Demand for industrial land and properties might increase further in the short to medium term as China-based Taiwanese manufacturers take advantage of reshoring initiatives to cut exposure to trade conflict-related risks, CBRE Taiwan said yesterday.
Authorities have unveiled a three-year program to help China-based manufacturers move back to Taiwan to avoid punitive tariffs from Washington on Chinese goods.
The program, which took effect this year, provides incentives including land provisioning, help with staffing, tax credits, utility discounts and funding services. Specific measures include rent waivers at industrial parks for two years.
“More Taiwanese firms in China have voiced a willingness to move back to Taiwan,” CBRE Taiwan said in a report, adding that some already took action last year.
The international property broker said that it recorded several transactions last year involving manufacturers relocating from China, with the largest being Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), the main assembler of Apple Inc’s MacBook and Apple Watch.
Quanta acquired an 8,900 ping (29,421m2) factory complex in Taoyuan for NT$4.28 billion (US$138.68 million) and plans to turn the site into a manufacturing base for high-end products, as well as an artificial intelligence laboratory, CBRE Taiwan said.
Clients have demonstrated a keen interest in industrial land and properties in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, the broker said, adding that Kaohsiung is also attractive given its status as a manufacturing hub.
Manufacturers are eligible for the stimulus program if they are affected by the US-China trade conflict, have been operating in China for more than two years and intend to include high-value or smart manufacturing in their operations after relocation, CBRE Taiwan said.
Industrial land deals last year soared 77.1 percent from 2017 to NT$54.98 billion, with self-occupancy driving 84 percent of transactions, the consultancy said.
Authorities lent support by introducing measures to boost land utilization, fining owners for who fail to build factories within three years of purchase of plots in industrial parks, with idle lots subject to public auctions later, it 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