AIRLINES
SAA workers go on strike
Workers at South African Airways (SAA) yesterday went on strike over wages and job cuts that forced the troubled state-owned carrier to cancel all flights and left its future hanging in the balance. SAA, which has not turned a profit since 2011 and is without a permanent chief executive, said the strike by unions representing about 3,000 of its 5,000 workers would cost it 50 million rand (US$3.38 million) per day and threaten its survival. The unions rejected SAA’s wage offer late on Thursday, and are also striking over the carrier’s plan to cut more than 900 jobs in a bid to stem financial losses and become viable without the state bailouts it has relied on. Acting SAA chief financial officer Deon Fredericks said that the airline, hurt by past mismanagement, could not just close its eyes and carry on.
AGRICULTURE
China lifts US poultry ban
China has lifted its four-year ban on US poultry shipments, a small sign of progress on a trade deal at a time when agriculture purchases have become a sticking point in negotiations. US exports to China are forecast to top US$1 billion per year, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement. Shares of chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride Corp rose as much as 4.7 percent, while those of Sanderson Farms Inc were up as much as 6.6 percent. “Lifting the ban has been a top priority of the US poultry industry for the past four years,” US agricultural groups said in a statement. “This action represents a significant opportunity for US chicken and turkey producers.” At its peak, the annual value of poultry exports from the US to China was US$71 million for turkey and US$722 million for chicken, the groups said.
FINANCE
Global debt tops US$250tn
Global debt hit a fresh record of more than US$250 trillion in the first half of this year, with China and the US accounting for more than 60 percent of new borrowing, the Institute of International Finance said. Borrowing by governments, households and non-financial businesses accounted for more than 240 percent of global GDP and it is growing faster than the global economy, the institute said in a report published on Thursday. In developed nations, governments accounted for the bulk of borrowing over the past decade, it said. In emerging markets, companies took the lead — but more than half of corporate debt in those nations is likely held by state-owned businesses. The report said that emerging markets that have relied on foreign-currency borrowing — such as Turkey, Mexico and Chile — could be exposed to risks if growth slows further.
CHIPMAKERS
Forecast beats expectations
Applied Materials Inc on Thursday gave a sales forecast for this quarter that topped analysts’ estimates, suggesting a slump in orders for chipmaking equipment is ending. The company is the largest maker of machinery used in the manufacture of semiconductors, which are among the most important parts of the electronics supply chain. Customers of the Santa Clara, California-based company include Samsung Electronics Co, Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), giving it a reach that makes its results and forecasts an important early indicator of business confidence. Sales would be about US$4.1 billion, the company said in a statement. That compared with an analysts’ average estimate of US$3.71 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
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