COVID-19: Foxsemicon suspends production for two days after six workers test positive
COVID-19: Foxsemicon suspends production for two days after six workers test positiveBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterFoxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc (京鼎精密), a semiconductor manufacturing and inspection equipment maker, yesterday suspended production for two days after six foreign workers tested positive for COVID-19. The entrance of Foxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc headquarters in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township is pictured on Feb. 16, 2017. Foxsemicon said in the filing that it would start to conduct rapid COVID-19 tests of all its workers in Jhunan today. It is estimated that 470 people (excluding foreign workers) are to take the test initially, the filing showed. The company is a subsidiary of Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) and headed by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉).
Source:Taipei Times
June 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Plum rains ease water shortage: MOEA
Plum rains ease water shortage: MOEATIMELY RAIN: Before the arrival of the seasonal plum rains late last month, the nation had gone almost a year without significant rainfall in catchment areasBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTimely plum rains have significantly alleviated a historic water shortage in Taiwan, allowing water restriction measures to be lifted in some areas, while the hardest-hit areas remain on alert, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday. “Thanks to Tropical Storm Choi-Wan, the sustained plum rains and continued water resource management efforts, the water situation in Taiwan has been greatly alleviated,” Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美華) told an online news conference. As a result of last week’s plum rains, the water level at the reservoir rose to 44 percent of capacity, the Water Resources Agency said. Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei TimesBefore the seasonal plum rains arrived late last month, Taiwan had gone almost a year without significant rainfall in the catchment areas of reservoirs. The water shortage was exacerbated by silt buildup in the nation’s reservoirs, reducing their overall usable capacity, the Water Resources Agency said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Consolidated sales of four FPG entities rose last month on higher crude prices
Formosa Plastics Group’s naphtha cracker complex in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township is pictured in an undated photograph. Formosa Petrochemical last month posted NT$52.93 billion in consolidated sales, up 106.1 percent from a year earlier and up 13.7 percent from a month earlier. Nan Ya Plastics posted NT$34.49 billion in consolidated sales, up 77.6 percent from a year earlier, but down 1.2 percent from a month earlier. Formosa Chemicals & Fibre posted NT$32.14 billion in consolidated sales, up 78.4 percent from a year earlier, but down 2.8 percent from a month earlier. In the first five months of this year, the four companies posted a combined NT$647.54 billion in consolidated sales, up 40.3 percent from a year earlier, FPG data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
June 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Traditional markets to be controlled
Traditional markets to be controlled‘DO NOT STAY TOO LONG’: People would be required to provide personal contact information when entering traditional markets, and illegal vendors would be finedBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced five crowd control measures for traditional and night markets as it reported 335 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, eight backlogged cases and 36 deaths. The eight backlogged cases are three men and five women aged 20 to 70, Chen said. A police officer standing at the entrance to a traditional market in Taipei yesterday holds a sign urging people to follow disease prevention measures. Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Chuan-neng (林全能) said his ministry has been negotiating with local governments on how to tighten crowd controls at traditional or night markets, adding that they agreed on five measures. “The first would be expanding crowd controls to include roadside vendors around the markets,” he said, adding that business hours and traffic control sections would be clearly designated inside and near the markets.
Source:Taipei Times
June 06, 2021 16:01 UTC
TSMC expansion to benefit UIS, Yuanta says
TSMC expansion to benefit UIS, Yuanta saysBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterUnited Integrated Services Co (UIS, 漢唐集成), which provides electric system integration engineering services, is part of a supply chain that is set to benefit from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) multiyear capacity expansion plans, despite weak sales and earnings growth so far this year, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said on Friday. Revenue in the first four months of this year declined 21.94 percent to NT$7.72 billion (US$278.49 million), from NT$9.89 billion a year earlier, UIS data showed. Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times“We remain positive on UIS given it has 70 percent to 80 percent order allocation from TSMC for clean room electrical and mechanical engineering services, and is thus a major beneficiary of its capacity expansion,” Yuanta analysts wrote in a research note. UIS helps TSMC build manufacturing facilities, including the chipmaker’s advanced Fab 14, which produces 5-nanometer chips, and Fab 18, which is to begin volume production of 3-nanometer chips in the second half of next year. Apart from orders from TSMC’s new projects, Yuanta analysts said that UIS in the near term would benefit from capacity expansion at US-based DRAM chipmaker Micron Technology Inc’s fab in Taichung’s Houli District (后里) and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp’s (力積電) fab in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼).
