■METALS
POSCO cuts production
South Korea’s POSCO, the world’s fourth largest steelmaker, announced yesterday its first-ever production cut to reduce rising inventory caused by a sharp fall in local demand. POSCO, which produces 2.78 million tonnes of crude steel a month, said it would reduce output by 200,000 tonnes this month and 370,000 tonnes next month. “We are cutting production for the first time since the start of our operations” in response to a sharp fall in demand from local auto and home appliance makers, it said in a statement. It said the downturn in local demand was deeper than expected, leading to a sharp increase in inventory.
■ELECTRONICS
Panasonic to buy Sanyo
Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp has secured the takeover of competitor Sanyo Electric Co with deals to buy stakes in the smaller firm held by the US investment bank Goldman Sachs and two Japanese investment firms, the Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday. Sanyo’s management threw its support last month behind the takeover, which would create one of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies. Goldman Sachs had originally refused Panasonic’s ¥130 (US$1.47) per share offer as too low, but Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs late on Wednesday. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Co and Daiwa Securities SMBC Co, Sanyo’s two other major shareholders, already agreed to the deal.
■METALS
Wuhan to buy into Centrex
Australia’s Centrex Metals said yesterday that Chinese steelmaker Wuhan had agreed to pay up to A$180 million (US$126 million) for a half share in its iron ore projects. “This is a landmark, high integrity agreement with a top three steel group in China and is a company-maker for us in every sense,” Centrex chairman David Lindh said in a statement. Wuhan will also pay an additional A$9.7 million for a direct 15 percent stake in Centrex and will work with the miner on its plans for the development of a new deep water export port.
■SOUTH KOREA
Seoul plans injection
The country plans to set up a 20 trillion won (US$15.4 billion) fund to help banks raise their capital base and access cash during the credit crisis, the financial watchdog said yesterday. The move will ensure banks “will be prepared for possible losses that they could incur from a prolonged economic slowdown and restructuring [of businesses],” the Financial Services Commission said. It said the central Bank of Korea is expected to contribute up to 10 trillion won through loans, while the state-run Korea Development Bank will add 2 trillion won and the rest would come from institutional and other investors.
■AVIATION
EADS plans to protect cash
The head of the European aerospace group European Aeronautic Defense Space Company (EADS), Louis Gallois, said yesterday that “in the coming months our highest priority is to protect our cash reserves” of 9 billion euros (US$13 billion). “We will have to push back acquisitions that we might have made. We must also define priorities for our investments,” Gallois told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in an interview. He also said his group was ready to “help some airlines with the financing of their aircraft orders” to avoid cancelations and suspensions. If necessary, it would reduce output at plane-making unit Airbus.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS