VIETNAM
Monetary policies set
The central bank is targeting money supply growth of about 14 percent to 16 percent for next year, which it described as a continuation of tight monetary policy. The State Bank of Vietnam said in a statement on its Web site that it would continue a tight and flexible monetary policy, with curbing inflation and macroeconomic stability as its priorities. The nation faces an inflation rate close to 20 percent, a trade deficit, and slowing economic growth. GDP growth may slow to about 6 percent this year, from 6.8 percent last year, the government said earlier this month. The central bank will also target 15 percent to 17 percent credit growth next year, it said in the statement. Its target for money supply in this year was as high as 16 percent, while its target for credit growth was below 20 percent.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota to boost output
Japan’s biggest carmaker, Toyota Motor, plans to boost its global output to a record 8.65 million vehicles next year, boosted by demand in emerging markets, reports said yesterday. Toyota anticipates continued growth in emerging markets in Asia and South America although sales outlooks in developed nations are murky due to the European debt crisis, the Nikkei Shimbun said. Toyota will probably decide on its production as early as next week before informing major parts suppliers, the paper said without naming its sources. Kyodo News agency, quoting unnamed company officials, also reported Toyota was in the final stage of setting a global production target for next year for Toyota and Lexus-brand vehicles of 8.65 million. The figure would represent an increase of about 20 percent from Toyota’s estimated output for this year and surpass the current record of 8.53 million units set in 2007, before the global financial crisis. The company’s production this year was hampered by the March earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan, as well as massive flooding in Thailand.
AUTOMAKERS
More incentives proposed
US automakers led by General Motors Co (GM) and Chrysler Group LLC may need to boost incentives or cut production to reduce inventories that have risen to a 31-month high, according to Bloomberg Industries. GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co had 80 days supply of cars and light trucks as of Nov. 30, according to a report led by Kevin Tynan, a Princeton, New Jersey-based Bloomberg Industries analyst. Inventories are considered “manageable” when in the range of 55 days to 65 days, he said. The automakers’ supply of cars and trucks may be too high as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co production recovers from Japan’s tsunami and Thailand’s floods this year. Toyota, Asia largest automaker, may use incentives to reclaim US market share that has stayed below 14 percent in every month since the March tsunami from 18 percent in December 2009. US auto sales may total 12.7 million this year, the best annual performance since 2008, Bloomberg Industries estimates.
MINING
Freeport helicopter attacked
Gunmen attacked a helicopter carrying 29 workers and family members from Freeport-McMoRan’s trouble-plagued gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia, wounding one person yesterday, officials said. The attack came as thousands of unionized employees were preparing to return to the Grasberg mine in the mountains of Papua Province following a three-month strike that has crippled production.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”