JAPAN
Factory output falls
Factory production fell unexpectedly for a second month in August, data showed yesterday as a slowdown in China and weak domestic spending hit Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to kick-start the world’s No. 3 economy. The 0.5 percent contraction in industrial production followed a negative figure in July and missed market expectations for growth in output last month. The factory output data revived speculation that the Bank of Japan would be forced to unleash more stimulus to counter the downturn.
GERMANY
Retail sales decline
Retail sales eased in August, amid signs consumer sentiment in Europe’s top economy could be starting to wane, official data showed yesterday. Retailers’ sales slipped by 0.4 percent in August compared with July, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement. On an annual basis, business increased strongly, jumping 2.4 percent in August compared with the same month last year, Destatis said.
INDONESIA
Jakarta unveils stimulus
The government on Tuesday introduced more stimulus measures to woo desperately needed investment, with new measures including slashing the time taken to process investment permits from at least eight days to just three hours, while processing for permits in mining and geothermal projects in forested areas was cut from up to four years to about 15 days. To keep US dollars in the country, the government said it was cutting taxes for exporters who deposit their foreign exchange revenue in the country or convert it to rupiah.
UNITED KINGDOM
Q2 GDP per capita rises
A key gauge of wealth has risen above its prerecession peak and workers are seeing their compensation rise at the fastest pace in eight years. New data from the statistics office showed that GDP per capita in the second quarter was 0.6 percent above its level in early 2008. The economy grew 0.7 percent in the period, the Office for National Statistics said. Employee compensation rose by 4.7 percent in the three months from a year earlier, the biggest annual increase since 2007. With inflation near a record low, real disposable income jumped the most in three years on a quarterly basis.
CZECH REPUBLIC
GDP grows most since 2007
The economy grew faster than previously reported in the second quarter, expanding the most since 2007 in the midst of a loose monetary policy campaign by the central bank that limits gains in the nation’s currency. GDP grew 4.6 percent from a year earlier in the April-to-June period, according to a revised reading from the Czech Statistical Office. The office had estimated annual growth of 4.4 percent. The economy grew 1.1 percent from the previous quarter, the office said yesterday.
MINING
Rio Tinto sells Aussie stake
Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd yesterday said it is selling its stake in an Australian coal mine for US$606 million to New Hope Group, as slowing demand from China is hitting commodity prices hard. Rio said it had reached an agreement to sell its 40 percent stake in the Bengalla mine, in the Hunter Valley about 250km north of Sydney, to Australian-listed New Hope, part of asset divestments totaling US$4.5 billion since January 2013. The sale is expected to be completed by early next year.
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],”