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World Business Quick Take

■ Commodities
China to auction copper
China will auction another 20,000 tonnes of copper in Beijing next week to ease supply conditions, the country's top economic body, said yesterday. The State Reserve Bureau (SRB) has already taken a total of 60,000 tonnes of copper from the country's strategic reserves for sales on Nov. 16, Nov. 23 and Nov. 30. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the fourth auction would be held on Wednesday. The SRB failed to sell all of the copper at the last two auctions but traders said this was because the floor prices set were too high and the quality of the copper was deemed unsatisfactory. The SRB auctions come amid continued speculation that a Chinese copper trader who worked for the SRB is sitting on the wrong side of bets on the price.

■ Pharmaceuticals
Merck unit to cut jobs
The Japanese unit of US drug maker Merck & Co will trim 8 percent of its work force and shut one plant and two laboratories under a three-year reorganization that was announced by the parent overnight, a company official said yesterday. Kazuko Kamiya, spokeswoman for Banyu Pharmaceutical Co, Merck's Japanese subsidiary, said a plant in Okazaki which makes the antibiotic Tienam, will be shut down by December next year, and two laboratories, in Okazaki and Menuma, will be shut down by March. The firm will cut 300 jobs in Japan over the next year, or 8 percent of the 3,800 workers now in Japan. Banyu declined to break down which facilities would be affected by the cuts. The company's remaining facilities in Japan include a plant in Menuma and a laboratory in Tsukuba, as well as 15 regional sales offices and its Tokyo headquarters, spokesman Tetsuro Kobayashi said.

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