MANUFACTURING
China bounces back
Growth in China’s sprawling manufacturing industry unexpectedly ticked higher this month, according to a report yesterday, easing concerns about the No. 2 economy’s recovery. HSBC’s purchasing manager index edged up to 50.5 this month from 50.2 in August, based on a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 indicate contraction. The modestly upbeat number comes after an official report earlier this month showed China’s factory output slowed sharply last month, which sparked fears momentum was fading and prompted some analysts to lower their full-year economic growth forecasts.
MANUFACTURING
New orders fall in Germany
German manufacturing expanded at the slowest pace in 15 months this month as new orders fell, signaling uneven momentum in Europe’s largest economy. Markit Economics said its Purchasing Managers Index fell to 50.3 from 51.4 in August, the weakest since June last year. A gauge of services rose to 55.4 from 54.9, offsetting the drop in factory output and pushing the composite index up to 54 from 53.7. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. In June, Germany’s central bank predicted growth of 1.9 percent this year and 2 percent next year.
BANKING
New restrictions on deposits
Sri Lanka yesterday unveiled tough new restrictions on deposits as it looks to encourage commercial banks to boost lending and help sustain the country’s healthy economic growth. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s monetary board said after its monthly review it would keep its key repurchase rate at 6.5 percent to lenders, but slashed it to 5.0 percent for any more than three deposits a month. The central bank retained its own lending rate to commercial banks at 8.0 percent, which has remained unchanged since a cut in January.
TRADE
Canada, S Korea sign FTA
Canada and South Korea signed a long-sought free-trade deal on Monday that will see the two countries remove tariffs on most products over the next 10 years. At a joint press conference in Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and visiting South Korean President Park Geun-hye pledged to have the agreement quickly ratified. It is the first free-trade agreement (FTA) Canada has signed with an Asian country, and is set to see the two countries remove tariffs on more than 97 percent of products within 10 years. The trade pact is expected to boost bilateral trade by as much as 30 percent, according to government figures.
AUTOMAKERS
GM compensates victims
The death toll from crashes involving General Motors (GM) small cars with faulty ignition switches has risen to at least 21. Compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg said in an Internet posting he had received 143 death claims as of Friday. He determined that 21 are eligible for compensation so far. Last week 19 death claims were deemed eligible for payments. Feinberg also has received 532 injury claims. Of those, 16 are eligible for compensation thus far. The rest are still being reviewed.
GM has admitted knowing about the ignition switch problem in small cars like the Chevrolet Cobalt for more than a decade. Yet it did not begin recalling the cars until February. The switches can unexpectedly shut off the engine and cause crashes. GM hired Feinberg to compensate crash victims.
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
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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