Since the start of 2025, silver prices have nearly doubled, far outpacing the roughly 30% rise in copper and the 60% climb in gold. The metal's extraordinary rally has prompted traders to dub it "the new gold" of the precious-metals market. Analysts now expect the momentum to continue into 2026, driven by heightened global risk aversion and tightening regional supplies.

Taiwan's leading construction engineering contractors are on track to post record results in 2026 as TSMC accelerates advanced fab expansion at home and overseas to meet rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. United Integrated Services (UIS), Marketech International (MIC), L and K Engineering, Yankey Engineering, and Acter Group report strong profit momentum supported by large project backlogs tied to TSMC's new fabs and advanced packaging lines.

Following price-hike announcements from Taiwan's major copper-clad laminate (CCL) makers, including Nan Ya, China's market leader Kingboard Laminates Holdings has issued its third price increase in less than a year, citing a sharp surge in copper prices, tightening supplies of electrolytic copper, and an increasingly strained fiberglass market. Confronted with mounting cost pressures, the company said it would implement broad price adjustments on all materials beginning December 1.