■MINING
Anglo American profit falls
Global mining giant Anglo American said yesterday its first-half net profit fell 30.6 percent as a result of weak commodity prices arising from the worldwide economic downturn. Net earnings dived to US$2.97 billion in the six months to June, compared with US$4.28 billion in the same period last year, Anglo said in a results statement. Revenues sank 37.9 percent to US$11.13 billion. The group said it has already shed 15,400 of the 19,000 jobs it announced would go this year. “As expected, the market environment has been challenging in the first half of this year and Anglo American’s performance was impacted by the sharp declines in commodity prices against the prior year and anticipated reductions in volumes,” said chief executive Cynthia Carroll.
■BANKING
MUFG profit soars
Japan’s biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) said yesterday its net profit soared 48.3 percent in the fiscal first quarter from a year earlier to ¥75.94 billion (US$800 million). The company, which owns a chunk of troubled Wall Street titan Morgan Stanley, returned to profit after ending the last financial year to March ¥256.95 billion in the red. For this year it maintained its forecast for a profit of ¥300 billion.
■TIRES
Michelin posts loss
French tire maker Michelin yesterday posted a net loss of 122 million euros (US$172 million) in the first half as car and truckmakers slashed production and as the company incurred costs for restructuring. The loss compared to net profit of 430 million euros a year earlier. Revenues fell 13.4 percent to 7.13 billion euros. Chief executive officer Michel Rollier said Michelin has introduced short-time working hours in several countries to deal with the downturn in sales. He said inventories have returned to “more normal levels” but “not to the extent that we can talk about a real upturn.” Michelin said markets for car and light truck tires showed signs of stabilizing in the second quarter, particularly in countries where governments introduced “cash-for-clunkers” schemes.
■ENERGY
Russia working on pipeline
Russia yesterday started construction of a major gas pipeline supplying its Pacific Ocean port city of Vladivostok, which could eventually be used to feed exports of gas to Japan. The pipeline is due to be completed before Vladivostok hosts the APEC summit in 2012, Russia’s state-controlled gas giant Gazprom said in a statement announcing the start of construction. “The priority for gas in East Siberia and the Far East is above all to serve the domestic market,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at the inauguration ceremony. However, Gazprom has said the pipeline could eventually be used to feed exports of gas to East Asian countries, including energy-hungry Japan.
■EMPLOYMENT
Eurozone jobless rate rises
The unemployment rate in the 16 nations using the euro single currency rose slightly in June over one year but consumer prices fell a record 0.6 percent, EU data showed yesterday. Seasonally adjusted unemployment stood at 9.4 percent, up from 9.3 percent in May, the EU’s Eurostat data agency said. The figure stood at 7.5 percent 12 months ago. It meant that the number of people out of work rose by 158,000 over the month, to bring the total number of job seekers in the single currency bloc to 14.9 million.
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
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
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)