SOUTH KOREA
Unemployment still at 3.1%
The unemployment rate remained unchanged for a third straight month at 3.1 percent last month, official figures showed yesterday. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate has remained steady since July, compared with a month earlier, Statistics Korea said. Unadjusted, the reading was at 2.9 percent last month, compared with 3 percent in August. The number of employed South Koreans in September rose by 685,000 from a year ago — stronger than a 364,000 increase in August — to 25 million.
SWEDEN
Production rises 3.2%
Industrial production rebounded in August as the largest Nordic economy showed resilience to slumping demand from Europe. Industrial production rose an annual 3.2 percent, after contracting a revised 0.9 percent the previous month, Stockholm-based Statistics Sweden said yesterday. Output rose a monthly 0.4 percent, compared with a 0.9 percent predicted contraction. Industrial orders from domestic companies fell an annual 6.5 percent and decreased a monthly 1.4 percent in August, Statistics Sweden said.
SHIPPING
Maersk stops Iran operations
Maersk Line, the world’s biggest shipping company, part of group A.P. Moeller-Maersk, said on Tuesday that it had stopped operations into and out of Iran. “Due to a combination of EU sanctions as well as strengthened US sanctions, it is no longer possible for Maersk Line to conduct business in the country and has ceased operations into and out of Iran for the foreseeable future,” Maersk spokesman John Churchill said. The decision comes as Iran seems to be under increasing pressure from international sanctions.
NUCLEAR POWER
Toshiba eyes overseas deals
Japan’s Toshiba said yesterday it would boost its stake in US atomic power-plant giant Westinghouse Electric as it eyes overseas deals after domestic demand fell away following last year’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster. The firm said it would pay ¥125 billion (US$1.6 billion) for the 20 percent stake in Westinghouse owned by US-based Shaw Group, lifting its holding to 87 percent. It said the purchase would be financed through “immediately available cash and/or loans.”
PETROLEUM
Chevron Q3 earnings lower
Oil giant Chevron Corp said its third-quarter earnings will be “substantially lower” than in the second quarter. In its interim earnings update on Tuesday, Chevron said it was hurt by issues including unfavorable foreign currency rates and weaker results from its refining and marketing operations. US production fell by 19,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first two months of the quarter, largely because of Hurricane Isaac’s impact. Isaac also disrupted refinery operations. Charges for the quarter are expected to be higher than expected as well. In the second quarter the San Ramon, California, company earned US$7.2 billion, or US$3.66 per share.
AUTOMAKERS
Peugeot, Fiat downgraded
PSA Peugeot Citroen and Fiat SpA both had their debt ratings lowered to three levels below investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service as slumping European car markets take a toll on the automakers’ finances. Fiat and Peugeot both were cut one level to “Ba3” from “Ba2,” Moody’s said yesterday in separate statements. The ratings service has a negative outlook on the companies.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day