SINGAPORE
Euro crisis hits economy: PM
The city-state’s growth slowed last year and the economy will be hurt this year by a protracted European debt crisis and a “difficult” global environment, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said. GDP rose 4.8 percent last year, Lee, 59, said in his New Year message released yesterday. That compares with the government’s earlier forecast of a 5 percent expansion. The trade ministry predicted the economy would expand between 1 percent and 3 percent this year, an estimate reiterated by Lee. “The external environment is uncertain,” Lee said. “Debt problems in Europe are far from solved. Next year looks like being difficult for the global economy. As a small, open country, Singapore will inevitably be affected.”
EUROPE
Balkan trade deal renewed
The EU on Friday renewed trade preferences to the western Balkans until 2015, giving nearly all products from the region duty-free access to the 27-nation market for four more years. The measure will benefit Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. The trade advantages had expired on Dec. 31, 2010, but the EU later decided to extend them. Exporters will be able to claim compensation for duties paid last year. The “exceptional autonomous trade preferences” come on top of a Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Balkan nations that gives preferential tariffs to wine, sugar and certain beef and fish products. “These trade preferences support economic integration with the EU and hence foster political stability and economic progress in the entire region,” the European Commission said in a statement.
PETROLEUM
Iran warns of price hikes
Iran’s oil minister said crude prices would rise to more than US$200 a barrel if foreign sanctions were imposed on the country’s oil exports over its disputed nuclear work, the Aseman weekly reported yesterday. “Undoubtedly, the price of crude will increase dramatically if sanctions are imposed on our oil ... It will reach at least over US$200 per barrel,” Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said
AUTOMAKERS
Mahindra wants to buy Saab
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, India’s biggest sport-utility vehicle manufacturer, is interested in buying at least parts of bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile, two people familiar with the situation said. Mahindra, based in Mumbai, is in the process of trying to set up meetings with the two court-appointed administrators who are overseeing Saab’s bankruptcy to possibly buy parts of the carmaker or the whole company, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plans are private.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford US sales top 2 million
Ford Motor Co said on Friday its US sales this week topped 2 million vehicles for the first time in four years, boosted by strong demand for smaller, more fuel--efficient vehicles. Ford is the first automotive brand to hit the 2 million mark since 2007, making it the best-selling brand in the US, the automaker said. “Ford’s lineup of high-quality, fuel-efficient cars, utilities [sport utility vehicles] and trucks continues to attract more and more new customers,” Ford sales analysis manager Erich Merkle said in a statement. Overall, Ford brand small cars were on track for a more than 20 percent gain in sales for last year, while utility vehicles would increase more than 30 percent, Ford said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been