PHARMACEUTICALS
GSK fires 110 staff in China
Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) PLC, which was fined 3 billion yuan (US$478.81 million) in China last year for bribery, is dismissing 110 of its employees in China for misconduct, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. The company confirmed it had taken disciplinary action against staff whose conduct contravened its code of conduct, but declined to specify the number involved.
SWITZERLAND
Government neutral on SNB
The government said it has no plans to tamper with central bank independence, after the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) shock uncapping of the Swiss franc in January sparked a political backlash, a day after Reuters revealed the government has decided it needs closer ties with the SNB. “The federal council knows its purpose very well and that the SNB is independent,” government spokesman Andre Simonazzi said at a news conference on Friday. “It will not and does not intend to touch this.”
EUROZONE
France pledges 8bn euros
France is to commit 8 billion euros (US$8.67 billion) as part of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s plan to boost economic growth, French President Francois Hollande said on Friday on a visit to Luxembourg. EU leaders in December last year approved the broad outline of Juncker’s 315 billion euro investment plan, aimed at stimulating growth in Europe by financing hundreds of projects. Germany has committed 15 billion euros to the plan and Spain 1.5 billion euros.
METALS
Alcoa mulls cutbacks
US aluminum giant Alcoa said on Friday that it is weighing more cutbacks in its smelting and refining operations worldwide in the face of weak prices. Alcoa, which has been paring operations for more than a year, said it would review over the next year 500,000 tonnes of smelting capacity and 2.8 million tonnes of refining capacity “for possible curtailment or divestiture.” That could turn into a 14 percent cut in the company’s global smelting capacity and 16 percent of its refining capacity.
SOLAR ENERGY
Canada imposes China tariff
Canada has approved duties on imported Chinese solar equipment, escalating a trade dispute over what importers say are below-cost components, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. As of Thursday, companies including JinkoSolar Holding Co (晶科能源) and Trina Solar Solar Ltd (天合光能) must pay a tariff to sell products in Canada, according to a statement on the agency’s Web site. Preliminary duties linked to allegedly unfair trade practices were set by the agency and might change as the investigation continues, Canadian International Trade Tribunal spokesman Michel Parent said.
AUTOMAKERS
Chrysler recalls vehicles
Chrysler is recalling nearly 703,000 minivans and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) to replace faulty ignition switches that can cause the vehicles to stall unexpectedly. The recall covers Dodge Journey SUVs and Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan minivans produced between 2008 and 2010. The same vehicles were recalled in 2011 and last year but the fixes did not work.
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],”