SOUTH KOREA
Inflation, trade surplus surge
Consumer prices surged last month and the trade surplus hit a record high, official figures showed yesterday, putting pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates to curb inflation. The consumer price index rose by 4.7 percent last month from a year earlier, Statistics Korea said, compared to a 4.4 percent rise in June. Last month’s rise was the fastest since March, and marked the seventh straight month that inflation remained above the bank’s target range of 2 to 4 percent. The price index rose by 0.7 percent last month from the previous month compared with a 0.2 percent monthly rise in June. Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, rose 3.8 percent last month from a year earlier, the highest figure since a 3.9 percent rise in May 2009.
INDIA
Growth forecast cut to 8.2%
A top advisory panel to the prime minister cut its forecast for the country’s economic growth this year to 8.2 percent, reflecting higher interest rates and global uncertainties. In February, the Economic Advisory Council had forecast 9.0 percent economic growth in the 12 months to March, an estimate in line the government’s own growth projection. Last week, the central bank increased rates by a higher-than-expected 50 basis points, the 11th rise since March last year, as it struggles to combat near double-digit inflation. The panel said it expected the cycle of rate rises to continue.
ENERGY
EON closes three sites
The biggest German energy company, EON, has decided to close three sites as it grapples with the effects of a government decision to abandon nuclear energy, a press report said yesterday. Spiegel magazine, which did not cite its source, said EON would close sites in Hannover, northern Germany, Munich in the south and Essen in the west, and eliminate hundreds of jobs once it obtains supervisory board approval. Spiegel said that activities at the three locations would be regrouped at EON’s headquarters in Duesseldorf, western Germany, and added that the German group might also spin off some of its foreign activities.
MINING
Chilean miners end walkout
Workers at the world’s No. 3 copper mine, Chile’s Collahuasi, returned on Sunday after a 24-hour walkout, easing contagion fears as a strike at the giant Escondida deposit stretched on for a 10th day. The Collahuasi mine operator said the stoppage had little effect on output and was ignored by most workers, who continued at their posts during the call for a walkout. The 24-hour strike at Collahuasi, owned jointly by Xstrata and Anglo American, appeared to be an isolated example. Unions at other mines said they have no plans for immediate stoppages.
EXPRESS DELIVERY
TNT Express profits drop
Dutch express delivery company TNT Express NV has reported a drop in profit for the second quarter due to higher fuel costs and losses at its Brazilian operations. Net profit was 4 million euros (US$5.8 million) from 26 million euros in the same period a year earlier. Revenues rose 0.9 percent to 1.8 billion euros. TNT reported earnings yesterday for the first time as an independent company after its former parent TNT NV split into TNT Express and PostNL NV on June 1. The express company is widely seen as a takeover target for UPS or FedEx.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is