A procurement delegation from mainland China is currently visiting Taiwan, and according to members of the delegation, would place lucrative contract orders with the island’s light emitting diode (LED) manufacturers by the end of this year, the Taiwan Economic News reports.

The orders will include LED products like epitaxy wafer, chips, packages and lighting systems.

Chinese government has brought forward an aggressive plan to install 1.4 million LED streetlights in major cities by the end of 2009 as part of its energy-saving effort.

The estimated value of the procurement could amount to NT$15-20 billion (US$454-606 million at US$1:NT$33), according to Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). The government-backed organization was consigned by the government to invite the delegation to visit Taiwan.

The 80 members of the delegation are made up of representatives from LED and other industries of the mainland. Among the LED representatives is Chairman Liang Yi of Landsky, which was contracted to equip the "Bird’s Nest" Beijing National Stadium with LED lighting during the 2008 Olympic Games. Delegation officials pointed out that the mainland’s LED industry revenue would likely top 100 billion Chinese yuan (US$14.9 billion) in 2010, with a huge percentage contributed by Taiwan’s components suppliers.

The delegation met with their Taiwanese counterparts including top executives from LED packagers Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd., Lite-On Technology Corp. and Forward Electronics Co., Ltd. as well as chipmaker Epistar Corp.

Y.F. Yieh, Chairman of Taiwan’s biggest LED packager Everlight, said he expected LED market to be brighter next year than this year and the sales of the company to continue rising in the latter half of this year.

Epistar President B.J. Lee noted that LED demand is turning larger than supply, making the market outlook for the third quarter quite bright.

W.S. Chou, chairman of LED lead-frame maker I-Chiun Precision Industry Co., Ltd., pointed out that the island’s LED industry is currently saddled with shortage of expitaxy wafers as a result of robust orders.

Lite-On President S.H. Lin estimated the global LED industry would still have 30 years of boom ahead in consideration of consistent rollouts of new applications for white LEDs. He noted that his company would introduce LED lighting fixtures in July, marking the company’s first step into LED lighting segment.

Chipmaker Formosa Epitaxy Inc. has begun output expansion at its factory in Shandong Province of the mainland to cope with upcoming brisk orders.