MINING
China tightens rare earths
China’s government has cut the number of permits issued for rare earths mining in a new move to tighten controls over the exotic minerals needed to manufacture mobile phones and other high-tech goods. State television yesterday said the Ministry of Land and Resources will cut the number of mining permits by 40 percent from 113 to 67. The report gave no indication how that was expected to affect the amount of rare earths produced.
SHIPPING
FedEx gloomy about future
FedEx Corp says the global economy is stalling, and it is going to get worse next year. On Tuesday, the world’s second-largest package delivery company said a continued slowdown in the developed world combined with high fuel prices will keep trade volumes at low levels. FedEx sharply cut its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending in May. It cut its forecast for the full year to between US$6.2 and US$6.6 per share, from US$6.9 to US$7.4 previously.
TELECOMS
Brazil spurs innovation
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has approved new tax incentives to boost innovation in the information technology and telecommunications sectors, the official Agencia Brasil reported on Tuesday. The measures, published in the Official Gazette, are part of the government’s Brasil Maior (“Bigger Brazil”) plan unveiled in August last year to strengthen the productivity and competitiveness of Brazilian industries. The plan provides incentives, financing and tax relief for domestic sectors, including information and communication technology.
CREDIT
Australia still rated ‘AAA’
International credit agency Standard & Poor’s yesterday affirmed mining-driven Australia’s “AAA” rating with a stable outlook, but warned about its growing reliance on the Chinese economy. Australia is one of only a handful of nations to hold the top rating, with its economy growing a solid 0.6 percent in the three months to June and 3.7 percent from a year earlier. However, the figure was less than half the upwardly revised 1.4 percent in the first quarter of this year and below analyst predictions of 0.8 percent.
VIDEO GAMES
PlayStation 3 gets smaller
Sony Corp is introducing a smaller, slimmer and lighter version of its PlayStation 3 home console ahead of the year-end holidays as it gears up for growing competition in games from smartphones. The announcement yesterday from the Japanese company comes a day ahead of the annual Tokyo Game Show, where game makers show their wares. The new PlayStation 3, closer to the size of a laptop, is half the size of the original model, introduced in 2006. It also offers more hard-drive memory at 500 gigabytes and 250 gigabytes, up from the current 320 and 160 options. The global rollout starts on Sept. 25 in North America.
FINANCE
Goldman Sachs CFO retires
Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s chief financial officer is retiring, and his replacement is a longtime executive at the investment bank. David Viniar, 57, is stepping down after 32 years with Goldman, the last 12 as CFO. Harvey Schwartz, 48, will replace him at the end of January, the bank said on Tuesday. After Viniar leaves the post, he will join Goldman’s board as a non-independent director.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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