MANUFACTURING
US economy solid: ISM
US factory activity braked to a more than two-year low last month, but sturdy gains in automobile sales and construction spending suggested the economy remained on a solid footing. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Tuesday said its national factory activity index fell to 51.1 last month, the lowest reading since May 2013, from 52.7 in July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector. Ten out of 18 manufacturing industries, including machinery and furniture, reported growth last month. Six industries, including apparel, primary metals, and computer and electronic products, said activity had contracted.
ECONOMY
Canada falls into recession
Reeling from low oil prices, Canada fell into a recession in the first half of the year, government data confirmed on Tuesday, putting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the defensive in the run-up to next month’s elections. According to Statistics Canada, the economy contracted 0.5 percent in the second quarter after retreating 0.8 percent in the previous three months. It is Canada’s second recession in seven years and it is the only Group of Seven nation in economic retreat. The figures are the weakest since the 2008 global financial crisis.
INTERNET
Netflix launched in Japan
Netflix yesterday launched its service in Japan, the latest move in the US-based online streaming giant’s global push as market competition heats up. The company said it has partnered with Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank in a joint bid to tap about 36 million households with high-speed Internet access. The announcement in Tokyo was attended by Netflix founder Reed Hastings.
AUTOMAKERS
BYD receives Sudan order
BYD Co (比亞迪), the Chinese firm backed by Warren Buffett, received an order to supply 10,000 vehicles to Sudan, in the company’s largest such overseas agreement, a company spokesman said. The order is for gasoline-powered cars and “new-energy” vehicles, a company spokesman said yesterday, asking not to be identified before a public announcement. BYD is to ship knock-down parts to Sudan first and then assemble the cars there, the spokesman said. BYD conducts business in more than 30 nations across five continents.
OIL
China agrees Venezuela loan
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said China has agreed to provide a US$5 billion loan to boost oil production. On Tuesday night during a speech broadcast from Beijing, Maduro said that the loan would be paid back in oil shipments. China is Venezuela’s largest creditor and has loaned it more than US$40 billion during the past five years, much of which has been paid back with oil. Venezuela sells China more than 600,000 barrels of oil per day.
STEEL
US to probe underpricing
The US Department of Commerce on Tuesday launched a probe into alleged dumping by several foreign steel producers accused of undercutting the US’ domestic industry. US officials said seven nations were involved in underpricing about US$2 billion worth of steel: Australia, Brazil, South Korea, the Netherlands, Britain, Japan and Turkey. Japanese producers were selling hot-rolled steel flat products into the US at 16 percent under the market prices, while producers from Turkey discounted their steel by one-third.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six