COMMODITIES
Glencore to sell agri unit
Miner and commodity trader Glencore PLC yesterday said it had agreed to sell a 40 percent stake in its agricultural business to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for US$2.5 billion and use the proceeds to reduce debt, which is among the highest in the sector. Glencore’s net debt had increased to about US$30 billion as of February, as commodities prices hit multiyear lows and markets have been concerned the high debt levels could compromise the Swiss company’s ability to run its trading unit effectively. Glencore said it expects the deal, which values Glencore Agri at US$6.25 billion, to close during the second half of this year and, eight years after that, either the Canadian pension board or Glencore could move to take the business public.
GERMANY
Factory output shrinks 0.5%
Industrial production declined in February, but not as sharply as expected, weighed down by falling activity in the manufacturing and energy sectors, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy said yesterday. The ministry calculated that factory output — a key yardstick for gauging the health of Europe’s biggest economy — contracted by 0.5 percent in February compared with a month earlier, corrected for seasonal factors.
UNITED STATES
Deficit hits six-month high
The trade deficit rose in February to the highest level in six months as the growth in imports outpaced a modest rise in exports. The Department of Commerce said the trade gap widened to US$47.1 billion, up 2.6 percent from a January imbalance of US$45.9 billion. Exports increased 1 percent to US$178.1 billion, boosted by increased sales of US-made autos. Imports were up 1.3 percent to US$225.1 billion, despite a drop in oil imports which fell to the lowest level in 13 years.
RETAIL
J Sainsbury plans job cuts
J Sainsbury PLC plans to cut as many as 850 jobs at Home Retail Group PLC, the owner of the Argos chain, which it is buying for £1.4 billion (US$2 billion), according to Unite, a UK union. Management is entering a 45-day consultation period with the union, Unite said on Tuesday. “We appreciate that Sainsbury’s has a good record of redeployment of staff in these situations and we will be exploring every avenue to ensure continuing employment for our members,” the union said.
TELECOMS
Orange invests in Africa
French telecoms operator Orange SA on Tuesday underlined its strategic focus on Africa with a 75 million euros investment in the continent’s largest e-commerce platform, Africa Internet Group. The group was created in 2012 as an “African Amazon” with the launch of Nigerian online shipping site Jumia. It has 10 e-commerce sites in all, operating in 23 African states.
TELECOMS
ZTE picks new president
Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp (中興) on Tuesday announced a new president as it seeks the permanent lifting of US restrictions imposed for alleged violations of sanctions against Iran. Shi Lirong (史立榮), in place since 2010, is to be replaced by Zhao Xianming (趙先明), who will also become board chairman, the firm said in a statement. Tian Wenguo (田文果) and Qiu Weizhao (邱未召) were replaced as executive vice presidents.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in