Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥) yesterday said that it expects cement to account for less than half of its sales by 2025, as revenue from energy storage and vehicle charging businesses pick up.
Cement production would remain the company’s core business, despite business diversification efforts, Taiwan Cement chairman Nelson Chang (張安平) said at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
While the company is expanding into the green energy business in line with global efforts to curb carbon emissions, it would continue to produce up to 80 million tonnes of cement a year, Chang said.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Cement Corp
The foray into green energy is intended to help maintain its core operations, as cement manufacturing generates considerable carbon emissions and is subject to heavy carbon taxes in different parts of the world, Chang said.
For instance, its cement facility in Portugal pays a carbon tax of US$100 per tonne, higher than the selling price of cement, he said.
As such, the company has no choice but to invest in carbon reduction ventures to stay afloat, he added.
Carbon reductions must be fast and efficient, and the use of solar and other green energy resources in producing cement is not enough to offset carbon emissions, Chang said.
That means Taiwan Cement has to press ahead and develop carbon capture techniques that would help mitigate the negative impact of cement production on the environment, he said.
Carbon reduction will be crucial for Taiwan Cement and the whole industry in the coming decades, as carbon emissions are gaining speed and causing unimaginable damage to the world, he said.
The company will continue to produce cement, because it is a basic material for all building and infrastructure projects, he said.
As cement is a social necessity, Taiwan Cement has a responsibility to help reduce carbon emissions, he added.
Chang said he has been visiting cement facilities in China every month since the nation reopened its borders late last year.
Taiwan Cement is conservative about its outlook for this year, amid global concern over curbing carbon emissions and raw material prices remaining high, albeit lower than their peak last year, officials said.
Investments in energy storage and vehicle charging would take time to make meaningful contributions to profit, they said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS