■ METALS
Chalco confident in Guinea
Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco, 中國鋁業) chairman Xiong Weiping (熊維平) yesterday told reporters in Shanghai the company was confident Guinea’s government would approve its bid to jointly develop a huge African iron ore field with mining giant Rio Tinto. China’s biggest aluminum producer signed an agreement with Rio last month to establish a joint venture to develop the Simandou project in Guinea, with the Chinese company to invest US$1.35 billion in the project. Anglo-Australian giant Rio has been working on Simandou for about 12 years, but has run into trouble with Guinea’s military rulers.
■ RETAIL
Carrefour to sell business
French retail giant Carrefour plans to sell its business in Malaysia, a minister said, amid speculation the firm would also offload its Singapore and Thai stores and exit Southeast Asia altogether. “We heard that Carrefour is considering divesting. It is for the purpose of rationalization of their overseas business,” deputy trade minister Mukhriz Mahathir told reporters late on Monday. “They want to sell their business [in Malaysia],” he said, adding that “other hypermarkets are keen to take over” Carrefour’s 23 stores in the country.
■ SHIPBUILDING
Daewoo to build platform
South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering said yesterday it had signed a US$1.8 billion deal to build a floating oil production and storage platform for French energy giant Total. Daewoo, one of the world’s top shipbuilders, said it would build the platform by May 2013. The 110,000-tonne floating production, storage and offshore unit is designed to receive, process and store oil or natural gas, it said. It can be maneuvered to different locations.
■ TELEVISION
Toshiba plans 3D TV
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba plans to market the world’s first 3D television that does not need special glasses later this year, a report said yesterday. Toshiba will unveil three models of the television, which will cost several thousand dollars, before Christmas, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. The company has developed a new system that emits rays of light with various angles from the screen so that viewers can see stereoscopic images without glasses, the daily said.
■ BEERS
Foster’s earnings up
Earnings by Australia’s Foster’s beat expectations yesterday, but the drinks giant recorded a net A$464 million (US$413 million) loss after write-downs in its wine business. The result, which follows a net profit of A$438.3 million a year ago, comes after the group faced impairment charges on its wine assets of A$1.3 billion. Excluding these losses, Foster’s posted a net profit of A$698.3 million — higher than the underlying earnings of A$673.6 million predicted by analysts.
■ ENERGY
Origin Energy profits up
Australia’s Origin Energy yesterday said full-year underlying profits were up 10 percent to A$585 million, but missed expectations because of gas exploration costs. Origin, which had projected a 15 percent rise in underlying profits, has expanded offshore exploration in Australia and Southeast Asia, including the drilling of six “significant” wells, during the year. The company said it expected underlying profit for the next financial year to rise by about 15 percent as it benefited from a number of new projects and acquisitions.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft