CHINA
PMI at seven-month low
The nation’s factory sector lost momentum last month, with growth slowing to its weakest pace in seven months as domestic and export demand faltered and commodity prices fell, a private survey showed yesterday. The findings reinforced views that the nation’s economic growth remains solid, but is starting to moderate after a surprisingly strong start to the year. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 50.3 last month, missing economists’ forecasts of 51.0 and a significant decline from March’s 51.2. The index remained above the 50.0 mark which separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis, but only just, and grew at its slowest pace since September last year. The survey suggested growth faded at a sharper pace than the official reading, but economists largely attributed the softening to a pullback in global commodity prices and signs of the property market moderating.
AUSTRALIA
Interest rates unchanged
The central bank kept its interest rates unchanged as faster inflation and signals of looming fiscal stimulus combine with an upswing in global growth. “Above-trend growth is expected in a number of advanced economies,” Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said in a statement announcing the decision yesterday. “The improvement in the global economy has contributed to higher commodity prices, which are providing a significant boost to Australia’s national income.” The central bank also left the cash rate at a record-low 1.5 percent — as expected by all 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg — to allow regulatory rules targeting riskier property loans to take effect amid hot property markets in Sydney and Melbourne.
TRUCK-SHARING
Huochebang eyes US$156m
Truck Alliance Inc, an Uber-type service for trucks in China known as Huochebang (貨車幫), is near an agreement to raise about US$156 million, people familiar with the matter said. The investment is to be led by Baidu Capital (百度資本), the investment arm of China’s largest Internet search engine, and could be announced as soon as this week, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The infusion comes on the heels of a US$115 million fundraising in December last year which pushed Huochebang’s valuation to about US$1 billion. The investments are both part of the start-up’s B round of funding and it is close to raising a third tranche, the people said.
UNITED KINGDOM
PMI unexpectedly hits 57.3
Manufacturing unexpectedly grew at the fastest pace in three years last month as the domestic market strengthened and the British pound’s depreciation boosted exports. A measure of factory output rose to 57.3 from 54.2 in March, according to IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). That was far better than the 54 forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey and above the 50 level dividing expansion from contraction. The report reinforces the view that exporters are in what Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent has called a “sweet spot,” since the currency’s decline has increased competitiveness, while the kingdom still enjoys free trade with the EU. The drop in the currency “helped manufacturers take full advantage of the recent signs of revival in the global economy, and especially the eurozone,” IHS Markit senior economist Rob Dobson said. “The big question is whether this growth spurt can be maintained.”
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],”