Taipei, Feb. 2, 2010 (CENS)--The capacity utilization of both AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), the top-two thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturers in Taiwan, is close to 100% in the first quarter, driving them to place orders for 10% to 20% more glass than the fourth quarter of 2009, according to major glass supplier.

The first quarter has been a traditional off season for the panel industry, and panel makers` orders for glass implies better-than-expected operation results of panel makers might come, industry sources said.

Corning Inc. of the United States, the world`s largest glass supplier, recently publicized its 2009 results and forecasted that its self-operated business (mainly from glass furnaces in Taiwan and Japan) in the first quarter is expected to grow 8% to 12% from the same period of last year. Industry insiders pointed out that Corning`s forecast implied strong demand from Taiwanese panel manufacturers, whose panel shipments, however, might be limited by the glass supply shortage.

Industry experts attributed local panel suppliers` shipment growth in the first quarter to strong demand from mainland China. China just announced to purchase US$5.3 billion worth of panels from Taiwan this year, compared to originally planned US$10 billion, due to insufficient capacity of local panel makers.

Analysts of foreign institutional investors pointed out both AUO and CMO`s capacity utilization rates are expected to maintain at high level if China continue to procure LCD TV panels from the island.

(by Quincy Liang)