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.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by