UNITED KINGDOM
Prostitutes to boost economy
The inclusion of illegal activities, such as prostitution and drugs, into the national accounts would add about £10 billion (US$16.7 billion) to national output, the statistics office said on Thursday. In a paper in which it estimated prostitutes’ “sales” and costs incurred — condoms and “working clothes — the Office of National Statistics said the inclusion of such activities was part of a raft of improvements to the way the economy will be measured from September.
SOUTH KOREA
Industrial growth slows
Industrial output growth slowed last month from the previous month, due to punitive actions against mobile carriers and a slump in consumer demand, government data showed yesterday. Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries gained 0.1 percent, compared with 0.9 percent growth in March, Statistics Korea said.
UNITED STATES
Economy contracts in Q1
The economy contracted in the first quarter for the first time in three years as it buckled under the weight of a severe winter, but there are signs activity has since rebounded. The Department of Commerce on Thursday revised down its growth estimate to show GDP shrinking at a 1 percent annual rate. GDP growth was initially estimated to have expanded at a 0.1 percent rate. The economy grew at a 2.6 percent pace in the fourth quarter last year.
MEAT PROCESSING
Tyson trumps Hillshire bid
US giant Tyson Foods launched a battle with Brazil’s JBS on Thursday over Hillshire Brands with a US$6.8 billion bid for the maker of popular sausages and hot dogs. Tyson, the world’s second-largest meat processor after JBS, topped the US$6.4 billion bid for Hillshire that was made on Tuesday by JBS’ US subsidiary Pilgrim’s Pride. Both are seeking a solid foothold in the US market for branded prepared foods — Hillshire owns popular brands such as Ballpark hot dogs, Jimmy Dean and Aidells sausages, and Sara Lee desserts.
CEMENT
Brazil fines manufacturers
Brazil’s anti-trust regulators have fined six cement manufacturers a record US$1.4 billion for a decades-long price-fixing scheme. In an unprecedented move, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense also ordered the companies to sell off shares to break up the cartel, it announced on its Web site. The scheme cost consumers at least US$12.6 billion over 20 years, estimated Alessandro Octaviani, who led the investigation.
LIQUOR
Diageo plans new distillery
London-based Diageo PLC says it plans to build a new distillery in Kentucky. The company said in a statement on Thursday that the project, planned on 120 hectares in Shelby County, would be a significant investment in the state’s growing bourbon industry. It still needs approval from local government officials.
INTERNET
Alibaba eyes Southeast Asia
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), China’s biggest e-commerce company, on Wednesday agreed to buy a 10 percent stake in Singapore Post Ltd to develop its logistics in Southeast Asia. Alibaba is to spend S$312.5 million (US$249 million) acquiring about 220 million new and existing shares, and the companies will enter talks for an e-commerce logistics venture.
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],”