CHINA
Producer price index dives
The prices firms pay factories for their goods fell last month at the fastest pace in three years, official data showed yesterday, as slackening demand and the bruising US trade dispute dragged on the economy. The producer price index — an important barometer of the industrial sector that measures the cost of goods at the factory gate — dropped 0.8 percent year-on-year last month, following a 0.3 percent drop in July. Consumer prices were also broadly subdued and only supported by a surge of almost 50 percent in the price of pork caused by African swine fever that has ravaged the nation’s pig industry since last year. The consumer price index rose 2.8 percent, stabilizing from July and beating forecasts.
OIL
Aramco readies local IPO
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) chief executive officer Amin Nasser yesterday said that a domestic initial public offering (IPO) of the state oil giant would be the primary listing, but that it was also ready for an international offering. Nasser cited new Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as saying that an IPO would happen “very soon,” but added that the ultimate decision on timing and venue rested with the government. Saudi Arabia is planning a gradual listing of Aramco on its domestic market, sources said on Monday, as it moves ahead with the process and finalizes the roles banks will play in the listing of the world’s biggest oil company.
INDONESIA
Bank predicts 4.9% growth
The World Bank projects that the nation’s economic growth next year would slide below 5 percent and warned of the potential for “severe” capital outflows as global risks including the US-China trade dispute intensify. The forecasts were presented to President Joko Widodo, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The presentation slides show a growth forecast of 4.9 percent for next year, which would be the slowest pace since 2015. That is lower than current projections of 5.1 percent for this year and 5.2 percent for next year in the World Bank’s June quarterly report.
E-COMMERCE
Amazon Prime reaches Brazil
Amazon.com Inc is bringing its Prime membership program to Brazil in an effort to leapfrog competitors and gain traction in a nation where it has been expanding slowly but surely. To start, Amazon Prime Brazil is to be a scaled-down version of the US subscription service, offering free unlimited shipping for about 500,000 products out of the 20 million Amazon sells in Latin America’s largest economy. Two day-shipping would be available in 90 cities, the company said. Deliveries in other urban centers would take three days or more.
AUTOMAKERS
Moody’s slashes Ford rating
Ford Motor Co’s plan to spend years and US$11 billion restructuring itself was dealt a major setback by Moody’s Investors Service, which cut the automaker’s credit rating over doubt that its initiatives would generate earnings and cash. Moody’s downgraded Ford to “Ba1,” saying its cash flow and profit margins are below expectations and are likely to remain weak over the next two years. Ford is rated “BBB” — two steps above junk — at S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, and both have negative outlooks.
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
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San