The government is considering measures to break Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp's (台塑石化) dominance of the nation's fuel market, according to an official.
The government may cut tariffs on oil products and lower required stockpiles for fuel suppliers to create incentives for companies to import fuels, Wang Yunn-ming (王運銘), deputy director-general of the Bureau of Energy, said yesterday.
These moves may lower costs and encourage international oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil Corp, to import petroleum products into Taiwan, breaking the dominance of Formosa Petrochemical and state-run Chinese Petroleum, the nation's only oil refiners.
"We hope there'll be importers to compete with the two refiners," Wang said. "We're considering whether to lower barriers for importers."
Taiwan currently requires fuel importers to have a minimum stockpile of 50,000 kiloliters and imposes a 10 percent import duty on gasoline, according to a report by the bureau.
Chinese Petroleum controls about 70 percent of Taiwan's gasoline and diesel market, while Formosa Petrochemical has the rest.
Esso Petroleum Taiwan Inc, a local venture of Exxon Mobil, was granted permits to import gasoline and diesel fuel to Taiwan in February 2002. It exited the market in September 2003, according to the report.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), potentially breaching US sanctions, a government official said. The US slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. However, TSMC discovered on Oct. 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident said on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Shares of Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) surged more than 53 percent on its debut on the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday. Starlux shares closed up 53.75 percent at NT$30.75 from its initial public offering price of NT$20 after retreating in late trading from a 60 percent rise. China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) rose 0.90 percent to close at NT$22.35, while EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) gained 0.40 percent to close at NT$37.70. In Taiwan, a newly listed stock is allowed to go beyond the 10 percent maximum increase or decline in its first five trading sessions. At the listing ceremony, Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said
RSS