya resumed its crude oil exports and because the US might ease sanctions on Iranian oil exports, CPC said in a statement.
The average cost of its crude oil fell to US$71.1 per barrel last week from NT$74.31 a week earlier, the refiner said.
After taking into account the New Taiwan dollar’s depreciation of NT$0.13 against the US dollar during the week, CPC said it decided to cut wholesale prices for its fuels by 3.13 percent.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said it would match CPC’s price cuts, effective today, citing reports that Russia and other oil producers might increase their oil output and the US might release its strategic petroleum reserves, which have added to the already weak market sentiment.
In related news, CPC said that on Friday last week it signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s Sovico Holdings Co, regarding cooperation in oil exploration, oil product sales and related investments.
Sovico Holdings is a multi-sector holding company with a diversified portfolio, ranging from banking and finance to real estate, aviation, hospitality and industry.
The company has many large subsidiaries, including budget airline Vietjet Air, CPC said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the