ENERGY
TEPCO facing huge claims
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) could face compensation claims topping US$130 billion if Japan’s worst nuclear crisis drags on, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch estimated, fueling expectations the Japanese government would step in to save Asia’s largest utility. Investor concern about TEPCO’s future has been mounting after its president, Masataka Shimizu, was admitted to hospital and the company said on Wednesday that ¥2 trillion (US$24 billion) in emergency loans from Japan’s major banks would not cover its mounting costs. Liabilities for compensation claims alone could be up to ¥11 trillion — nearly four times TEPCO’s equity — if the nuclear crisis drags on for two years, an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote in a report.
ECONOMY
EU inflation accelerates
Inflation across the eurozone accelerated to 2.6 percent year-on-year last month, the EU said yesterday, as fears mount that rising prices could put a brake on economic growth. Up from 2.4 percent in February, according to EU data agency Eurostat, the rate is now significantly above the European Central Bank’s hopes for medium-term inflation at below 2 percent across the 17-nation currency area. Last month marked the fourth successive month above that target and makes it a racing certainty that the bank would raise interest rates, probably as early as their meeting this month. Last month’s rate for the eurozone was the highest since October 2008, when it hit 3.2 percent.
METALS
Rusal net profit triples
The world’s top aluminum producer, Russia’s Rusal, said yesterday that net profit more than tripled last year to US$2.87 billion because of growing demand for the metal, particularly in China. Profits were up from US$821 milllion in 2009, the group said in a statement yesterday, while revenue increased 34.5 percent on 2009 to US$10.98 billion. The company saw “robust demand growth” from China, a company statement said. The demand from the US, Europe and Japan, which was depressed during the economic crisis, grew 14 percent on 2009.
MINING
BHP investing in Chile
Mining giant BHP Billiton yesterday approved a US$554 million investment in its massive Escondida copper mine in Chile, a week after saying it would pour billions into its Australian projects. The Anglo-Australian giant said it was the first of several development options that would underline Escondida’s status as the world’s premier copper operation. The project will relocate the crushing and conveying facilities currently located inside Escondida’s main pit to improve access to higher grade ore, which would support higher production from 2013, BHP said.
AUTOMOBILES
Chrysler might delay IPO
Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne suggested on Wednesday that Chrysler might delay its initial public offering (IPO) depending on the cash needs of the US automaker and the auto workers union trust fund. Marchionne has previously hinted that an IPO could happen by the end of the year. He said a decision on whether and when to take Chrysler public would depend on how much the automaker itself and the United Auto Workers health care trust need liquidity. Fiat SpA increased its stake in the once-bankrupt Chrysler LCC to 25 percent this year. Marchionne confirmed that it expects to raise it to 35 percent by the end of the year.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last