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World Business Quick Take

■ Automobiles
Kia workers strike
Workers demanding higher wages and better working conditions launched a five-day partial strike Monday at Kia Motors, crippling operations at South Korea's second largest carmaker. Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor, said its 27,000 unionized workers downed tools for four hours Monday. The stoppage, which union leaders said will continue until Friday, will cost 100 billion won (US$97 million) in losses, the firm said. Kia workers are demanding an 8.4 percent increase in salaries and a special bonus. But management has rejected union demands, citing a prolonged slump in domestic demand.

■ Electronics
LCD supplies to shrink
Worldwide oversupply of liquid crystal displays will shrink this quarter as glitches by Canon Inc equipment disrupt panel production and demand rises more than anticipated, an industry researcher said. Third-quarter LCD supply will exceed demand by 4.9 percent, down from 7.2 percent oversupply a year earlier and a 10.4 percent glut in the second quarter, Henry Wang (王鶴偉), chief executive of Taipei-based WitsView, said in an interview. In June, Wang projected third-quarter oversupply would be 9.8 percent. Problems associated by Canon-made steppers, which are scanners used in panel production, are causing production delays for smaller LCD manufacturers, Wang said.

■ Telecoms
Cheap phone sales to grow
Samsung Electronics Co, the world's third-largest maker of mobile phones, expects to increase the portion of cheaper handsets it sells next year, according to the company's head of telecommunications. "Entry-level phones are going to increase but we will focus on the high-end type of these phones," Lee Ki-tae, president of Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung's telecoms business, said during a press conference in Jeju Island, Korea. Lee said the portion of low-end phones will increase. He declined to provide figures. Nokia Oyj, Motorola Inc, and other handset vendors have said this year they plan to increase their portion of cheaper handsets amid surging demand from several countries, such as India and China.

■ Paper
Firm looks to China
Japan's major paper company and trading house will plant more trees in southern China to maintain steady paper supplies, Kyodo News Service reported yesterday. Japan's Oji Paper Co and Marubeni Corp will start a local enterprise with China's Guangdong Petro-Trade Development Corp. It will be called the Huizhou Nanyou Forest Development Co and will fill a 33,000-hectare property in Huizhou in Guangdong Province with trees by 2008. Oji Paper will cover 30 percent and Marubeni 5 percent of the 100 million yuan (US$12.4 million) in capital while Guangdong Petro-Trade will provide the remainder, Jiji Press reported. The joint operation was expected to provide about 200,000 bone-dry tonnes of wood chips per year. Their second effort since 2001, Marubeni and Oji Paper plan to expand the forestation project by 27,000 hectares in the future, Kyodo News reported.

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