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World Business Quick Take

■ Employment
Interviews held on Mt Fuji
Some young Japanese graduates will literally have a mountain to climb to get their first job. One of the country's top Internet apparel retailers wants to make sure new employees have what it takes to scale the heights of business by interviewing them at the summit of the 3,776m Mount Fuji. Some 50 hopefuls will need to be at the peak of their powers to get one of the four jobs on offer when they climb the mountain with company executives on Wednesday, aiming to reach the summit for a dawn interview the next day.

■ Oil prices
Merrill Lynch lifts forecast
Merrill Lynch & Co raised its oil price forecast for this year by 12 percent, citing limited spare production capacity and strong demand for fuels. Merrill Lynch raised its estimate for New York crude oil prices to an average US$56 from US$50 a barrel. The company increased its projection for oil prices next year by 24 percent to US$52 from US$42 a barrel, according to the report released on Thursday. Goldman Sachs Group Inc raised its oil price forecast for next year to US$68 from US$55 a barrel, according to a report on Wednesday from the firm's Commodity Research group. Goldman Sachs said crude oil will stay at about US$60 for years to come, up from a "long-term" estimate of US$45.

■ Oil industry
Prices have peaked: Buffett
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett believes crude oil prices have peaked and he is considering selling his 2 billion shares in PetroChina, China's biggest oil company, a report said yesterday. "There is talk that he is considering selling his stake because of his view that crude oil prices may have already peaked, and that PetroChina's shares might continue to come under pressure," a market source told XFN-Asia. The source said Buffett is said to be considering two options. One is the sale of shares at a discount of 2 percent without any lock-up period and the second being a sale at a 10 percent discount.

■ Airlines
Thai Airways lifts surcharge
Thailand's national carrier yesterday announced that it has increased its fuel surcharge on all its flights to cope with surging oil prices. Somchainuk Engtrakul, Thai Airways International's acting president, said that the continual increase in the cost of fuel has resulted in increased fuel expenses for airlines around the world, according to a company news release. The fuel surcharge, which went into effect on Tuesday for tickets sold in Thailand, increased by 100 baht (US$2.40) to 300 baht for domestic one-way flights; by US$5 to US$25 for flights in Asia and the Middle East; and by US$15 to US$50 for intercontinental flights, including Australia and New Zealand, the company said. The fuel surcharge will go into effect on Sept. 5 for tickets sold outside Thailand.

■ Textiles
China filling EU quotas
Imports of Chinese-made blouses into the EU have reached their agreed quota and other categories of textiles are likely to meet their limits soon too, a spokesman for the EU's executive commission said yesterday. "This morning the quota for category seven, blouses, was filled. Member states' custom authorities will no longer issue import licences for this product," spokesman Rupert Krietemeyer told reporters, reading a statement. "It is likely that a number of other quotas will also fill in in the very near future," he added.

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