Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) yesterday announced that it is to form a joint venture in Taiwan with Japanese chemicals company Tokuyama Corp to manufacture and sell high-purity isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to the electronics industry. FPG chairman and president Jason Lin (林健男) is to be chairman of the new venture, which is to be called Formosa Tokuyama Advanced Chemicals Co, while Tokuyama Corp general manager Haruyoshi Honda is to be general manager. FPG and Tokuyama Corp are each to hold a 50 percent stake in the new company. The companies have invested NT$1 billion (US$34.16 million) of capital into the new venture. Tokuyama Corp said in a statement that the company’s board of directors approved the joint venture at a meeting yesterday. FPG confirmed the formation of the joint venture in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. “Due to the advances made in 5G, IoT [Internet of Things], AI [artificial intelligence] and other technologies, the semiconductor market is expected to continue expanding over the medium and long term, and accordingly demand for high-purity IPA is forecast to gradually increase,” Tokuyama said in the statement. The joint venture would allow the company to “immediately respond” to the needs of its customers in Taiwan, the Japanese firm said. Tokuyama’s IPA is made for the electronics industry using a “proprietary method” to achieve a “purity level of over 99.99 percent,” according to the company’s Web site. “This product is ideal for cleaning and drying electronic devices, including semiconductors and glass substrates,” the Web site says. Tokuyama is a supplier of high-purity chemicals to a number of leading Taiwanese semiconductor companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), according to a Ministry of Economic Affairs statement last year. Tokuyama established its first factory in Taiwan in Hsinchu in 1996, followed by a NT$600 million
EYE ON WALL STREET: With the US presidential election causing uncertainty, local investors should stay alert about movements on US markets, an analyst said
The TAIEX yesterday closed lower after a volatile session amid concerns about further selling by foreign institutional investors, who are continuing to lock in gains, dealers said. While many large-cap shares came under pressure, the government is believed to have entered the market to pick up select bargains in the financial sector to give support to the broader market, they said. The TAIEX closed down 31.47 points, or 0.26 percent, at 12,232.91, on turnover of NT$209.042 billion (US$7.14 billion). “Although the Dow Jones [Industrial Average] rebounded yesterday, the gains were not strong enough, prompting many investors to think that volatility on US markets will continue amid lingering concerns over a lack of new stimulus measures to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hua Nan Securities Co (華南永昌證券) analyst Kevin Su (蘇俊宏) said. “As long as US markets encounter more losses, foreign institutional investors are expected to cut their holdings on the local equity market, so such fears led many investors to become reluctant to chase prices and even shift to the sell side after today’s initial gains,” he said. Foreign institutional investors yesterday sold a net NT$284 million of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. “The bright spot for today was that some large shares, in particular TSMC, benefited from late-session buying,” Su said. “I expect the buying came from government-led funds in a bid to cap the losses and boost investor sentiment.” Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares rose 0.24 percent to close at NT$424, after fluctuating between NT$421 and NT$428. With TSMC bouncing back from its early lows, the electronics sector rallied to close down 0.65 percent at 583.90, after earlier hitting 579.33. Shares of IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) also rebounded from a low of NT$58.2 to close at NT$58.9, up 1.2 percent. Shares of iPhone assembler Hon
Business sentiment among local manufacturers improved last month as the electronics sector continued to see solid global demand for components used in emerging technologies, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台經院) said yesterday. The composite index for the manufacturing sector, which gauges business sentiment among local companies, rose 2.44 points month-on-month to 98.83 last month, the high level since July 2018, when the index stood at 101.46, the institute said. It was the fourth consecutive month in which the index trended higher, it said. Local makers of electronic components, including semiconductor suppliers, reported a growing number of orders to meet strong demand for new technologies, such as 5G applications and high-performance computing devices, while the peak season effect lent further support to the sector, the institute said. Ahead of this month’s sanctions imposed by Washington on Huawei Technologies Co (華為), the Chinese company was building up its inventory, which also boosted shipments at Taiwanese suppliers, it said. With businesses reopening worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic, crude oil and raw material prices partially recovered, helping many local old economy exporters and also boosting