Taiwan's Machine Tool Makers Launch Investmet Projects Amid Hazy Outlook

Despite market outlook remaining hazy for Taiwan's machine-tool makers, most of the island's leading manufacturers will launch ambitious investment projects as scheduled this year.

The incumbent chairman of both the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA) and Hiwin Technologies Corp., Eric Chuo, sees uncertainty in the 2014 market for machine tools, but his company is accelerating its global investment projects this year.

The company will begin constructing an NT$1.2 billion (US$40 million) manufacturing site at the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou in June, which will start up in 2016 to house a logistics building, an R&D facility, and a factory of precision machines.

In Germany, the world's No.2 maker of ballscrews for precision machines will begin in May or June constructing a  factory on 26,400-plus square meters in Offenburg.

In Taiwan, the company will begin building a factory sometime in the first half of this year on 19,800-plus square meters at the Taichung City Machinery Innovation Technology Park to make intelligent robots, also to build a front-end assembly factory for the robots and a vocational  training center at the Dapumei Industrial Park in Jayi County in southern Taiwan.

The company puts its capital expenditure for this year at around NT$3 billion (US$100 million).

The Goodway Group will launch a three-year, NT$5 billion (US$166.6 million) plan to build a manufacturing complex on 132,000 square meters also at the Dapumei park, with the group's Goodway Machine Corp. and Awea Mechantronic Co., Ltd. evenly sharing the land. Capital expenditure for this year is around NT$300-400 (US$10-13.3 million) by each of the two companies.

The Tongtai Group has pledged to push up its consolidated revenue to NT$20 billion (US$666.6 million) by 2020 after increasing to an estimated NT$10 billion (US$333 million) in 2015. For these goals, the group will begin constructing a  manufacturing site sometime in the second half of this year on 66,000 square meters of leased land at the Southern Taiwan Science Park, which will begin volume production of heavy-duty double-column machining centers and boring machines for aerospace industry upon completion of first-stage construction in the second half of 2015, with output revenue set at NT$3-4 billion (US$100-133.3 million) a year initially.

The Hota Group's Kao Fong Machinery Co., Ltd. will start constructing a factory at the Central Taiwan Science Park after the 2014 Chinese New Year for NT$280 million (US$9.3 million), which will   begin volume production of heavy-duty double-column machine tools by the end of this year, with production revenue planned at NT$1.5 billion (US$50 million) a year. Totally, the group plans capital expenditure at NT$600 million (US$20 million) for this year.

Taiwan Takisawa Co., Ltd. plans to spend around NT$100 million (US$3.3 million) on new capital equipment this year.

Falcon Machine Tools Co., Ltd. executives point out the company plans to spend NT$40-50 million (US$1.3-1.6 million) on new capital equipment this year as part of its plan to push up 2014 revenue back to 2012's level. (KL)

Taiwan's Leading Machine-Tool Makers and Their 2013 Revenue Results & 2014 Investment Plans

Company	2013 Consolidated Revenue	YoY Change (%)	Location for 2014 investment projects	2014 Capital expenditure
Awea	NT$2.99bn	-18.46	Dapumei, Jayi	NT$200-300M
Goodway	NT$5.88bn	-12.03	Dapumei, Jayi	NT$300-400M
Hiwin	NT$12.48bn	0.92	Suzhou, mainland China; Dapumei, Taiwan; Taichung, Taiwan; Offenburg, Germany.	NT$3bn
Kao Fong	NT$2bn	35.95	Central Taiwan Science Park	NT$600M
Falcon	NT$2.29bn	-12.32	Add new equipment in Taiwan	NT$40-50M
Tongtai	NT$7.68bn	6.38	Southern Taiwan Science Park	NT$600M
Shieh Yih	NT$4.08bn	19.08	Taoyuan, Taiwan; Kunshan, mainland China	NT$100M
Taiwan Takisawa	NT$2.83bn	4	Taoyuan, Taiwan	NT$100M
Taichung Victor	NT$4.28bn	-10.92	Taichung, Taiwan; Shanghai Qingpu Industrial Zone	NT$1.3bn