CHINA
Exports to US rise 3.8%
Exports to the US last month rose 3.8 percent from last year in yuan terms, 23.8 percentage points lower than the growth rate seen last year, the country’s customs agency said late on Monday. For the first half of this year, exports to the US rose 5.4 percent from last year compared with 19.3 percent for same period last year, the agency said. It did not provide exact values for last month or for January-to-June exports, or say how exports to the US fared in dollar-denominated terms. The escalating US-China trade dispute has driven Chinese stocks and the yuan lower.
AEROSPACE
Boeing, Embraer talk merger
US aerospace giant Boeing and Embraer are in “advanced negotiations” over a much-anticipated tie-up, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer said on Monday. The proposed merger, which would need the go-ahead from the Brazilian government, would leave Boeing as the majority partner, Brazilian newspaper Valor said. However, Embraer would keep sole control of its military activities. The two aircraft manufacturers had “already prepared the memorandums of understanding and requested a meeting to present” their project to the Brazilian government, Valor said, adding that the two companies expect the meeting to take place “in the next two weeks.”
BANKING
French bank grows in Europe
Societe Generale SA is acquiring the Commerzbank AG business that includes the German lender’s exchange-traded products and market-making operations as it seeks expansion in Europe’s largest economy. The French bank is to take over investments products, flow products and asset management businesses based in Frankfurt, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Zurich, an e-mailed statement said yesterday. Acquiring the unit, which generated about 350 million euros (US$407.74 million) of revenue last year, would boost its position in derivatives and investment products across asset classes, the statement said. The deal also includes an asset management business representing about 13 billion euros and would mean the transfer of about 500 staff.
TELECOMS
Hutchison to assume venture
CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd (長江和記實業) and some of its units agreed to buy out their partner in an Italian mobile-phone joint venture for 2.45 billion euros. The deal is to automatically terminate if completion does not occur within 12 months of the purchase agreement, or on another date that shareholders agree to in writing, CK Hutchison said in a statement in Hong Kong yesterday. Veon is a wireless carrier that owns and operates mobile telecom businesses in Italy under the brands “3” and “Wind” via Wind Tre SpA.
COFFEE
Futures slump extended
Coffee futures extended a slump to a 29-month low as Brazil’s real continued to slide against the US dollar, boosting the appeal of export sales priced in the greenback. Output in Brazil, the world’s top producer and shipper, should rise to a record high this year. The drop in prices might benefit companies such as Starbucks Corp, the world’s biggest coffee chain, and Nestle SA, which makes Nescafe and Nespresso. Arabica coffee for September delivery on Monday fell 3 percent to close at US$1.1165 a pound on ICE Futures US in New York, the biggest drop for a most-active contract since Oct. 11.
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],”