SOVEREIGN DEBT
Argentina may default again
Argentina has urged a US appeals court to reconsider an order for the country to pay in full holders of US$1.47 billion in defaulted debt. In a petition filed on Friday, Argentina pointed to “grave legal errors” in last month’s 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that ordered Buenos Aires to pay the money to two hedge funds that refused to participate in two debt restructurings. The case has its roots in Argentina’s 2001 default on US$100 billion worth of sovereign debt. The Argentine government has argued that bondholders who took part in the 2005 and 2010 restructuring of the debt, which forced on them huge writedowns of the face value of the bonds, would now be able to lay claim to 100 percent compensation. That could overwhelm the country’s finances and lead to a fresh default, according to Buenos Aires.
ENERGY
PRC enters massive oilfield
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday oversaw China’s entry into Kashagan, a vast oilfield in Kazakhstan, as he toured post-Soviet Central Asia to secure hydrocarbons for the world’s largest energy consumer. The US$5 billion deal further increases China’s rising clout in Central Asia, once Russia’s imperial backyard, and blocks an attempt by global rival India to get a stake in the oilfield, the world’s largest oil discovery in five decades. Kazakhstan will sell 8.33 percent of the offshore oilfield to China for about US$5 billion in a deal signed yesterday, Kazakh government sources said. The sale and purchase agreement will be signed by Kazakh national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas and China National Petroleum Corp (中國石油天然氣).
TELECOMS
Verizon sued by shareholder
Verizon Communications Inc has been sued by a shareholder seeking to void its US$130 billion buyout of Vodafone Group PLC’s stake in the companies’ wireless joint venture on the grounds the price is too high. Natalie Gordon said Verizon shareholders are being “shortchanged” by the purchase of Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless, the largest US mobile phone operator. Verizon, which owns the other 55 percent, agreed to pay Vodafone US$59 billion in cash, US$60 billion in stock and other sums. “It is evident that Verizon has overpaid,” Gordon said, adding that “Wall Street analysts concur” and that Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Verizon’s credit.
AUTOMAKERS
Asians invest in classic cars
Classic cars such as Ferraris, Bugattis and Bentleys soared by 28 percent in value in the year to June, outstripping gold, art and luxury London property thanks to rising demand from wealthy Asians. Property consultancy Knight Frank said the world’s wealthy were putting more money into tangible items that they could enjoy as the world economy looks to be recovering. In July, a rare 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 in which five-time Formula 1 World Champion driver Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina won two grand prix, was sold at auction for £19.6 million (US$30.6 million), making it the most expensive car ever sold at auction. This is in stark contrast to gold, seen as a safe haven investment in difficult periods, whose value has slumped by 23 percent over the same period following a 12-year bull run.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
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
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last