business sentiment in the manufacturing sector, it added. The institute’s survey found that 35.3 percent of respondents said that their business improved last month, up from 29.3 percent in July, while 19.0 percent said their business deteriorated, down from 20.5 percent the previous month. The chemicals, steel, machinery and electronics sectors were more upbeat last month, the survey showed. The survey also showed that 27.7 percent of respondents believed that their business would improve over the next six months, up from 20.1 percent in July, while 23.8 percent said that their business would deteriorate, down from 24.6 percent the previous month. Meanwhile, the composite index for the service sector rose 1.24 points month-on-month to 96.21, the fifth consecutive month of growth on the back of a buying
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co Ltd (家登), the sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) pods to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), yesterday said that a rebound in demand from its major client would support sequential growth in revenue next quarter. Gudeng, which also produces photomask boxes for chipmakers, also expects next year to be “strong” in terms of revenue, as major customers continue to significantly increase production of 5-nanometer and enhanced 7-nanometer technologies, chairman Bill Chiu (邱銘乾) told reporters. “Demand is to pick up in the fourth quarter following a break in the third quarter,” Chiu said. “Next year should be a better period than this year, as customers are rapidly expanding capacity.” Customers have discovered new markets which they had never thought of before, Chiu said, and the more companies that adopt EUV technology, the more EUV pods would be adopted. In response to rising customer demand, Gudeng has begun expanding its capacity in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城) after completing a capacity expansion in Tainan. The company expects its capacity to increase to 2,000 EUV pods per month after it completes a new plant in 2022. Gudeng also supplies EUV pods to Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, sources said. TSMC, Intel and Samsung are among the very few chipmakers in the world that have the technological capability to advance their technologies with the assistance of EUV tools from ASML Holding NV, the sole supplier of EUV tools. The use of photomasks and EUV pods is expected to more than double when chipmakers advance to next-generation technologies. Meanwhile, Gudeng is diversifying by supplying aircraft landing gear barrels to Airbus SE and Boeing Co. Shipments of aircraft landing gear barrels are to grow significantly from the third quarter next year, Gudeng said. Gudeng posted combined revenue of NT$385.72 million (US$13.18 million) in July and last month, an indication
CONCERN: WeChat collects and transmits sensitive personal information on US persons stored in data centers in China, a US commerce department memo said
The US Department of Justice yesterday asked a federal judge in San Francisco to allow the government to bar Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google from offering WeChat for download in US app stores pending an appeal. The filing asked US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler to put on hold her preliminary injunction issued last Saturday. That injunction blocked the US Department of Commerce order which was set to take effect at the beginning of this week and that would also bar other US transactions with Tencent Holding Ltd’s (騰訊) WeChat, potentially making the app unusable in the US. The justice department filing said that Beeler’s order was in error and “permits the continued, unfettered use of WeChat, a mobile application that the Executive Branch has determined constitutes a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” Tencent had put forward a “mitigation proposal” that sought to create a new US version of the app; deploy specific security measures to protect the new app’s source code; partner with a US cloud provider for user data storage; and manage the new app through a US-based entity, the filing said. However, its proposal still allowed Tencent to retain ownership of WeChat and did not address US concerns over the company, it added. Tencent declined to comment. The US WeChat Users Alliance, the group behind the legal challenge to the WeChat ban, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In support of its argument, the justice department made public portions of a Sept. 17 commerce department memo outlining the WeChat transactions to be banned. “The WeChat mobile application collects and transmits sensitive personal information on US persons, which is accessible to Tencent and stored in data centers in China and Canada,” the memo said. Beeler said that WeChat users who filed a lawsuit “have shown serious questions
