ENERGY
China doubts US wind probe
China expressed “deep concern” on Saturday after the US launched a probe into Chinese wind towers that it suspects of being unduly subsidized and sold at a loss on the US market. “The act will not only hamper bilateral cooperation in the field of new energy and harm the interests of US industries, but also go against global efforts to tackle the challenges of climate change and energy security,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said on its Web site. “China expresses its deep concern over the case.” The US Department of Commerce announced on Thursday that it had opened an inquiry on wind towers made in China and Vietnam, following a complaint filed by an association of four US manufacturers.
COMMODITIES
US court rejects challenge
A US appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit by the financial industry challenging new federal regulations aimed at cracking down on speculation in commodities markets, a move that will likely delay a decision over whether the rules pass muster. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association last month filed challenges to the regulations adopted last year by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the lawsuit, saying that the case must first be heard by a lower court, an argument advanced by the CFTC.
OIL
Russian output hits plateau
Russian oil production reached a record 511 million tonnes last year, but output levels are unlikely to increase further over the next three years, an official said on Saturday. Russian Vice Minister for Energy Sergei Kudriashov said the output level was up by about 1 percent last year, a record for the post-Soviet period. “We understand that in the three coming years, we are going to have a lull in the operation of new deposits,” he said in comments broadcast on public television station Russia 24. “That’s why the principle task now is to use the resources we have and maximize the efficiency of work in old deposits.”
MEDICINE
Stent patents invalidated
Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic Inc won a US federal court ruling that invalidated two patents for heart devices controlled by Johnson & Johnson’s Cordis unit and Wyeth. US District Judge Joel Pisano in Trenton, New Jersey, ruled on Thursday that the patents did not fulfill the requirement that they describe what the company claims to have invented. Cordis and Wyeth had contended that Abbott’s Xience and Medtronic’s Endeavor stents were using the inventions without permission. The ruling was part of a long-running battle over inventions related to stents, tiny mesh tubes used to prop open heart arteries after they’re cleared of fat.
LABOR
Shopworkers awarded £68m
A British shopworkers union says that an employment tribunal has awarded nearly £68 million (over US$100 million) in compensation to 24,000 former Woolworths employees. The USDAW union said on Friday that it had won the compensation after successfully arguing that the bankrupt retailer’s administrators broke the law by failing to consult with the union before firing its employees. The money amounts to 60 days’ pay for each worker. Woolworths closed all of its 800 British outlets in 2009 after being unable to find a buyer for the business.
EUROZONE
Monti wants bigger fund
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti wants the lending capacity of the eurozone’s permanent rescue fund to be doubled to 1 trillion euros (US$1.29 trillion), German magazine Der Spiegel wrote on Saturday, without citing sources. Der Spiegel said European Central Bank President Mario Draghi agreed the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) should beef up its effective lending capacity beyond the 500 billion euros planned. He believes the leftover funds from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the temporary 440 billion euro fund lending to Ireland and Portugal, should be put at the ESM’s disposal in addition to the 500 billion euros, Der Spiegel wrote.
INTERNET
Hackers attack Brazil sites
The computer hacker group Anonymous attacked Web sites of Brazil’s federal district on Saturday as well as one belonging to a Brazilian singer to protest the forced closure of Megaupload.com. Anonymous posted messages on Twitter describing attacks against hundreds of Brazilian sites that share the URL df.gov.br, which are owned by the government of the federal capital in Rio de Janeiro. The Federal District press office denied the hackers succeeded in shutting down the Web sites. The Internet news site G1, owned by television network Globo, confirmed the early-morning computer attacks, but said the Federal District’s 24-hour-a-day information technology team was able to stop them.
STOCKS
Kuwait to privatize bourse
HSBC Holdings PLC has been hired to help the privatization of Kuwait Stock Exchange, the third-biggest bourse in the Persian Gulf by market capitalization. HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd signed an agreement with the Capital Markets Authority that will lead “to the privatization of Kuwait Stock Exchange and establishment of a new company that will own and operate the stock market,” according to a statement distributed in Kuwait City yesterday.
COFFEE
Strauss inks German deal
Strauss Group Ltd said its coffee unit has signed a five-year agreement with a German manufacturer to produce coffee, according to a statement filed yesterday with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Strauss can extend the agreement for an additional three years and has an option to buy the company for 53 million euros, it added in the statement. The company also said it received a 28.6 million euros loan from banks in Germany and estimated that it will need to invest another US$3.5 million in the factory of the manufacturer.
OIL
Chevron to fight forest bill
Chevron Corp is seeking to appeal to Ecuador’s highest court a ruling that it must pay up to US$18 billion for oil pollution in the Amazon rain forest. The US-based company filed a petition with a regional court on Friday seeking permission to ask the National Court of Justice to throw out the ruling from February last year. The ruling was upheld earlier this month by a three-judge appeals panel.
OIL
‘Routine’ fire extinguished
Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s Amuay refinery is operating normally after a small fire at a distillation unit on Friday, Jesus Luongo, general manager of the complex, said in a statement on the company’s Web site. The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes and is a “routine incident” in refining activities, Luongo said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San