AGRICULTURE
Glencore, Bunge in talks
Commodities giant Glencore PLC has approached US agribusiness firm Bunge Ltd about a “possible consensual business combination,” Glencore said on Tuesday. Shares of Bunge surged on reports of the talks, which were confirmed in the Glencore statement, released in mid-afternoon. However, the company cautioned that “following this informal approach ... discussions may or may not materialize and there is no certainty that any transaction will occur.” Switzerland-based Glencore is a mining and commodity giant that owns hard assets and trading units, and operates in metals, energy and agriculture. Last year, it had revenue of US$177.4 billion. Bunge is a global producer and processor of oilseeds, grains and other agricultural goods, as well as a producer of ethanol in Brazil and a global trader of sugar. Last year, its revenue totaled US$42.7 billion.
INTERNET
EU targets hate speech
EU ministers on Tuesday approved proposals to make social media companies such as Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Google’s YouTube tackle videos with hate speech on their platforms. The proposals, which would be the first legislation at the EU level on the issue, still need European Parliament approval before becoming law. However, EU lawmakers have similarly pushed for social media companies to do more to tackle hateful content on their platforms. The proliferation of hate speech and fake news on social media has increased pressure on companies to remove such content promptly, while Internet campaigners have warned an excessive crackdown could endanger freedom of speech. Where the provision of videos forms an “essential part” of the services provided by a social media firm, they would have to take measures to block videos with hate speech, incitement to hatred and content justifying terrorism.
APPAREL
M&S full-price sales rise
Marks & Spencer PLC (M&S) is trying to sell more clothing at full price to lift earnings in its troubled apparel business, but the push is coming at a cost — customers are buying less. The British retailer yesterday said that full-price clothing sales rose 2.7 percent in the year through April 1, with stronger growth in the past six months. The company held three fewer clearance sales and shied away from Black Friday discounting. “We are starting to stabilize market share and importantly have seen full-price market share growth as we removed excessive discounting,” CEO Steve Rowe said in the statement. “Looking ahead, we will continue our program of self-help in a tough trading environment.” The move to hold the line on clothing prices contributed to better-than-expected profit for the latest fiscal year, but fueled doubts about Rowe’s strategy for setting the firm on a long-awaited path back to growth.
RETAIL
Target settles data breach
Target Corp is to pay US$18.5 million to 47 states and the District of Columbia as part of a settlement with state attorneys general over a huge security breach that compromised the data of millions of customers. The settlement ends a years-long investigation into how hackers obtained names, credit card numbers and other information about tens of millions of people in 2013. New York is to receive US$635,000, while California will receive US$1.4 million, the largest amount of any state, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. US dollar figures were determined “largely” based on each state’s population size, his office said.
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],”