JAPAN
Exports increase by 6.7%
The country logged a trade surplus last month, after booking a deficit the previous month, official data showed yesterday. Finance ministry data showed a surplus of ¥721.4 billion (US$6.39 billion), up 66.5 percent from a year earlier. Its exports were up 6.7 percent, while imports also edged up 2.5 percent, the data showed. It also logged a surplus in its politically sensitive trade balance with the US, which was up 0.5 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the country’s deficit with its biggest trading partner, China, shrank 68.4 percent.
AUSTRALIA
Employment beats estimates
Employment surged last month by more than triple economists’ estimates and workforce participation swelled, supporting the Reserve Bank’s view that a stronger economy would spur hiring. The economy added 50,900 positions, with the bulk of them full-time roles, the Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. However, the jobless rate held at 5.4 percent as participation jumped to 65.7 percent from 65.5 percent.
MANUFACTURING
Tariffs hurt US’ Alcoa Corp
US aluminum tariffs that were meant to protect the industry from foreign competitors are instead taking a bite out of the earnings of the nation’s largest producer. Alcoa Corp lowered its profit projection for this year as tariffs on imported aluminum present what chief executive officer Roy Harvey is calling a “significant” headwind. The manufacturer has been hit with US$15 million so far on material it produced mostly in Canada and shipped to the US. The company also cited higher energy costs and lower aluminum prices for the cut.
CONSUMER GOODS
Strike upsets Unilever sales
Unilever is still feeling the effect of a strike in Brazil that held back sales growth globally in the latest quarter. The maker of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soap yesterday reported sales growth below analysts’ expectations, citing the effects of a labor dispute in the Latin American country. Underlying sales grew 1.9 percent in the second quarter, slowing from the first quarter’s 3.4 percent uptick after strikes in Brazil disrupted the company’s supply chain.
ELECTRONICS
Corning reveals new glass
Corning Inc, which makes the glass used in Apple Inc’s iPhones and Samsung Electronics Co’s smartphones, rolled out new technology it says is less likely to break when a device is dropped. Corning on Wednesday said that its new screen technology, called Gorilla Glass 6, can survive as many as 15 drops on average without damage, compared with 11 for its previous product. The company said the new Gorilla Glass, while more break-resistant, is about equal to its predecessor in its ability to avoid scratching.
TRANSPORTATION
Niu preparing for IPO
Niu (牛電科技), the Chinese company that sells smart electric scooters in 27 countries, is pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) that could raise about US$300 million, people with knowledge of the matter said. The start-up, founded in 2014, is working with advisers on the potential IPO, the people said. Niu is considering listing its shares in the US as soon as this year, they said, adding that preparations for the deal are at an early stage and details could change.
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
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
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