Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) announced that as of Thursday evening, the operating reserve of electricity was reported to be at only 4.32%, with the state power supplier's status index showing an orange light indicating a stressed capacity in the afternoon. The news comes amid heightened awareness regarding energy supply as countries around the world battle with impending power shortages or pow...

Supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could severely worsen this year to another level, reported BofA Global Research. The industry research report issued on Thursday presented a pessimistic outlook. Analysts at the Bank of America said the many issues seen in the U.S. are only the beginning, such as the lack of workers unloading sea freight containers. "These issues will l...

Media reports say that prolonged restrictions in Southeast Asian countries have taken a toll on their economies due to the Delta variant-fueled COVID-19 outbreak. Governments have begun reopening their economies despite the surge of COVID-19 cases and lack of containment, largely blamed on the slow vaccine roll-out. The region had quickly overtaken other parts of the world to become the worst...

The global transportation peak season is expected to worsen the port congestion problem, presented in how the global large container carrier's general rate increase (GRI) is slated for an uptick growth again in October, pushing shipping prices between East Asia and North America to an all-time high. Freight companies moving to increase prices include Evergreen, Yangming, COSCO, HMM, Hapag-Lloy...

Amid the Delta variant-fueled outbreaks going around the world, event organizers, exhibitors, and marketers hoping for the return of in-person events in the fourth quarter should be According to a SearchEngineLand article, their survey of marketing professionals this summer indicated a 50% chance on average that they would attend an in-person event through the end of 2021. Their latest Eve...

The global economy has been tentatively opening up amid increasing vaccination rates. However, as of writing, several factors could stem attempts to resume the path towards pre-COVID economic levels. Among them are the previously-mentioned shortages of crucial semiconductors, raw materials, shipping containers, and labor. The other factor that comes hand-in-hand with shipping container shortages,...

The Ministry of Finance announced well-performing figures regarding Taiwan's export numbers for July on Monday, reaching US$37.95 billion, setting a new monthly high in the past year as an annual increase of 34.7%, and marked a positive growth for 13 consecutive months. The export value of the four major categories of goods, including electronic components, information communication and audio...

As much of the world experienced an unprecedented disruption in 2020, industries alike struggled to readapt to the new reality. A walk around Taiwan's leading auto parts show — Taipei AMPA — would see new emerging, hot technologies in the electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous vehicle sectors a contrast against the traditional auto parts suppliers. With each year, B2B sourcing platforms would incre...

The National Development Council's business climate monitor signaled a fifth consecutive red light in June, with its index just one point less than in May, an optimistic outlook of Taiwan's economic situation. Council director Wu Ming-hui said the current domestic economy is continuing to warm up. Despite the localized COVID-19 outbreak throughout May and June, the manufacturing industry was n...

The U.S. consumer market is preparing for peak season in Q4, and this has led to a situation where global entities are charting shipping containers to ensure delivery. International e-commerce giant Alibaba recently announced that it would begin operating a chartered shipping route initiative between East Asia and the U.S. western coast. Each week would see around 3,000 TEU and a monthly 12,00...