STOCK MARKETS
TWSE launches data center
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), which operates the local main board, has launched a new data center that meets international standards, in a bid to ensure a stable flow of equity transaction information. The center has also been built in line with global safety standards to withstand flooding, fire and earthquakes of up to magnitude 7, the TWSE said. The Taipei Exchange, which operates the local over-the-counter market, and the Taiwan Futures Exchange will both have access to the data center via a resource integration system, according to the TWSE.
STEEL
Indian curbs stem inflow
Indian steel imports fell for a third month last month as government curbs stemmed an inflow of the metal amid a global supply glut. India has been tightening protections on imports since June and on Friday week upped the ante by imposing a minimum import price on steel products. Although inbound shipments dropped 8.7 percent to 916,000 tonnes last month from a year earlier, according to provisional data from the Steel Ministry, for the 10 months through last month, imports climbed 24 percent to 9.31 million tonnes.
COAL
China to chop capacity
China plans to chop coal production capacity as part of Beijing’s efforts to cut industrial overcapacity and use cleaner energy sources amid sliding demand for the fuel. The world’s largest coal consumer aims to eliminate as much as 500 million tonnes of annual output in three to five years, the State Council said on Friday last week. The country also plans to consolidate an additional 500 million tonnes a year of capacity among fewer miners, ramp up financial support for some companies and encourage mergers, according to the guidelines. All coal companies should be able to produce least 3 million tonnes a year, it said.
BANKING
Drumm accepts extradition
The former head of Anglo Irish Bank will not fight being sent back to his native Ireland from the US to face criminal charges related to the bank’s collapse if he is granted bail upon his return, he was quoted as saying on Sunday. David Drumm has been in custody since he was arrested at his home in Massachusetts in the US on Oct. 10 after Irish officials asked that he be extradited to face a 33-count criminal indictment related to the collapse of the failed bank. Anglo Irish Bank was nationalized in early 2009 in a takeover that cost Ireland 30 billion euros (US$33 billion). Drumm faces charges in Ireland related to fraudulent loans the bank made in 2008 intended to help prop up its share prices.
AVIATION
A321neo to test CFM engine
Airbus Group SE decided not to use engines made by Pratt & Whitney to power the first test flight of its A321neo, the largest and most widely ordered variant of its new single-aisle plane, and will instead use those made by rival CFM International. Airbus played down the switch, saying it did not matter which engines were used for initial flights. The planemaker still intends to deliver the first A321neos powered by United Technologies Corp’s Pratt & Whitney by the end of this year, with the CFM-powered A321neos being handed over in early next year, Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said.
JAPAN
Cheap energy boosts surplus
Japan posted an 18th consecutive current account surplus as cheap energy imports continue to aid an economy that is struggling to produce sustained growth and inflation. The excess in the widest measure of the nation’s trade was ¥960.7 billion (US$8.2 billion) in December last year, from ¥225.9 billion a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said yesterday. The median estimate of 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a surplus of 1.05 trillion yen. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the economy to have contracted an annualized 0.8 percent in the quarter ended on Dec. 31.
LOGISTICS
Qube sweetens Asciano bid
Qube Holdings Ltd and investors in North America and China made a sweetened offer for Asciano Ltd valued at A$9 billion (US$6.4 billion), topping an existing bid from Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc. Brookfield now has five days to match or beat Qube’s superior cash-and-stock offer of A$9.24 a share, Asciano said on Monday. Brookfield has said it is working on an all-cash offer of A$9.28 per share. At this stage, there is “no certainty that a new Brookfield Infrastructure proposal would be made or the timing of such a proposal,” Asciano said in its statement.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford to grow in Mexico
Published reports are saying that Ford Motor Co plans to build a new auto plant in Mexico, with plans to raise production there. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford plans to build a new assembly complex in San Luis Potosi and expand an existing facility near Mexico City. The Journal says the US carmaker will add 500,000 units of annual capacity there, beginning in 2018. That would be more than double last year’s production in that country. The newspaper cites unnamed people briefed on the plan. Neither Ford nor Mexico’s government would comment on the reports.
PLATINUM
Amplats expects low prices
Anglo American Platinum Ltd (Amplats) said it expects prices will remain depressed as the world’s largest producer of the metal wrote down mines and operations by 14 billion rand (US$876 million). Amplats will delay decisions on whether to proceed with capital projects until next year due to low prices, it said on Monday. Platinum prices have almost halved since the start of 2011. Headline earnings, which exclude one-time items, were 107 million rand for the year through December, 86 percent down from 786 million rand in 2014, the Johannesburg-based company said.
IRON ORE
W Australia cut to ‘Aa2’
Western Australia had its credit rating cut by Moody’s Investors Service as the global rout in metal and energy prices curtails the government’s revenues. The state, which is Australia’s hub for iron ore production, is heavily reliant on income from royalties, and has been hurt as the steelmaking material plunged more than 60 percent in the space of two years. The one-level downgrade to “Aa2” means the government’s rating is the lowest among any of the Australian states assessed by Moody’s and is two levels lower than “Aaa”-rated New South Wales and Victoria. The credit assessor said ongoing budget deficits could push the state’s debt burden to 140 percent of revenue in the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day