AUTOMAKERS
India orders Toyota restart
The Karnataka state government in India has ordered Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and its union to restore operations at its two factories there after a protracted pay dispute halted work, the company said. The demand comes after unionized employees refused to return to work at two factories near the state’s southern city of Bangalore, despite an end to an eight-day company lockout last month. Workers have been at odds with the company’s management over pay issues that they have been negotiating for 10 months. The Bangalore complex normally produces about 310,000 cars annually, including Toyota’s flagship Camry sedan, the Corolla and its Prius hybrid, mostly for the Indian market.
ENERGY
Gazprom ties fine: EU official
EU Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger yesterday said that he sees no danger of the bloc’s access to Russian gas falling victim to possible economic sanctions in the standoff over Ukraine. “From my many talks with Gazprom, my impression is that our Russian partners will fulfill their contractual obligations and want to supply the gas,” Oettinger told the German paper Welt am Sonntag. “We are agreed that, in the case of possible economic sanctions — whether from the European or Russian side — the gas sector should not have any priority.” The Russian gas giant accounts for about 25 percent of the European gas market, Oettinger said. “I am against scaling back or even cutting our gas links with Russia in the coming years, but we must pursue our strategy of diversification,” he added. Norway and Algeria are also important gas suppliers, Oettinger said, adding that 30 percent of supplies come from Europe itself, namely from Britain and the Netherlands.
FASHION
Armani settles tax dispute
Giorgio Armani SpA settled a tax dispute in Italy by paying 270 million euros (US$373 million) last week, Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Friday. The payment is linked to taxes owed by three foreign subsidiaries of the luxury company, which is wholly owned by Giorgio Armani, it said. The period covered is between 2002 and 2009, when the company decided to bring back to Italy subsidiaries that were based abroad. The report said there were no more tax claims against the company, whose overall tax burden went up from 28.5 percent in 2010 to 44.8 percent in 2012, it said. Armani, now 79, founded in 1974 the company that Forbes magazine said had an annual turnover of US$1.6 billion last year. It estimated the fashion designer’s personal fortune at US$8.5 billion.
MINING
Conakry to axe mining rights
Guinea says it plans to revoke the mining rights to one of the largest untapped iron ore deposits in the world, following a watchdog’s recommendation. A committee reviewing mining deals has said it has evidence that the rights to the mine were obtained through corrupt practices and recommended they be canceled. The deal is also under US investigation. Government spokesman Damantang Camara said late on Friday that Conakry would follow the recommendation. The rights are held by a joint venture owned by Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz’s BSG Resources Ltd and Brazilian mining firm Vale SA, but the report focused its allegations on BSG Resources. BSG Resources has said it will fight the allegations, while Vale has said it does not believe it has been accused of wrongdoing.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us
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