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World Business Quick Take

■ OIL

Prices approach US$102

Oil prices hit a record high near US$102 yesterday, lifted by the sliding US dollar and persistent concerns that the OPEC crude cartel could cut output next week. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, touched an historic US$101.98 per barrel. Brent North Sea crude for April delivery struck an all-time peak at US$100.45. The US was to release its weekly report on crude oil stockpiles later yesterday. That could spark another move higher, with US$105 per barrel on the horizon, Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob said.



■ CHINA

Inflation target raised

China has raised its inflation target for this year to 4.8 percent in the wake of steeper-than-expected price rises last year and the impact of the worst winter in 50 years, state media said yesterday. The government had aimed to control inflation this year at last year's level, and in December set the target at 4.6 percent, equivalent to the figure for the first 11 months of last year, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. China's inflation surged to an 11-year high of 7.1 percent last month.



■ SOUTH KOREA

Growth target questioned

Just two days after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office, his nominee for finance minister admitted that promises to raise economic growth to 6 percent this year would be hard to achieve. At a confirmation hearing in parliament yesterday, finance minister-designate Kang Man-soo said global economic conditions such as a US slowdown had worsened further since the 6 percent projection. "Difficult as it will be, the government will make supreme efforts, such as tax cuts and deregulation, to come as close as possible to the goal of achieving 6 percent growth," Kang said. The central bank expects growth of 4.7 percent this year.



■ CONSUMER

Price-fixing suspected

Nine European and US consumer products makers, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive, are suspected of price-fixing in France, a newspaper reported yesterday. If found guilty, the companies could face fines of up to 10 percent of their annual worldwide revenue and possibly amounting to billions of euros, Le Figaro said. The suspected collusion is believed to have begun in 2005, the report said. Others said to be suspected include US-based Sara Lee and SC Johnson, as well as Germany's Henkel, and Reckitt Benckiser. The report said the companies were also suspected of sharing information about their customers.



■ ELECTRONICS

Sony to launch new player

Sony Corp's first Blu-ray disc player that can download bonus materials like trailers and games from the Internet will debut this summer, the company said on Tuesday. It will be the first new player from Sony, the inventor of Blu-ray, since the format last week beat out Toshiba Corp's HD DVD technology that vied to become the high-definition replacement for the DVD. The BDP-S350 player Sony plans to introduce this summer for "about US$400" will be the company's first to feature an Ethernet port, allowing it to connect to a home broadband connection. However, it won't be able to access Internet content when it ships -- a software upgrade will be available later to enable that feature, known as BD-Live.
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