■ Semiconductors
Firms make advanced chip
Japanese companies Toshiba and Sony along with IBM of the US are set to produce a cutting-edge semiconductor half the size of those now used in computers and other hi-tech products, a report said yesterday. The microprocessing unit, called "CELL," is capable of processing nearly 10 times as much information as the semiconductors currently mass produced, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. The three firms jointly developed the technology, enabling the mass production of circuits as small as 65 nanometers wide, the Yomiuri said. The circuits of advanced chips currently used for computers and mobile phones measure 130 nanometers in width. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Toshiba Corp will spend ¥200 billion (US$1.9 billion) to build a production line for the new chip at a factory in Oita in southern Japan.
■ Trade
US to slap duties on shrimp
The Bush administration took the first step on Wednesday toward possible steep anti-dumping duties on more than US$2.3 billion worth of shrimp from China, Brazil and four other countries in Asia and Latin America. The US Commerce Department said it had accepted a petition from shrimpers in eight southern states who have asked for duties ranging from 25.76 percent to 263.68 percent on frozen and canned shrimp from the six countries. The case pits the US industry which mostly harvests its product from the sea against farmers in China, India, Brazil, Ecuador, Vietnam and Thailand who raise shrimp in ponds. The department's decision to begin a probe to determine if imports from the six countries are being sold in the US market at less than fair value, as US shrimpers allege. Imports account for about 80 percent of US shrimp consumption.
■ Semiconductors
Jazz to hold IPO
Jazz Semiconductor Inc, a custom-chip maker, plans to raise as much as US$150 million in an initial public stock offering to fund its existing business and potential acquisitions, the company said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Jazz Semiconductor, based in Newport Beach, California, didn't say how many shares it plans to sell, the price per share, or when the IPO may take place. Semiconductor makers increasingly are hiring so-called foundries to make their chips as a way to reduce capital expenditures. Chipmakers including National Semiconductor Corp said last year they'd reduce spending on equipment and plants by having companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world's biggest made-to-order chipmaker, make more of their products.
■ Trade
Japan bans Thai chicken
Japan temporarily suspended chicken meat imports from Thailand yesterday over fears of avian flu, an Agriculture Ministry official said. Bird flu has killed at least five people in Vietnam and an outbreak of the disease was reported recently at a poultry farm in western Japan. The ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the ban took effect immediately, but did not say how long it would last. Japan so far has suspended chicken meat imports from Macau, Hong Kong, Italy, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and two US states. Thailand is among the world's top five chicken exporters, and last year shipped 540,000 tonnes of chicken valued at around 50 billion baht (US$1.3 billion).
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