Note: Global Morning Briefing is The Seoul Economic Daily's roundup of international business news.
After Trump's Unilateral Announcement, Taiwan Says It Will Buy 6 Million Tons of Alaska LNG a Year
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Taiwan's plan to invest in the Alaska liquefied natural gas pipeline project at a campaign rally in the state. Analysts said his visit to Alaska, long considered a Republican stronghold, and his emphasis on diplomatic and economic achievements reflect the political pressure facing Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.
Trump made the announcement on the 13th at a midterm campaign rally for Dan Sullivan, the incumbent Republican senator from Alaska. He said Taiwan had agreed to invest $4.4 billion (about 5.9 trillion won) to complete the project, stressing that the agreement guarantees its success.
Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said in an official statement that the cooperation currently planned involves purchasing 6 million tons of Alaska LNG annually once pipeline development is completed, along with participating in the project's development.
The ministry said CPC Corporation, Taiwan signed a letter of intent in Taipei in March last year for the purchase of and investment in Alaska LNG, aiming to secure a stable domestic supply of natural gas and maintain a strategy of diversifying import sources. It added that a year and a half of intensive negotiations and careful review had produced significant progress with the U.S. developer.
The ministry also gave a positive assessment of the Alaska LNG project, which has been criticized as lacking commercial viability. It said the project has a geographic advantage because the gas can be shipped directly to Taiwan across the Pacific, helping to diversify transport routes and reduce geopolitical supply risks.
In his speech, Trump also repeated his claim that South Korea has agreed to invest $50 billion in Alaska.
Micron Says Halving of 600-Step Permit Process Drove Its New York Investment
Micron, one of the leading U.S. advanced memory chipmakers, said strong support from state governments as well as the federal government played a key role as it expanded investment in domestic production facilities. State governments streamlined complex permitting procedures and provided infrastructure support, making it possible to expand chip production in the United States, the company said.
Scott Gatzemeier, Micron's corporate vice president, explained the background to the company's New York chip plant investment on the 13th at Semicon West, North America's largest semiconductor exhibition, held in San Francisco. Gatzemeier oversees the company's new fab projects in New York and Idaho.
Micron announced in June last year a $200 billion (about 267.36 trillion won) plan to invest in advanced chip production facilities. Gatzemeier cited three reasons for building large-scale chip plants in the United States, particularly in New York.
"Our customers realized the importance of resilient supply chains because of COVID-19 and came to want memory chips supplied from within the United States," he said. He added that the U.S. government recognized the national security and economic importance of the chip industry and created a level playing field through the CHIPS Act and the investment tax credit. "The site is next to the Great Lakes, and about 40 miles away there is a gigawatt-class nuclear plant," he said.
He also highlighted strong administrative support from the New York state government. "Governor Kathy Hochul first met with us within a week of taking office, and her support has been truly remarkable," Gatzemeier said, adding that he particularly wanted to note the creation of GOSEMI, a dedicated agency supporting the semiconductor industry. He said the project required 600 steps and 40 permits from the local to the federal level, but that with GOSEMI's help the permitting timeline was cut by 50% compared with other large projects in New York.
Rep. Darrell Issa, who attended the forum, said everyone knows the race cannot be lost because semiconductors are too important, and that no single country can be allowed to monopolize part of the supply chain.
ASML Beats Estimates, but Investors Say It Fell Short of Hopes
ASML, the Dutch company that is the world's largest maker of chip lithography equipment, posted third-quarter net profit more than 20% above market estimates on the back of the artificial intelligence boom. Still, the results were seen as falling somewhat short of investors' heightened expectations.
ASML reported third-quarter total revenue of 11.662 billion euros (about 17.5 trillion won) and net profit of 4.96 billion euros. Revenue was in line with the market estimate of 11.7 billion euros, while net profit exceeded the consensus of 4.11 billion euros by 20.7%.
Third-quarter gross margin came in at 57.5%, above the top end of the company's guidance of 57%. Operating margin was 44.4% and basic earnings per share were 12.95 euros.
DeepSeek Nears Funding Round Double Its Target, at a 100 Trillion Won Valuation
Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is close to raising an additional 20 trillion won. Investor interest has concentrated on the company amid steep revenue growth, expanding the fundraising to twice its original target.
Chinese business outlet Caijing, citing multiple sources, reported that DeepSeek will soon complete a second funding round of 100 billion yuan (about 20 trillion won). That comes just four months after it raised 50 billion yuan in its first round in June. Joining existing investors such as Tencent and CATL are new backers from a range of industries, including chip designer GigaDevice, foundry SMIC and automaker Geely. The target valuation is 500 billion yuan (about 100 trillion won).
DeepSeek plans to put the funds into a large data center it is building in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The facility will house more than 160,000 of Huawei's Ascend AI chips.