Democrats in the US House of Representatives have started drafting a stimulus proposal of about US$2.4 trillion that they can take into possible negotiations with the White House and Republican-controlled US Senate, Democratic officials said. The Democratic plan would also address demands from swing-state lawmakers in the party for the passage of a COVID-19 pandemic-relief plan before they adjourn for their re-election campaigns — even if it does not result in a deal that gets signed into law. The bill could get passed by the House next week. While smaller than the US$3.4 trillion package the House passed in May, it remains much larger than what the US Senate has said it could accept. US President Donald Trump has indicated that he would be willing to go as high as US$1.5 trillion. “When you are talking about US$2.2 trillion and US$1.5 trillion you are in deal-making territory” said US Representative Dan Kildee, a Democrat. US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had earlier pressed the White House for a US$2.2 trillion package. As the top-line figure remains well above what the Trump administration has favored, the House bill might do little on its own to resolve the impasse in talks that has persisted since last month. Republicans in the US Senate proved unable to coalesce around an earlier US$1 trillion proposal and instead backed a US$650 billion plan that ended up getting blocked by Democrats as insufficient. The bill adds to the previous US$2.2 trillion Pelosi-Schumer plan, including help for the US airline industry to avert massive job losses, which could start on Thursday when restrictions expire from a prior round of federal assistance. Also included is aid for small businesses and a bailout for restaurants. Pelosi and US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin each raised the prospect of resuming negotiations on
Australia yesterday said that it would ease lending standards for banks in a move designed to free up credit and revive the economy, which has slumped into its first recession in nearly 30 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shares of Australia’s “Big Four” banks rallied after the announcement, but the move, which needs legislative approval, has attracted criticism from consumer groups and analysts, who say the relaxed laws water down protections designed to reduce financial risks. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that the changes would ease the regulatory burden, and cut the cost and time faced by consumers and small businesses seeking to access credit. “The flow of credit will be absolutely critical to our economic recovery, but our current regulatory framework, with respect to lending ... has become overly prescriptive, and responsible lending has become restrictive lending,” Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra. The changes remove responsible lending laws introduced in the wake of the global financial crisis that, among other things, require banks to check whether information provided by a borrower in their loan application is correct. They also follow other stimulatory measures, such as government guarantees for bad debts and cheap funding lines from the central bank. Australian banks had tightened lending practices following a government-led inquiry, or Royal Commission, which found lenders were approving loans to people that could not repay them, but the need to stimulate the economy has led lawmakers to relax their tough stance. “Before the Royal Commission, banks had very poor reputations, and after the Royal Commission it got worse, because it showed that they’ve been lending quite irresponsibly,” CLSA senior banking analyst Brian Johnson said. “Now what we are seeing is politicians ... basically embracing what it [the Royal Commission] previously would have called irresponsible lending.” Banks and investors cheered the news, with shares of National Australia Bank Ltd
A group of Apple Inc’s critics — including Spotify Technology SA, Match Group Inc and Fortnite creator Epic Games — have joined a nonprofit group that plans to advocate for legal and regulatory action to challenge the iPhone maker’s App Store practices. Apple charges a commission of between 15 percent and 30 percent for apps that use its in-app payment system and sets out extensive rules for apps in its App Store, which is the only way Apple allows consumers to download native apps to devices such as the iPhone. Those practices have drawn criticism and formal legal complaints from some developers. The Coalition for App Fairness, structured as a nonprofit based in Washington and Brussels, said that it plans to advocate legal changes that would force Apple to amend its practices. Beyond Epic, Match and Spotify, other members include smaller firms such as Basecamp, Blix, Blockchain.com, Deezer and Tile, along with developers from Europe, including the European Publishers Council, News Media Europe and Protonmail. Epic is suing Apple over antitrust claims in a US federal court in California, while Spotify has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in the EU. Sarah Maxwell, a representative for the group, declined to comment on how much funding the Coalition for App Fairness has raised and from whom. Apple declined to comment, but on Thursday unveiled a new section of its Web site explaining the benefits of its approach, saying that the App Store had blocked 150,000 apps last year for privacy breaches. It says App Store fees fund the creation of developer resources, such as 160,000 technical documents and sample code to help developers build apps. Mike Sax, founder of The App Association, a group sponsored by Apple, said in statement that the new coalition’s “big brands do not speak for the thousands of app makers that are the foundation of
