MINING
Rio returns bumper profit
Mining giant Rio Tinto yesterday reported a 93 percent jump in first-half net profit on the back of rising commodity prices as it returned a bumper US$3 billion to shareholders. The Anglo-Australian firm said net profit was US$3.31 billion in the six months to June 30, compared with US$1.71 billion in the same period last year. Underlying profit, the measure preferred by Rio, jumped 152 percent to US$3.94 billion, narrowly missing analysts’ estimates. “These are strong results,” chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY
Home video chat in works
Facebook Inc is working on a video chat device for the home — the first major hardware product from its experimental Building 8 lab. Featuring a laptop-sized touchscreen, the device represents a new product category and could be announced as soon as next spring’s F8 developer conference, according to people familiar with the matter. They say the large screen and “smart” camera technology could help farflung people feel like they are in the same room, which aligns with chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg’s mission of bringing Facebook users closer together. The device is in the prototype phase, but is already being tested in people’s homes. The social media giant is working on at least one other product — a standalone “smart” speaker that would compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home, the people said.
MINING
Coal sales outpace mining
Coal India Ltd’s sales outpaced production by a record last month as the world’s biggest miner continued its efforts to reduce stockpiles. Shipments last month rose 6.9 percent from the same month a year ago to 44.33 million tonnes, the ninth straight year-on-year gain, while production eased a fourth month, sliding 0.3 percent to 36.64 million, according to Bloomberg calculations based on an exchange filing by the company on Tuesday. Sales surpassed output by 7.69 million tonnes, the widest margin on record. “The destocking of the inventory may continue until at least the end of the monsoon season in September,” Emkay Global Financial Services analyst Goutam Chakraborty said.
RETAIL
Amazon boost staff numbers
Amazon yesterday held a giant job fair and planned to make thousands of job offers on the spot at nearly a dozen US warehouses. Though it is common for Amazon to ramp up its shipping center staff in August to prepare for holiday shopping, the magnitude of the hiring spree underscores Amazon’s growth when traditional retailers are closing stores — and blaming Amazon for a shift to buying goods online. Nearly 40,000 of the 50,000 packing, sorting and shipping jobs at Amazon will be full time. Most of them will count toward Amazon’s previously announced goal of adding 100,000 full-time workers by the middle of next year.
CHEMICALS
Haifa to close down
Haifa Chemicals yesterday said it was closing shop and letting go of its 800 employees after failing to find a reasonable alternative to a large ammonia tank it needs to function, which was ordered to be shut down earlier this year. An Israeli court in February ordered the company to shut down the country’s largest ammonia tank, which has been a point of contention for years, with residents and environmental groups warning it is a major health hazard.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last