EQUITIES
Shipping, steel boost TAIEX
The TAIEX moved sharply up to close at a record high yesterday, as old-economy stocks, in particular in the shipping and steel industries, continued to perform well. The TAIEX ended up 157.27 points, or 0.89 percent, at 17,755.46. Turnover totaled NT$534.165 billion (US$19.17 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$20.01 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The transportation and steel sectors benefited from large turnover, which in turn boosted the broader market, dealers said. At the end of the session, the transportation sector, boosted by shipping stocks, surged 8.28 percent and the steel sector soared 4.51 percent, while the electronics sector rose only 0.30 percent, with the semiconductor sub-index up 0.36 percent.
FOOD AND BEVERAGES
Nayuki down on debut
Chinese bubble tea chain Nayuki Holdings Ltd (奈雪的茶控股) fell on its Hong Kong trading debut yesterday, despite a well-received share sale. Shares of the firm opened at HK$18.86 and dropped to end the day at HK$17.12. That is down about 14 percent from its top-of-the range offering price of HK$19.8 per share. The initial public offering raised US$656 million and the retail portion was 432 times subscribed. Institutional books closed a day earlier than scheduled due to demand. Nayuki had 491 outlets at the end of last year, including 489 in China and one each in Hong Kong and Japan. The Shenzhen-based firm sells fresh-fruit teas, cold-brew beverages and baked goods. It recorded losses of 203 million yuan (US$31.4 million at the current exchange rate) last year.
SHIPPING
U-Ming, WMO to team up
Bulk shipper U-Ming Marine Transport Corp (裕民航運) and Denmark’s World Marine Offshore A/S (WMO) are to form a joint venture called U-Ming Marine Offshore Co (UMO, 裕民風能) to capitalize on Taiwan’s offshore wind power market, the companies announced on Monday. WMO said in a news release that the joint venture’s general manager Matthias Ens has had a long and experienced career in the offshore wind industry in Europe. Ens would lead a local workforce to provide offshore delivery and logistics for local wind farms and their engineering contractors, it said. UMO has signed a contract for the construction of two crew transfer vessels, which would be delivered in the second quarter of next year, the release said, adding that the company plans to buy two more crew transfer vessels in the fourth quarter of this year.
INFRASTRUCTURE
NDC approves highway study
The National Development Council (NDC) has given the green light to a feasibility study for a road improvement plan that would directly link the upgraded Suhua Highway to Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5), which links Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) and Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳). The improved Suhua Highway, which includes three stretches and links Yilan and Hualien counties, opened in January last year. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications devised the new highway improvement project to ease traffic on Suhua Highway along Taiwan’s rugged east coast, the NDC said on Monday. If construction on the new 7.2km section goes ahead, it is expected to be completed by 2032, at an estimated cost of NT$17.805 billion, it said. Once the work is completed, travel time on the upgraded highway would be reduced by 15 to 20 minutes, it added.
REGIONAL COMPETITION: Over the past few years the Philippines has lost ground to neighbors such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, a Philippine official said The Philippines is trying to enlist Taiwanese chip giants to expand in semiconductors, a bid to catch up with its neighbors who are emerging as significant suppliers in the industry. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) are among companies the Philippines is reaching out to as it seeks equipment and expertise to build out chip fabrication operations, said Dan Lachica, head of the Southeast Asian country’s main electronics industry group, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc (SEIPI). The association is working with Philippine officials in Taiwan to talk with potential
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
Nvidia Corp is set to unveil investment plans for Thailand, joining Alphabet Inc and Microsoft Corp, as Southeast Asia becomes a hot spot for building artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and manufacturing the components that power them. The US chip designing firm would announce investments during chief executive officer Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) trip to Bangkok in December, Thai Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan said on Monday. He declined to give details on the investment or how much the company would bring into Thailand. The investment by Nvidia could lead to more funding “with related clusters following suit,” Pichai said. Clinching
Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) yesterday said it had terminated a deal with SBI Holdings Inc to help build a chip manufacturing plant in Japan, as Powerchip found it unpractical to take the full responsibility of operating a plant it does not own for more than 10 years. Powerchip, Taiwan’s third-largest contract chipmaker, inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SBI in July last year to explore the possibility of building a 12-inch chip fab in Japan. According to the MOU, Powerchip’s role was that of a technology provider, as the company hopes to generate a new revenue stream,