HIGHLY LEVERAGED: The company has expanded into sectors ranging from electric vehicles to hospitals and theme parks, areas that align with government priorities
China Evergrande Group (恒大集團) is facing a crisis of confidence among its creditors, who have lent the world’s most indebted property developer more than US$120 billion. Long-simmering doubts about the health of China’s biggest property company by revenue exploded to the fore on Thursday, following reports that it had warned local government officials of a potential cash crunch that could threaten China’s financial stability. Investors yesterday dumped Evergrande’s bonds, sending its yuan note due in 2023 down as much as 28 percent to a record low. High-yield US dollar debt slumped across Asia. Evergrande said in a statement that rumors and documents circulating online were “fabricated” and “pure defamation,” without commenting directly on whether it had warned officials of a potential cash crunch. The company, controlled by billionaire Hui Ka Yan (許家印), said that it generated 400 billion yuan (US$59 billion) from project sales in the first eight months of the year and maintains healthy operations. Evergrande has won approval from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to spin off its property management unit, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday, paving the way for it to raise additional capital. Worries that Evergrande could still face a liquidity shortfall stem from an agreement with some of its biggest strategic investors. It gives them the right to demand their money back if the company fails to win approval for a backdoor listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange by Jan. 31 next year. The repayment could amount to 130 billion yuan, or about 92 percent of Evergrande’s cash and cash equivalents. At least one of those investors has signaled it would be unwilling to extend the deadline. In another sign that creditors are growing increasingly concerned, at least five Chinese banks and two trust firms on Thursday held emergency meetings to discuss their Evergrande exposure and access to collateral, people familiar
LUXURY BRANDS LVMH, Tiffany not talking LVMH and Tiffany & Co are staying away from the negotiating table, even though a US judge urged them to settle lawsuits over their ill-fated deal to combine, people familiar with their thinking said. The companies instead are preparing for a trial scheduled to begin on Jan. 5 next year, said the people, who did not want to be identified because the matter is private. That could temper investor optimism, after 53 percent of those responding to a Sanford C. Bernstein poll said that they thought the deal could still go through. LVMH jolted Tiffany shareholders earlier this month by announcing that the world’s largest maker of luxury goods had decided to pull out of its US$16 billion acquisition of the jeweler. Tiffany retaliated with a lawsuit. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Joseph Slights earlier this week set the date for the trial after the deal’s original deadline, but before the expiration of US antitrust clearance. INTERNET Indoor drone unveiled Amazon.com Inc on Thursday unveiled an indoor drone for recording security video in homes and products for alerting vehicle owners about attempted break-ins. The news reflects Amazon’s drive into the security business since it acquired the smart doorbell and camera company Ring in 2018. That has led to criticism by civil liberties advocates, who have taken issue with services that let Ring users share videos with law enforcement. Amazon’s indoor drone, called the Ring Always Home Cam, flies to take video in predetermined areas and costs US$249. The company also unveiled a physical vehicle alarm gadget, as well as Ring Car Connect software that first would be compatible with Tesla Inc models. The software plays back video and tells a user if their vehicle is unlocked, among other features. CHIPMAKERS Broadcom, EU deal near Broadcom Inc is nearing a settlement that could end
‘SWARM TECH’: Joint venture FARobot is to develop autonomous mobile robots that would first be deployed in Hon Hai’s factories to optimize production efficiency
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Adlink Technology Inc (凌華科技) have formed a robotic venture that aims to use “swarm technology” to create robots that can communicate with one another on the factory floor to optimize production efficiency. Hon Hai is Apple Inc’s leading iPhone assembler and the world’s largest contract electronics maker, while Adlink supplies industrial computers and Internet of Things solutions. Through a subsidiary, Hyield Venture Capital Co (鴻揚創投), Hon Hai holds a 51 percent stake in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) developer FARobot (法博智能移動), while Adlink owns the remaining 49 percent. Together, the two companies put up NT$200 million (US$6.82 million) in capital for the new venture, which opened its doors on Wednesday. FARobot general manager Ryan Chen (陳家榜) told the Taipei Times via telephone yesterday that “swarm autonomy” is a concept from the field of robotics. It utilizes data distribution service technology to enable robots to share information with each other in a decentralized manner, he said. “They are like ants or bees, and each individual unit is getting constant feedback from the others so they can work as a team,” he said. This ability to adapt to change in real time is key to optimizing productivity, he said. “The factory of the future is very fast-moving and full of changes,” he said. “The same production line could be making one product in the morning and another in the afternoon.” “Our biggest challenge is to deliver the right raw material or components at the right time to the right place,” Chen said. “This will reduce the amount of time spent waiting rather than in operation.” FARobot’s AMRs are to be deployed in Hon Hai factories within three years, he said. “Hon Hai is the factory of the world so we can prove our concept there first, but of course we would want to
