China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan’s largest steel maker, said yesterday that if steel products were included on an “early harvest” list under a proposed trade pact with China, the company would have a better chance of entering the Chinese auto-making supply chain.
China Steel president Tsou Juo-chi (鄒若齊) said the company would take advantage of the preferential status that the list is expected to offer in a bid to seek Chinese partners.
The early harvest list from Taiwan will contain items subject to tariff waivers and easier market access in China under the planned economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA).
The government has said an ECFA would stimulate the local economy by boosting economic exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan and China are expected to exchange early harvest lists today as representatives of both sides meet in Taipei to discuss the details of a fifth round of semi-official cross-strait talks.
After the company’s annual general meeting, Tsou told reporters he expected that Taiwanese steel products would be very competitive in China, but that Taiwanese steel firms needed to build partnerships with their Chinese counterparts if they want to penetrate the huge Chinese market.
China Steel would lay down marketing strategies for the Chinese market once it knows what steel products will be included in the early harvest list.
He said that as far as he knew, plate and coil steel products such as stainless steel and carbon steel would be included in the list, while bar steel, H-beam steel and steel billets would be excluded.
Meanwhile, China Steel chairman Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) said steel prices in the region were expected to stabilize in the fourth quarter of this year after months of declines because China has canceled tax refunds on steel product exports to boost prices.
Chang said rising demand for steel products also served as a factor to stabilize pricing.
He said he was “optimistic” about China Steel’s earnings outlook this year.
However, Chang announced at the meeting that he would step down amid criticism of his reforms at the company. He said he did his best to protect shareholders’ rights and ensure fairness at the company.
A board meeting has approved a proposal for Tsou to succeed Chang, a company spokesman said. Ou Chaur-hwa (歐朝華), chairman of the company’s unit Dragon Steel Corp (中龍), will become president of China Steel, the spokesman said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS