CHINA
PMI hits seven-month low
Chinese manufacturing activity contracted last month, HSBC’s closely watched purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed yesterday, as the world’s second-largest economy is buffeted by domestic headwinds. The British banking giant’s final PMI for the month came in at 49.6, it said in a statement, slightly up from a preliminary reading of 49.5, but still the lowest in seven months. It also marked the first contraction since May’s 49.4. Readings above 50 indicate growth, while anything below points to shrinkage.
SOUTH KOREA
Inflation at 14-month low
South Korean inflation hit its lowest point for 14 months last month, reflecting plunging oil prices, state data showed yesterday. Consumer prices last month rose 0.8 percent from a year ago, slowing from 1 percent growth in November, state-run Statistics Korea said. That marked the lowest gain since October 2013, when consumer prices rose 0.9 percent. Inflation for the whole of last year rose 1.3 percent after growing at the same pace in 2013. The core consumer price index, excluding volatile energy and food prices, rose 1.6 percent last month, unchanged from a month earlier.
VIETNAM
Economy grew 5.98%
The economy grew to a three-year high of 5.98 percent last year, despite a festering banking crisis and damaging anti-China riots, authorities said yesterday. The figure — higher than 2013’s growth of 5.42 percent and 5.25 percent in 2012 — marks “a positive sign,” according to a statement on the Web site of the General Statistics Office. Inflation last year slowed to 4.09 percent, from 6.04 percent in 2013, the office added. The government is targeting economic growth of 6.2 percent this year.
SINGAPORE
GDP growth slows to 2.8%
Singapore’s economic growth cooled last year and the nation will experience slower expansion than it has been used to, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said yesterday. GDP rose 2.8 percent this year, Lee, 62, said in his New Year message. That is below a November forecast of about 3 percent and an expansion of 3.9 percent in 2013.
UKRAINE
Economy shrinks 7.5%
The Ukrainian economy likely shrank 7.5 percent last year, after the conflict with eastern separatists and Russia’s takeover of Crimea helped trigger a “full-scale” financial crisis, central bank Governor Valeriya Gontareva said on Tuesday. The banking system is “non-functioning,” and the rate of the hryvnia, which fell 48 percent against the US dollar last year to become the world’s worst-
performing currency, reflects its true value, Gontareva said at a briefing at the bank in Kiev. When asked whether Ukraine would default on its debt, she said: “We don’t want to be a pariah country.”
UNITED STATES
Consumer confidence up
Consumer confidence rebounded last month after falling the previous month, the Conference Board reported on Tuesday. The consumer confidence index rose to 92.6 from 88.7 in November, still shy of the year’s peak at 94.5 in October, but well up from 77.5 a year ago. Consumers views of the current situation in the economy were fairly strong, but the outlook for the next half year dimmed, with the expectations sub-index dropping to 88.5 from 89.3, according to the board.
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
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
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