Source:Taipei Times
June 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
First Financial cuts growth expectations for fee income
First Financial cuts growth expectations for fee incomeBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterState-run First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) has trimmed its growth target for fee income and its wealth management business this year as the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak could weigh on investment sentiment, the bank-focused conglomerate told an online earnings conference on Monday last week. “We have adjusted earnings expectations in the wake of the virus outbreak and cut our growth target for wealth management this year from 15 percent to 10 percent,” First Financial investment relations head Anne Lee (李淑玲) said. Net income at its main subsidiary, First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), rose 32.8 percent year-on-year to NT$4.4 billion, but Lee said that fee income, the group’s main profit driver, would remain vulnerable during the outbreak, with the pinch more evident in its wealth management business. The profit expected from wealth management this year has been adjusted to NT$4 billion, down from the NT$4.4 billion previously forecast, she said, adding that the NT$8 billion projected previously from overall fee income would be somewhat affected. The business would hopefully make a substantial contribution if things return to normal next quarter, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC drops surcharges for subsidized vaccinations
The NT$300 (US$10.82) administration fee for the jabs would be waived from today, eliminating all out-of-pocket fees for government-funded COVID-19 vaccines, the center said. On Saturday, the CECC said that the fee would not be covered by a NT$4 billion COVID-19 relief budget approved last week. Photo: Ting Wei-chieh, Taipei TimesPart of the funding would be allocated to local governments for setting vaccine sites, it said. Taipei and New Taipei City offer the subsidized jabs to medical workers, epidemic prevention workers and other workers at higher risk of COVID-19 exposure, while the rest of the nation only offers the free vaccines to medical workers. As of Thursday last week, 678,418 doses had been administered nationwide, the CECC said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19 testing should focus on migrant workers: expert
The government must take full advantage of virus detection technology and available disease prevention staff to “get a handle on” the movements and health conditions of migrant workers, Huang said. Photo: Tsai Cheng-min, Taipei Times“It will also be important to conduct frequent testing on migrant workers, as they share dorm rooms,” he said. Migrant workers are very important to the country’s production capacity, but so far only migrant caretakers who are in contact with elderly Taiwanese are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination, he said. Taoyuan has implemented new guidelines to manage the more than 116,000 migrant workers there, including 25,000 caregivers, he said. Dorms for migrant workers at 652 companies would be inspected, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Ministry welcomes US pledge of vaccines
Ministry welcomes US pledge of vaccinesVACCINE DIPLOMACY: Vaccine donations from the US and Japan show that democratic countries are standing with Taiwan, despite pressure from Beijing, a DPP legislator saidStaff writer, with CNAThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed a US pledge to donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan, saying it sends a strong and clear message of support for the nation. Taiwan is the first country for which the US has officially announced the specific number of vaccine doses it would receive after saying it would share its vaccine reserve, the ministry said in a statement. A US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III freighter is parked at Songshan Air Force Base in Taipei after its arrival yesterday. Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei TimesThe White House on Thursday said that of the first 25 million vaccine doses, 19 million would be distributed through the COVAX program. Japan donated 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which arrived on Friday.
Source:Taipei Times
June 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Salary at listed firms rises 4%
Salary at listed firms rises 4%FIRST PLACE: Foxconn Technology Co, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, registered an average annual wage of NT$4.19 million and a total of 171 employeesBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe average annual salary of employees at publicly listed firms last year rose 4 percent year-on-year to NT$967,021 (US$34,884), beating the nation’s GDP growth of 2.98 percent, but the firm with the highest average wage offered 12.5 times more than the one with the lowest, indicating uneven salary growth in Taiwan, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said. In 2019, Swancor Holding Co (上緯投控) had the highest average annual wage at NT$5.16 million and home appliance supplier Taiwan Sanyo Electric Co (台灣三洋) the lowest at NT$327,000. Global Brands Manufacture Ltd (精成科技) was the exception: The firm produces printed circuit boards and had an average wage of NT$3.46 million. Retail conglomerate Mercuries & Associates Holding Ltd’s (三商投資控股) average wage ranked ninth at NT$3.23 million, followed by Lien Hwa Industrial Holdings Corp (聯華實業投資控股) with NT$3.2 million. As for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), its average annual wage ranked 18th at NT$2.39 million, with 47,908 employees.
