SOLAR ENERGY
US tariff decision delayed
The US Department of Commerce said it has again delayed its decision on additional tariffs for Chinese solar-equipment imports. A preliminary determination will be made on March 2, Tim Truman, a department spokesman, said on Friday. The decision had been scheduled for Feb. 13. The delay gives the department “sufficient time to conduct a comprehensive investigation and to complete a thorough and fair analysis of the subsidies at issue,” Gordon Brinser, the president of SolarWorld AG’s US unit, said in a statement issued by the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing. The US International Trade Commission is investigating possible economic harm to SolarWorld from Chinese imports, while the department determines the penalty for companies that illegally dump products.
BELGIUM
IMF declares recession
The IMF said on Friday that Belgium was already in recession and that it needed both its own government and Europe’s institutions to take action to help. “With fiscal tightening across Europe, the economic outlook is challenging,” the IMF said in a new report on the country’s economy. “A recession in Belgium is already underway and real GDP is expected to stagnate in 2012, followed by a slow recovery in 2013.” It said Belgium’s economy was “highly vulnerable” to further eurozone turmoil, in part because of its high public debt and the international exposure of its financial sector. “Downside risks to the outlook are significant,” the IMF said, though it credited high household savings as a buffer against market shocks starting elsewhere. While the government is “off to a good start” in trying to close its fiscal gap, the IMF said, “continued persistence in its full implementation is crucial.”
AVIATION
Spanair halts operations
Spanair, the Spanish airline that halted operations on Friday night, filed for bankruptcy, according to its former owner, SAS AB. “A lack of financial visibility for the coming months” forced the Spanish carrier to cease operating, with its final flight landing at about 10pm, Spanair said in an e-mailed statement late on Friday. Qatar Airways Ltd pulled out of talks about a possible bid, prompting Spanair’s board to meet on Friday to consider the company’s future, a spokesman for the Spanish airline said. SAS, which sold 80 percent of Spanair in March 2009 to a group of investors and now holds about 11 percent, said in a statement it would write down the value of its remaining stake by 1.7 billion kronor (US$252 million) after Spanair filed for bankruptcy. The Spanish carrier’s statement didn’t mention a bankruptcy filing, saying “the appropriate next steps will be taken as soon as possible.”
INDUSTRY
Slow growth hits Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc, the maker of turbochargers, digital flight controls and hardhats, predicted first-quarter profit that trailed analysts’ estimates as the global economy weakens. Earnings will rise as much as 11 percent to US$0.93 to US$0.98 a share, the Morris Township, New Jersey-based company said on Friday. Analysts anticipated US$1, the average of predictions compiled by Bloomberg. Last quarter, profit beat estimates by US$0.01 a share amid higher commercial-aerospace equipment sales. Demand for Honeywell’s products is being hurt by a slowing economy, especially in Europe, where the sovereign-debt crisis is weighing on the sales of industrial companies such as General Electric Co and United Technologies Corp.
GREECE
Budget controls considered
Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source said on Friday. “There are internal discussions within the euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that’s enough,” the source said. The source added that under the proposals European institutions already operating in Greece should be given “certain decisionmaking powers” over fiscal policy. “This could be carried out even more stringently through external expertise,” the source said. The German demands for greater control over Greek budget policy come amid intense talks to finalize a second 130 billion euro (US$172 billion) rescue package for Greece, which has repeatedly failed to meet the fiscal targets set out for it by its international lenders.
AUTOMAKERS
Tax gain boosts Ford
Ford Motor Co posted fourth-quarter profit that fell short of analysts’ estimates as overseas operations dragged down results while a one-time tax gain resulted in the company’s biggest annual profit since 1998. Ford reported its 11th consecutive profitable quarter, with net income of US$13.6 billion, or US$3.40 a share, compared with US$190 million, or US$0.05, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the profit was US$0.20 a share, trailing the US$0.25 average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net income was boosted by a non-cash gain of US$12.4 billion from eliminating a valuation allowance against deferred tax benefits, Ford said.
INTERNET
Twitter censorship under fire
Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, found itself the target of global outrage on Friday after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws. Twitter insisted its commitment to free speech remains firm and sought to explain the nuances of its policy, while critics — in a barrage of tweets — proposed a Twitter boycott and demanded that the censorship initiative be scrapped. “This is very bad news,” tweeted Egyptian activist Mahmoud Salem, who operates under the name Sandmonkey. Later, he wrote: “Is it safe to say that #Twitter is selling us out?” In China, where activists have embraced Twitter, even though it’s blocked inside the country, artist and activist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) tweeted in response to the news: “If Twitter censors, I’ll stop tweeting.” One often-relayed tweet bore the headline of a Forbes magazine technology blog item: “Twitter Commits Social Suicide.”
PRECIOUS METALS
Gold prices climb
Gold climbed to a seven-week high as the US dollar weakened after EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Greece was close to reaching agreement with its creditors. Greece and its creditors are haggling over the terms of an accord to reduce the country’s borrowings. Gold prices jumped 4.3 percent this week, while the US dollar retreated 1.7 percent, mainly because of the US Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates low until at least late 2014. Gold futures for April delivery gained 0.3 percent to settle at US$1,735.40 an ounce at 1:37pm on the Comex in New York on Friday, the highest closing price since Dec. 7.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six