PETROLEUM
Japan’s demand to increase
Japan’s demand for oil, refined products and gas will increase in the medium term, but this would not have a significant impact on global supply and demand, Saudi Aramco CEO Khalid al-Falih said yesterday. Speaking on the sidelines of a forum in Bejing, Falih said that Japan would be able to meet its energy needs following its devastating earthquake through a combination of domestic industry and regional producers.
AUTOMAKERS
GM halts extra spending
General Motors Co (GM) has suspended all nonessential spending and global travel while the automaker assesses the impact of the crisis in Japan on the company, a GM spokesman said on Saturday. In addition, GM will suspend production in Zaragoza, Spain, today and cancel two shifts in Eisenach, Germany, today and tomorrow, spokesman Klaus-Peter Martin said. Japan, reeling from a humanitarian and nuclear crisis after a massive earthquake and tsunami, is a key supplier to the global auto and technology sectors, making prolonged disruption a threat to both. Automakers rely on “just-in-time” inventory of their supplies to build cars and trucks.
RUSSIA
No radiation risk: Putin
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the nation runs no risk of radioactive contamination after the incidents at the Japanese Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. “There is no scenario that foresees a worsening of the situation on the territory of Russia,” he said during a visit to the island of Sakhalin, which lies close to Japan, according to national news agencies. Sakhalin authorities said that since yesterday they have increased measurements of radioactivity and that so far levels are within normal limits. However, the 175,000 inhabitants of Sakhalin and those living in the Primorie region have shown signs of anxiety, buying dosimeters and iodine capsules to swallow in case of contamination.
FINANCIAL
Lehman trustee sues Citi
The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc’s brokerage unit is suing Citibank Inc for more than US$1.3 billion. Trustee James Giddens said in a lawsuit filed on Friday in Manhattan that he seeks to recover a US$1 billion deposit for foreign exchange settlement services and more than US$300 million in deposits that Citibank froze after the investment bank filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2008. Citigroup said in a statement received on Saturday that the suit was “without merit” and that it will “vigorously defend its right to recover its losses.” The bank said it required the US$1 billion deposit from the brokerage unit to “specifically” cover any losses it may incur related to Lehman’s settlement of foreign exchange trades.
COMMUNICATIONS
Etisalat drops bid for Zain
United Arab Emirates telecommunications company Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) has dropped its US$12 billion bid for a large chunk of Kuwaiti rival Zain Group, ending an effort to significantly expand its reach across the Middle East. Zain shares tumbled nearly 3 percent yesterday as the deal collapsed. Etisalat cited several reasons for scrapping the deal in a statement posted to the Abu Dhabi stock exchange yesterday. They included the results of its due diligence process, a lack of unanimity among Zain board members and political unrest in the region. It didn’t elaborate.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last