Source:Taipei Times
June 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
MOEA to end some water restrictions
“Over the past few days, the rainfall [in reservoir catchment areas] has exceeded 100mm. Coupled with other sources of water, such as underground water, underflow water and filtered water sourced from construction sites, we now have enough water for use until the end of July,” Wang said, citing Water Resources Agency data. Rainfall over the past few days has raised the lake’s water level significantly, the Water Resources Agency said. Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu, Taipei Times“Therefore, we can now stop the water supply restrictions” in these areas, Wang said, while warning that the water shortage is not yet completely over. In Tainan, 25 million tonnes of water was added to Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫), while a combined 41 million tonnes went into Zengwun Reservoir (曾文水庫) and Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), it said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Tourism relief not enough: trade group
COVID-19: Tourism relief not enough: trade groupLOOKING FOR MORE: Last year, travel agencies only had to contend with losses from fewer foreign travelers, but this year domestic tours have also been suspended, it saidBy Cheng Wei-chi and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerA tourism industry group yesterday criticized the government’s COVID-19 special relief funding for tourism, saying that the government had allocated less money for the industry than last year, despite a worse outbreak situation. Travel Quality Assurance Association president Tony Hsu (許禓哲) told an online news conference that the nation’s tourism industry has suspended all foreign group tours indefinitely due to the pandemic. Subsidies granted to travel agencies for suspended tours totaled NT$154 million, or NT$10,000 per tour group, for a maximum of eight groups per travel agency. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei TimesAssociation spokesman Lee Chi-yueh (李奇嶽) said that subsidies for group tours should not be a fixed sum, but should be based on the size of the group tour being suspended. The association said that the MOTC should match the MOEA subsidies, offering a flat NT$10,000 per employee and from NT$10,000 to NT$50,000 based on the size of a group, for losses incurred due to suspended group tours.
Source:Taipei Times
June 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Plum rain front forecast to bring more heavy rains
In particular, residents of western and northeastern Taiwan as well as mountainous areas in southern Taiwan should take precautions, forecasters said. Scooter riders get drenched by rain at an intersection in Kaohsiung yesterday. The rainfall was concentrated in Keelung, Taipei and New Taipei City, with Yilan County, Taoyuan and Taichung receiving less rain, Wang said. The water volume at Taoyuan’s Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) increased to about 2.28 million cubic meters, or 19.21 percent of capacity, up from 17.26 percent before the rains, it showed. The level at Keelung’s Sinshan Reservoir (新山水庫) rose to 87.47 percent of capacity, the data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
June 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: Taiwan’s ‘Mister Weather’
Jen, who headed the weather forecasting center at the Central Weather Bureau, made history in 1993 as the nation’s first professional meteorologist to present the weather on the news when he appeared on Taiwan Television (TTV). When the Japanese took over in 1895, they immediately launched weather stations in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Hengchun, adding Taitung station five years later. This version of the Taipei Weather Station was used between 1897 and 1937. In 1963, Taiwan set up its first weather radar stations in Hualien and Kaohsiung with UN funding. After a series of deadly storms and floods, the government launched a 10-year program in the late 1970s to revamp the nation’s weather observation capabilities.
Source:Taipei Times
June 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Keelung District Court fines man for police baton attack
Keelung District Court fines man for police baton attackBy Lin Chia-tung and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerA man who assaulted a driver with a police baton in a traffic altercation must pay NT$2,000 for carrying a banned weapon in his vehicle, the Keelung District Court ruled last month. The man, surnamed Chang (張), 47, was driving along an alley of Keelung’s Renyi Road when the vehicle driven by a man surnamed Chou (周) blocked his way, the court filing showed. Chang approached Chou with the baton, leading to an altercation in which both men were injured, it showed. A Taiwan High Speed Rail security guard displays a baton on a platform in Taipei Railway Station on May 13. A police source said that 31 items on the standard-issue police equipment list are banned for civilian use.
Source:Taipei Times
June 05, 2021 15:56 UTC