COTTON
Egypt agrees to export
Egypt agreed to export 1,193 tonnes of cotton in the week ended on Thursday, the Alexandria Cotton Exporters Association said in its weekly bulletin yesterday. The country has shipped 91,588.5 tonnes of cotton valued at US$344.4 million since the marketing year began on Sept 1. Of last week’s sales, Egypt will ship 432 tonnes of Giza 88 cotton variety and 761 tonnes of Giza 86, the association said. Egypt produces the world’s finest extra-long staple cotton, which is stronger and softer than shorter staple cotton.
INDIA
Sugar controls to continue
India deferred a plan to end controls on sugar producers as rising food prices fuel inflation, the Business Standard reported, citing Farm Minister Sharad Pawar. The Indian Sugar Mills Association last year asked the government to stop setting the benchmark price for sugar cane and the monthly sales quota for mills, which are required to sell 10 percent of their output at below-market prices to the government for resale to the poor.
PORTUGAL
Deals signed with Qatar
Portugal and Qatar signed memorandums of understanding for cooperation in renewable energy and tourism, Prime Minister Jose Socrates said in Doha yesterday. The two countries also discussed investment opportunities, Socrates said, adding that his country plans to open an embassy in the Gulf Arab country.
TELECOMS
Emirates extends deadline
Emirates Telecommunications Corp extended a deadline to reach an accord on its US$12 billion offer for control of Kuwait’s Zain, saying there were “unforeseeable delays” to complete the diligence process. The bid by Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecom, also known as Etisalat, to buy about 46 percent of Zain, Kuwait’s largest mobile phone operator, expired on Saturday. Etisalat got commitments from Zain investors holding about 40 percent of the company, three people involved in the talks said on Friday, declining to be identified because the talks are confidential. Etisalat didn’t set a new deadline in its statement yesterday. Etisalat’s effort to purchase Zain is aimed at deepening its presence in the Middle East, where Zain operates in countries from Kuwait and Iraq to Bahrain after selling most of its African assets last year to Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel Ltd for US$9 billion.
PHILIPPINES
Tetangco can stay on
Central bank Governor Amando Tetangco “has done an excellent job” and can stay for a second term after his fixed, six-year term ends by mid-year, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said yesterday. A veteran of the central bank for more than three decades, Tetangco, 58, has kept inflation below 5 percent in the past 21 months, allowing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low since July 2009.
AVIATION
Garuda to launch IPO
Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda Indonesia will this week launch its initial public offering (IPO) around Hong Kong, London and New York. Its scheduled listing on Feb. 11 may raise up to 10.3 trillion rupiah (US$1.1 billion) through the sale of 9.32 billion shares, or 36 percent of its capital, at between 750 and 1,100 rupiah each, likely to be the biggest listing on the Indonesian share market.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
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