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.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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