UNITED STATES
Eastman wins dumping case
The Department of Commerce on Tuesday said South Korean companies were importing a resin used in making plastics at less than fair value. The finding vindicated a complaint lodged by Eastman Chemical Co, a major producer of specialty plastics. An anti-dumping investigation by the department determined that South Korean imports of Dioctyl terephthalate had been sold in the nation at prices 2.7 percent to 4 percent below fair value. The nation’s imports of the product from South Korea came to US$32.5 million last year. The department is due to make a final determination by Aug. 3.
CYPRUS
Official touts interest rate
The minister of finance said the country has managed to secure the lowest-ever interest rate on a public bond issue, hailing it as a strong signal of trust from international markets in the economy. Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades said Tuesday’s seven-year bond issue raised 850 million euros (US$946.35 million), carrying a 2.75 percent interest rate. He said the money would be used to pay off older loans with higher interest rates. These include a 288 million euro loan from the IMF that carried a 3.52 percent interest rate. Georgiades said the significant savings in interest rate payments would be channeled to bolster the economy.
MOROCCO
Exchange rates to be flexible
The nation is to begin the process of moving toward a flexible exchange rate system gradually in the second half, the governor of the country’s central bank said on Tuesday. The North African country has had a fixed exchange rate regime for the dirham since the 1970s. “There will be no devaluation. We are not in a situation of currency crisis,” central bank Governor Abdellatif Jouahri said. “The IMF did not impose anything on us. It is a voluntary decision.” Moroccan media have reported that the full liberalization of the dirham would take up to 15 years.
COMMUNICATIONS
Ericsson assesses media
Ericsson AB has hired banks to review its media businesses as the company refocuses on its main wireless network-equipment operations by selling assets, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Ericsson is working with Morgan Stanley to explore a sale of its media solutions business, the people said. Separately, the Stockholm-based company hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc to find a buyer for its broadcast and media services unit, the people said. The businesses have attracted interest from private equity firms as well as technology and media companies, the people said.
MEATPACKERS
JBS announces divestment
Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS SA has announced a US$1.8 billion divestment plan to reduce its debt and financial leverage. The world’s largest meatpacker said on Tuesday in a statement that it plans to sell its US-based unit, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding; shareholding stakes in Brazilian dairy company Vigor Alimentos; and Moy Park, its poultry business in Northern Ireland. The meatpacker earlier this month sold its units in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay for US$300 million to companies controlled by a rival meat processing company in Brazil. JBS executives are at the center of a political crisis engulfing Brazilian President Michel Temer.
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
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