Chunghwa Precision Test Technology Co (CHPT, 中華精測), a supplier of probe cards used for silicon wafer testing, is cautiously optimistic about its business outlook for next year, bolstered by robust demand for vertical probe cards (VPC) and testing demand for high-performance-computing (HPC) chips, a company official said yesterday. Revenue from the high-margin VPC business is expected to grow by a double-digit percentage next year compared with this year, which would boost VPC’s contribution to more than 25 percent of overall revenue, CHPT president Scott Huang (黃水可) told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing in Taipei. The company reported NT$1.06 billion (US$36.16 million) in revenue last quarter, with VPC accounting for 22 percent. “We are cautiously optimistic about next year’s business,” Huang said. “The main growth drivers are VPC and HPC.” CHPT plans to boost its needle planting machines’ monthly capacity by more than 66 percent before the end of the year to 1 million pins from 600,000 pins now, Huang said. Testing demand for 5G-related chips are also on the rise, as 5G smartphone production is forecast to surge to more than 500 million units next year from an estimated 206 million units this year, he said. CHPT is also gaining new customers in other fields, as a growing number of companies worldwide are attempting to develop their own chips, he added. CHPT said it has a good chance to break into the world’s top 10 probe card suppliers this year, after ranking 18th last year. Asked about order losses from Huawei Technologies Co (華為) due to the US’ export restrictions, Huang said that orders from new customers would fill the void left by the Chinese company, although the adjustments might take some time. CHPT counts the world’s two major 5G chip suppliers — Qualcomm Inc and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) — among its top clients. Taiwan Semiconductor
INVEST IN TAIWAN: A metal components casting firm and the world’s largest maker of aluminum bicycle rims also obtained approvals to join the program
Solar Applied Materials Technology Co (SOLAR, 光洋應用材料), a part of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) “green supply chain,” has pledged to invest NT$1 billion (US$34.1 million) to build a new plant at the Tainan Technology Industrial Park (台南科技工業區), the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. SOLAR has been collaborating with TSMC to extract precious metals from waste and reuse them as “sputtering target” material in high-end semiconductor manufacturing, a TSMC press release issued in May said. Established in 1978, SOLAR also offers key materials and integrated services to customers in the optoelectronics, information and communications technology, petrochemicals and consumer electronics industries, information on the company’s Web site says. Ho Kun-sung (何坤松), chief operating officer and spokesman for the ministry’s InvesTaiwan Service Center, said that the new plant would be the first facility of its kind in Taiwan and would satisfy the demand for sputtering target material for the semiconductor industry for the next five to 10 years. The new plant is expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year, the center said. SOLAR’s investment is part of the government’s Invest in Taiwan initiative. The company applied to be a part of the Invest in Taiwan initiative after it became a TSMC supplier, Ho said, adding that it had to commit to certain criteria to qualify. “We want to encourage high value-added smart manufacturing in Taiwan,” Ho said. “They are not there yet, but they have made the commitment.” The program provides favorable loan terms, talent and location scouting, and other assistance to attract investment back home. “It was a very smooth process with Solar Applied Materials because it is a large, publicly traded company, but if smaller companies do not know how to meet the smart manufacturing requirements, we provide them with guidance,” Ho said. Investment applications by two other firms were also approved
