Taiwan-based clean room engineering specialist Acter remains confident that its revenues will rise steadily in the months ahead as long as the pandemic in Taiwan and Southeast Asia does not run out of control, according to company president MK Lai.

Lai said the shortages of engineers and site workers will impact more than price rises for equipment components and materials on the company's business operations amid the mounting pandemic in Taiwan and Southeast Asia, which has affected the hiring, movement and management of related personnel.

Acter has raised salaries by 50-70% for engineers serving TSMC's new plant construction at Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) and by 30-50% for those handling engineering projects in northern Taiwan, according to industry sources.

Lai diclosed Acter now has around NT$20 billion worth of orders unfulfilled, more than NT$13.977 billion registered as of the end of 2020, as companies in Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia continue their investments in the semiconductor, electronics, logistics and office building fields but the mounting pandemic has slowed down the construction progress.

He continued that global supply chains have continued to diversify production to Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, driving up Acter's revenue ratio for the regional market to 13% in first-quarter 2021 sales from 5-6% in the past.