MACROECONOMICS
France reports deflation
Inflation in France, the eurozone’s second-biggest economy, was negative last month for the first time in more than five years, the national statistics agency said on yesterday. Prices declined by 0.4 percent in January compared to the same month last year, INSEE said, adding that France has not seen negative inflation since October 2009. The data in France followed similar figures earlier this month that showed prices in European powerhouse Germany also declining by 0.4 percent.
SPAIN
Trade deficit surges 53.4%
Spain’s trade deficit swelled by more than half last year as economic recovery spurred businesses to import and consumers to buy cars and appliances, the government said on Monday. Although exports by Spanish companies reached an annual record, internal consumption caused imports to grow even more strongly, the economy ministry said. The shortfall of exports to imports in the country grew by 53.4 percent to 24.47 billion euros (US$28 billion), figures from the ministry showed.
SOUTH AFRICA
Inflation drops to 4.4%
South Africa’s headline inflation fell to 4.4 percent last month, the lowest rate in nearly four years, official statistics showed on Wednesday. Propelled by low fuel prices, the rate dropped from 5.3 percent in December and was the lowest since April 2011. The central bank had forecast the annual average inflation rate for this year to be between 3 and 6 percent. Economists see the rate easing further this month.
INTERNET
Cuba cuts Internet charges
Cuba has temporarily reduced the hourly charge for using state-run Internet cafes in the country’s first small but substantive public move to increase online access since the declaration of detente with the US, with the cheapest hour now costing roughly 10 percent of the average monthly salary of US$20. Users nonetheless hailed the decision to cut the rate by 50 percent until April 10 in state centers that previously charged US$4.50 an hour. The promotion gives Cubans two hours and 16 minutes for US$5.
AUTOMAKERS
Rolls-Royce to release SUV
Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce says it will jump into the highly competitive SUV market by offering a completely new all-terrain vehicle. Chief executive officer Torsten Muller-Otvos said on Wednesday the announcement marks a “seminal moment in Rolls-Royce’s 111-year journey.” Rolls-Royce follows BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and other high-end carmakers into the lucrative SUV market. Rolls-Royce says the new aluminum SUV will have exceptional elegance as well as the toughness needed to cross any terrain. It did not announce a target date for production or the cost of the vehicle.
GAMBLING
Crackdown affects Crown
Australian billionaire James Packer’s Crown Group yesterday said first-half net profit slumped 47.2 percent as revenue from gambling hub Macau fell sharply while the firm was hit by writedowns from a US investment. Profit for the worldwide gambling empire was A$201.8 million (US$157 million) in the six months to Dec. 31, down from A$382.5 million in the previous corresponding period. It was weighed by weakness at Macau subsidiary Melco Crown amid a Chinese government corruption crackdown.
AUTOMAKERS
UK exports to China soar
British car exports to China have increased fivefold since 2009, according to figures released yesterday by a British industry body, driven by a demand for luxury brands such as Rolls-Royce and Jaguar. The number of cars manufactured in Britain and exported to China stood at 137,410 last year, a 14.5 percent increase on the previous year and five times the number shifted in 2009, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said in a statement. British car exports to all destinations have increased by 54 percent since 2009 to 1.2 million vehicles last year.
AUTOMAKERS
Japan unions want raises
Japan’s auto unions are proposing a uniform boost in monthly base wages as carmakers forecast record profit thanks to a weaker yen. All 11 unions representing workers at Japan’s auto companies will demand a ¥6,000 (US$50) monthly raise for the fiscal year beginning in April, the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions said in a statement on Wednesday. The ¥6,000 increase in monthly base wages Toyota Motor Workers’ Union proposed last week was equal to a raise of about 1.7 percent for the union’s 63,000 workers. Toyota Motor Corp is scheduled to respond on March 18.
FOOD
Australia to screen berries
Tougher food screening measures could be introduced in Australia with frozen berries from China linked to a growing number of hepatitis A infections, Australian Minister of Agriculture Barnaby Joyce said on Wednesday. Nanna’s and Creative Gourmet-brand raspberries and mixed berries have been recalled after they were linked to four infections in New South Wales and Victoria states, with poor hygiene and contaminated water at their packing factory thought to be responsible. Since then more infections have emerged in Queensland and Western Australia, with the government confirming at least 13 cases nationally so far.
MULTINATIONALS
One-time gains boost Nestle
Food company Nestle SA says net profit rose 44 percent last year as the company booked one-time gains from the sale of a stake in L’Oreal and its purchase of dermatology company Galderma. Stripping out those gains, the maker of Lean Cuisine, Nespresso and Maggi brands said yesterday its earnings per share increased 4.4 percent. Swiss-based Nestle reported weak sales growth in Europe, saying business conditions there were volatile, “with deflationary pressure increasing during the year.” That meant little flexibility to increase prices. Sales in Europe rose only 1.5 percent stripping out currency effects and acquisitions.
AVIATION
Air France-KLM profit drops
Air France-KLM Group profit fell almost 15 percent last year following the longest pilot strike in the airline’s history and as overcapacity on routes to Asia, Latin America and Africa weighed on ticket prices. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, as well as the cost of the strike, fell to 1.59 billion euros (US$1.81 billion) last year from 1.86 billion euros a year earlier, the Paris-based group said in a statement yesterday. The airline’s French arm, which lost money last year because of the strike, is renewing efforts to slash expenses in order to withstand the march of low-cost airlines in Europe and Gulf carriers in international markets.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last