Merck Group Taiwan yesterday said that it plans to invest substantially on expanding its fab in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹) to better serve its local customers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). The company said it plans to expand its production space by 50 percent in the next five years and its workforce by about 40 percent, Merck Group Taiwan managing director Dick Hsieh (謝志宏) told a media briefing in Taipei. Hsieh declined to disclose investment details, but said that the latest investment would exceed the total amount Merck has invested in Taiwan over the past few years. Those investments would be made to address the local semiconductor material market, the largest in the world with a market value of US$11.3 billion last year, Merck said, citing statistics from industrial trade group SEMI. Taiwan has occupied the top spot for the past 10 years, SEMI said on Tuesday. Merck has been actively expanding into the semiconductor materials market through acquisitions in recent years, Suresh Rajaraman, senior vice president and business field head of thin film solutions, said yesterday. The company acquired Versum Materials Inc, an Arizona-based semiconductor materials supplier, in October last year after acquiring special chemical supplier AZ Electronics Materials SA in 2014. Those acquisitions helped Merck broaden its product portfolio to include the materials, chemicals and gas used in the seven major steps in manufacturing chips, it said. Merck set up a new lab at its Kaohsiung manufacturing campus soon after its acquisition of Versum Materials. Next year, one production line would be allocated to Kaohsiung and more materials would be produced in Taiwan, Merck said. Merck said it is also developing new directed self-assembly material for 3-nanometer technology and even more advanced technologies. Merck operates fabs and labs in 10 locations in Taiwan, including Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, with a workforce of 1,000.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is considering easing requirements on secondary public offerings, disclosing more pre-market trading information and allowing the establishment of Web-only securities companies in a bid to boost the nation’s capital market, the commission said yesterday. The commission would consider easing regulations for publicly traded biotech companies that raised capital through private placements, allowing investors to sell their shares in the open market even though the firms have not turned a profit, it said. Under current rules, investors in private placements cannot sell the companies’ shares within three years following the delivery of the securities and cannot sell the shares in the open market if the companies remain in the red, the commission said. However, many biotech companies have complained that it is difficult to raise funds through private placements, as it is not easy to make a profit due to time-consuming research and development, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Sam Chang (張振山) told a news conference in New Taipei City. “Due to the characteristics of the biotech industry, we might consider exempting them from the conditions regarding companies’ profits,” Chang said. “For example, their investors might be allowed to sell shares in the open market after six years even though the companies remain in the red,” he said. However, as investors in private placements, who usually buy the shares at a discount, enjoy some advantages that regular investors do not have, the commission would ensure that the deregulation would not lead to unfair transactions, it said. The commission would ask the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Taipei Exchange to boost transparency by disclosing more information about the disposition of securities and monitor potential suspicious trading activities, Chang said. The commission would also study if it is time to encourage the development of Web-only securities companies, as more people get accustomed to placing orders online,
The nation’s retail sales rose 8.2 percent year-on-year to NT$334 billion (US$11.39 billion) last month, while food and beverage sector sales increased 2 percent to NT$73.6 billion, Ministry of Economic Affairs data released on Wednesday showed. Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑) described the results as “surprisingly strong.” Notably, auto sales rose 33.5 percent, which Huang attributed in part to the seventh month of the lunar calendar, known as “Ghost Month,” falling in August versus this year, when it started late last month and ended on Wednesday last week. Convenience store sales grew 15.6 percent, while e-commerce and mail order sales increased 16.4 percent. Restaurant sales were up 4.7 percent, but catering and banquet sales dropped by 40 percent, ministry data showed. “Until we lift border controls, the banquet trade is not going to return to normalcy,” Huang told a news conference. The strong retail and food and beverage sales last month also reflected the effect of the government’s Triple Stimulus Voucher program, which commenced on July 15, Huang said. Taiwanese who participated in the program received NT$3,000 in vouchers which must be spent before the end of the year. The inability to travel overseas could be a reason why retail sales were so high, Huang said. “People who could not go abroad to shop might have spent the money at home,” he said. Other factors might be at play, National Central University economics professor Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) said. “While it is true that people are still using up their vouchers, what is probably more significant is the gains made by the stock market and the housing market in recent months,” Wu said. “Domestic demand is back.”
BUCKING THE TREND: While tech and finance firms were affected by the downturn, biotech firms Abnova and China Chemical & Pharmaceutical posted gains
The TAIEX yesterday plunged more than 300 points to end below 12,300 points and the three-month moving average of 12,577, as market sentiment was hurt by a steep drop on Wall Street overnight. The index closed down 319.50 points, or 2.54 percent, at the day’s low of 12,264.38. Turnover totaled NT$243.499 billion (US$8.31 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Elsewhere in Asia, shares were also mostly lower, as caution set in after a retreat on Wall Street driven by a decline in technology shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 525 points, or 1.92 percent, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ dropped 3.02 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 1.1 percent to 23,081.70, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.8 percent to 5,875.90. South Korea’s KOSPI plunged 2.3 percent to 2,280.28, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.9 percent to 23,297.47, and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.5 percent to 3,231.51. With the daily trading volume on Taiwan’s main board and the over-the-counter market holding at about NT$250 billion, there is still room for the TAIEX to regain some momentum, Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) said. The National Stabilization Fund committee is to meet on Oct. 12 to determine whether to continue to buy stocks to help prop up the market, Su said. Among the affected tech heavyweights, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) dropped 2.42 percent to close at NT$423. It was the seventh consecutive session of decline for the stock since Wednesday last week, when it hit a high of NT$462. Meanwhile, integrated circuit designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) shed 2.76 percent to close at NT$600, and Largan Precision Co (大立光), a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc, fell 1.3 percent to end at NT$3,425. Financial sector performance was also weak, with Yuanta Financial Holdings Co (元大金控) losing 3.11 percent to close at NT$17.15 and China Development Financial Holding
A businessman who spun his wealth from bottled water and vaccines has usurped tech tycoon Jack Ma (馬雲) as China’s richest man, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed yesterday. Nongfu Spring Co (農夫山泉) founder Zhong Shanshan’s (鍾睒睒) net worth has reached US$58.7 billion after a massive listing by the bottled water company in Hong Kong earlier this month. This makes him US$2 billion richer than previous No. 1, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) founder Jack Ma, the wealth index said. Nongfu, which claims to be No. 1 in China’s massive bottled water market, is ubiquitous across a country where most people shun tap water for health reasons. The company raised nearly US$1.1 billion in its initial public offering. Zhong is also the chairman of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Co (北京萬泰生物), a vaccine manufacturer that listed in China in April. It is developing a COVID-19 vaccine nasal spray in conjunction with a prominent university. Zhong, a 66-year-old former reporter from Zhejiang who state media says was also once a construction worker, is often referred to by Chinese media as a “lone wolf” for his rare public appearances and reluctance to be interviewed. He founded Nongfu in 1996, just as China’s bottled water market began to take off.
The number of furloughed workers increased slightly over the past week as the economic effects of COVID-19-related border restrictions continued, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday. As of yesterday, 17,009 workers had agreed to enter unpaid leave programs with their employer, up 144 from 16,865 a week earlier, ministry data showed. Meanwhile, the number of employers offering unpaid leave programs increased by 53 to 893 during the one-week period, the data showed. Most of the increases during the past week occurred in the retail and wholesale, logistics and warehousing, lodging, and food and beverage industries, as well as in the service sector, including education consulting firms offering study abroad, the data showed. Taipei saw the largest growth in the number of employers implementing unpaid leave programs over the past week, rising to 251 from 226. The large growth in Taipei was due to border control measures implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which have taken a toll on local industries, Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Deputy Director Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛) said. The growth in the number of companies implementing unpaid leave programs has significantly outpaced the growth in the number of furloughed workers over the past week, because fewer large and medium-sized enterprises implemented the programs, while more small and micro-sized businesses put their employees on unpaid leave, Huang said. The retail and wholesale industry recorded the highest number of employers with unpaid leave programs at 307, followed by the manufacturing sector with 270 and the support service industry at 80, ministry data showed. The manufacturing sector recorded the largest number of furloughed workers, with 10,263 over the past week, ahead of the retail and wholesale industry, with 2,882, and the logistics and warehousing sector, with 1,388, the data showed. Most of the enterprises implementing furlough programs are small firms with workforces of fewer than 50
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