■ Energy
Oil supply up
World oil supplies rose by 445,000 barrels per day last month to 85 million barrels, with OPEC pumping half the increase, but demand remains steady, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday. Real spare production capacity by OPEC remained below 2.0 million barrels per day as security problems and pipeline "outages" affect 800,000 barrels per day of output by Iraq and Nigeria, the IEA said. World demand for oil products this year was "broadly unchanged" at 1.24 million barrels per day. The IEA commented in its monthly report: "Recent strength in China and the US is partly offset by weakness in OECD Europe and Asia, but still results in a 160,000 barrels-per-day upward revision to second-quarter demand growth. A booming global economy remains supportive, but high prices are weighing on consumption."
■ Banking
Third Chinese IPO set for HK
China's largest lender, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Ltd, plans to apply next week for an initial public offering in Hong Kong in September, a state-run newspaper reported yesterday. Beijing-based ICBC's IPO is expected to be one of the world's biggest, raising up to US$12 billion. The bank received approval for the share listing in March, and will submit its application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 22, the Shanghai Securities News reported, citing unnamed top bank officials. The IPO follows those of fellow ``Big Four'' state banks China Construction Bank, which raised US$9.2 billion in Hong Kong in October, and Bank of China, which took in US$11.2 billion in a Hong Kong IPO earlier this month that was the world's fourth-largest ever.
■ Economy
Chinese retail sales rise
Retail sales in China rose 14.2 percent last month compared with a year earlier, official data showed yesterday. In the first five months of this year, retail sales were up 13.2 percent compared with the same period last year to be worth 3.04 trillion yuan (US$379 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. Retail sales for last month alone totaled 617.6 billion yuan, with the 14.2 percent rise ticking higher than growth of 13.6 percent in April. According to the bureau, retail sales in the hotel and catering industry were up 17 percent last month, while sales in the entertainment and leisure industry were up 23.5 percent. The higher figures reflected a rise in spending during the nation's week-long Labor Day holiday at the beginning of May.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Merck tries to block Bayer
A battle for control of Germany's Schering AG heated up yesterday when Merck KGaA announced it had further boosted its stake in the company in a bid to block a planned takeover by Bayer AG. Merck is seeking to acquire at least a 25-percent blocking majority of stock in Schering. The company reported to US stock market regulators that it now controls almost 21 percent of Schering's shares -- up from 18.6 percent last week. Schering executives back the takeover by Bayer but analysts now warn that that would be the biggest pharmaceuticals takeover in German history may now be threatened. Bayer's offer of 86 euros (US$108) per Schering share expires at midnight tonight. Germany's Merck is not related to the US company with the same name.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite