SOUTH KOREA
Government dogs Nissan
The government has called for car giant Nissan to face criminal charges for allegedly manipulating emissions data on a popular sports utility vehicle, weeks after it slapped the firm with a fine over the issue. The environment ministry called on state prosecutors to probe Nissan Korea after saying tests had shown an emission defeat system on the Qashqai model that made it appear to be less polluting than it really was. It also banned the sale of the vehicle in the country. Senior environment ministry official Hong Dong-Kon, who handles transport-related regulations, said, “today, we are going to file a criminal complaint” against Nissan Korea’s president Takehiko Kikuchi.
CHEMICALS
Lotte makes bid for Axiall
Lotte Chemical Corp made an offer to buy US-based polyethelene maker Axiall Corp as the South Korea-based petrochemical company seeks to build on its takeover of Samsung Group’s chemicals arm. Lotte submitted a plan to acquire Atlanta-based Axiall on Friday last week, according to a regulatory filing that did not give terms of the possible deal. The South Korean company formed a venture with Axiall, which has a market value of US$1.6 billion, last year to build a plant for making ethylene in the US with production to start in 2018. The petrochemical business of Lotte conglomerate is widening its product lines and seeking growth outside the country after announcing the purchase of Samsung Group’s chemicals business for about US$2.5 billion.
MINING
Lundin pushes on in Ecuador
Lundin Gold Inc is forging ahead with its gold project in Ecuador, one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits, a signal the industry is moving back into expansion mode as the metal continues to rally. The Vancouver-based miner is planning to raise US$820 million to US$940 million in two phases to finance the Fruta del Norte project, chief executive officer Ron Hochstein said in an interview in Toronto. Hochstein was in the city to meet with potential investors about the first phase of funding, which he said is expected to raise US$120 million to US$140 million to lay the groundwork for the mine. “Discussions have been going on with commercial banks, credit institutions, etc. now for several months and we’re encouraged by the feedback,” Hochstein said by telephone in a separate interview. The second round of financing is expected to raise US$700 million to US$800 million to be used mainly for construction, he said.
MEDIA
US newspapers shed jobs
The US newspaper industry has shed more than half its jobs since 1990, losses which have only been partly offset by gains in online media. Official US Department of Labor data showed the newspaper sector lost 271,800 jobs in the period from January 1990 to March, or 59.7 percent of the total over the past 26 years. The numbers, first cited in a report by the news Web site Engadget, confirm the massive shift to digital media that has hammered traditional newspapers. Magazines fared only slightly better, losing 36 percent of their jobs in the same period. Employment in Internet publishing and broadcasting, meanwhile, rose from about 30,000 to about 198,000, US Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed. The latest statistics come against a backdrop of a troubled print media industry marked by shutdowns of newspapers and sharp declines in circulation and advertising revenue.
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],”