OIL
Shell shuts down pipeline
Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it had shut down a pipeline in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta after a fire and a suspected attempt to steal crude from one of its lines. In a statement late on Sunday, Shell said its Nigerian subsidiary shut down the 71cm Bomu-Bonn trunk line after a fire on Sunday. Shell said the shutdown of the line would cut production by about 150,000 barrels of a oil a day. It said a helicopter saw a burning ship nearby. It did not discuss how much oil spilled in what it described as an attempted theft.
AVIATION
Lagardere opposes merger
A minority shareholder of Europe’s European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co (EADS) yesterday said it was unhappy with the current terms of a proposed merger with Britain’s BAE Systems to create an aerospace behemoth to rival US giant Boeing. French industrial and media group Lagardere “estimates that at this stage, the conditions of a merger between EADS and BAE are unsatisfactory,” the company said in a statement. The group called on the EADS, in which it holds a 7.5 percent stake, “to re-examine the project of the EADS-BAE merger to better take into account the interests of EADS French shareholders.”
AIRLINES
Kingfisher cancels flights
India’s cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines yesterday canceled several flights due to staff unrest, it said, fueling more doubts about the private carrier’s future and sending its shares plunging. Kingfisher, which is desperately in need of capital to keep flying, said in a statement it believed some employees might not report to work after being threatened by other workers.
STEEL
Merged Nippon ends down
Shares in the merged Nippon Steel and rival Sumitomo Metal Industries got off to a poor start, closing at ￥158 yesterday, down 1.25 percent from Nippon Steel’s last price on Friday amid concerns over a slowdown in the Chinese economy. The two firms formally merged yesterday, creating the world’s second-largest steelmaker. “The China-linked material sector is weak these days,” a senior analyst at a Japanese asset management firm told Dow Jones Newswires. “A drastic restructuring is needed for the shares to recover.”
INDONESIA
Inflation slows to 4.31%
Inflation eased to 4.31 percent last month as food prices fell after Eid-al Fitr celebrations, the Central Statistics Agency said yesterday. The consumer price index came in lower than the 4.58 percent in August, while month-on-month inflation was recorded at 0.01 percent, from 0.95 percent in August. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food prices, was 4.12 percent last month, compared with 4.16 percent in August. Bank Indonesia has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 5.75 percent since February.
BANKING
Alpha buying Emporiki
Alpha Bank SA, Greece’s third-biggest lender, said it was buying Credit Agricole SA’s unprofitable Greek unit Emporiki Bank for a “nominal” consideration. Alpha Bank said Credit Agricole would inject 500 million euros (US$641 million) into Emporiki and subscribe to a convertible bond. Credit Agricole is selling its Greek division as concerns linger over Greece’s future in the euro area. Emporiki’s loan book makes Credit Agricole the foreign bank with most to lose if Greece exits the euro.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
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