The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Gaoliqiaoke plant was held today. In the center is Chairman Wu Zhixiong. (Photo by reporter Ou Yuxiang)
[Reporter Ou Yuxiang/Taipei Report] Benefiting from the strong demand from AI customers, heat treatment company Colliers (8996) expanded its new Qiaoke plant in Qiaotou Science Park, Kaohsiung, and held a groundbreaking ceremony today. Chairman Wu Zhixiong said that he is very optimistic about the future. Qiaoke's new factory will be divided into phase one and phase two to gradually expand. The first phase will be partially completed next year (2027) and fully completed in 2028. The second phase is also being evaluated and discussing with the Nanke Administration Bureau whether there is suitable land.
Colliers pointed out that the total investment amount of Qiaoke's new plant will not exceed 3.25 billion yuan. It will become Colliers' largest production base in the future, surpassing the total of existing factories. The base area is about 4.69 hectares, and the first-phase development area accounts for half of the total foundation. Wu Zhixiong said that the new Qiaoke plant will be an important milestone for Colliers to move towards the next stage of growth, supporting Colliers to continue to deepen its technology layout, increase its production capacity scale, and actively expand market opportunities.
In an interview after the meeting, Colliers general manager Wu Junying pointed out that due to strong customer demand, in addition to expanding the factory in Nanke and renting a new factory in Zhongli to expand production, the Qiaoko plant is expected to obtain a license next year and start production in the second half of the year. It has also purchased land in Chachoengsao Province, Thailand. The base area is about the same as the Qiaoko factory. Construction is expected to start this year and be completed and put into operation next year. Both places are planning to expand fuel cell production capacity.
Regarding the production capacity planning of the three major product lines, Wu Junying explained that next year's fuel cell production capacity will be three times that of this year, with the Qiaoke plant mainly entering mass production. In 2028, it will increase by about 7 to 8 times, and production expansion will be accelerated to meet customer needs; the production capacity of plate heat exchangers is expected to increase by 30 to 50% this year and another 30 to 50% next year; water cooling heat dissipation production has been significantly expanded last year, and this year's goal is to integrate the production line.
Looking forward to this year, Wu Junying pointed out that the three major businesses of fuel cells, cooling, and plate heat exchangers are booming. Among them, fuel cells have benefited from the power demand of the AI data center, and currently have orders on hand for more than 12 months, exceeding the order visibility of about 6 to 9 months in the past. Plate heat exchangers will also benefit from CDU (coolant distribution unit), which will have obvious momentum in the second half of the year. In the future, water-cooling heat exchanger power will become an important application of plate heat exchangers. This expansion is mainly to support water cooling demand.
Wu Junying also predicts that all three major businesses are expected to grow at double digits this year. Although the performance in the second quarter is relatively flat due to customer chip replacement, the operation in the third quarter will be better than the second quarter, and the operation in the second half of the year will be better than the first half. In terms of revenue share, last year the heat dissipation field accounted for about 40% of revenue, fuel cells more than 30%, and plate type about 20%. In the first half of this year, heat dissipation and fuel cells each accounted for 40%, and plate type accounted for 20%. The main reason is that heat dissipation and fuel cells have grown significantly, which affects the proportion.
Regarding the performance in the heat dissipation field, Wu Junying said that last year, CDU accounted for about 40 to 45%, and branch pipes and related parts accounted for 60%. This year, the revenue proportion of CDU will increase again, because the unit price is higher and the contribution is also more significant. Among the three major businesses, the gross profit margin performance of plate heat exchange air and cooling products is also better.
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