STEEL
Jobs at risk in ILVA buy
A consortium led by global steel giant ArcelorMittal SA on Friday said the Italian authorities had cleared it to buy struggling steel producer ILVA, but thousands of jobs are threatened. The 1.8 billion euro (US$2.02 billion) deal would see ArcelorMittal join forces with Italy’s Marcegaglia to snap up the heavily indebted company, one of the most polluting industrial sites in Europe. ILVA has 14,000 employees, of whom 11,000 work at its site in Tarente. In a statement, ArcelorMittal said it would undertake “to keep at least 10,000 employees for the entire duration of the industrial plan according to the outcome of negotiations with the unions.”
SPAIN
Banks may return only 28%
The nation might only retrieve 28 percent of the multi-billion-euro aid granted to banks, the central bank said on Friday, despite past government pledges that it would not cost “one euro” to the taxpayer. In total, more than a dozen Spanish banks received 76.14 billion euros in capital injections and financial guarantees as the sector struggled under the weight of the worldwide financial crisis and property bubble burst in 2008. The capital injections were implemented via FROB, the state’s bank restructuring fund, which injected 54.35 billion euros. However, 39.5 billion euros might never be paid back, the central bank said.
CANADA
‘Bail-in’ may be extended
The Department of Finance on Friday proposed new rules limiting government support for potential bailouts of the nation’s banks, extending a so-called “bail-in regime” promised last year. The government in April last year introduced in its budget a plan to implement a bail-in regime for Canada’s “systemically important banks,” which would allow authorities to convert securities of a failing lender into common shares to recapitalize the bank and let it remain open and operating. The proposed rules set out key features of the regime, including which type of debt instruments would be subject to the regulations. The government is seeking public comment until July 17.
RUSSIA
Interest rate cut by 0.25%
The central bank on Friday cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points and pledged further cautious monetary policy easing this year against a slightly better economic outlook. It trimmed the key rate to 9 percent from 9.25 percent in its third consecutive cut this year. Presenting the decision, bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said annual inflation had neared its long-awaited goal of 4 percent as inflationary expectations among households had fallen to an all-time low last month.
OIL
Exxon can drill in Guyana
Guyana has issued an operating license and environmental permit to ExxonMobil, which has said it made “significant” discoveries off the South American nation’s coast. Guyanese Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman said Exxon and partners Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd and CNOOC Nexen can now drill an area believed to contain at least 2 billion barrels of oil. He late on Thursday said that oil extraction is expected to start in 2020 at an initial rate of 100,000 barrels per day. ExxonMobil would receive a royalty of 2 percent on gross earnings and 50 percent of profits.
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
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
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
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks