INTERNET
Baidu opens internal probe
Chinese search engine giant Baidu (百度) yesterday said it has launched anti-corruption investigations into its own employees after reports three department heads were being probed. Baidu did not reveal any details of its inquiries, nor confirm how many were being investigated or their names. “Internal anti-corruption action creates a just and transparent working environment, and a sound environment for workers’ development,” the company said in a statement to reporters. Chinese Internet portal Sina (新浪) yesterday reported that Baidu was investigating three departmental directors. Baidu fired five executives in November last year for bribery and illicit appropriation and dismissed four of its employees for bribery in August 2012, according to media reports.
MINING
Baosteel project delayed
A Chinese-led A$7.4 billion (US$5.8 billion) iron ore project in Western Australia looks to be the latest casualty of the price decline, with Wood Mackenzie Ltd estimating it is unlikely to begin output before 2020. “Mindful of the volatility in the iron ore market,” the partners in the Baosteel Group Corp-led West Pilbara iron ore mine, port and rail development, have deferred until late next year a decision on whether to proceed, Aurizon Holdings Ltd —one of the participants — said yesterday in a statement. A decision had previously been planned for early next year, Aurizon said. To deliver the initial capacity of 40 million tonnes a year the project requires the construction of 280km of heavy rail and a port facility at Anketell Point, Aurizon and Baosteel said on June 20 last year, when Chinese benchmark iron ore was trading at US$92.13 a tonne. It traded at US$61.40 a ton on Friday last week. “You are looking at a minimum of four years to do all of that, and that’s the best case scenario,” Sydney-based Wood Mackenzie analyst Andrew Hodge said by telephone. Under that timetable, the project would not begin production before 2020, Hodge said. Baosteel and Aurizon previously said first shipments were expected in 2017 or 2018.
ELECTRONICS
Toshiba’s value plunges
Toshiba Corp yesterday lost US$2.8 billion in market value after the Japanese industrial and electronics group withdrew its earnings forecast pending an internal probe into improper accounting on infrastructure projects. Its shares fell 17 percent, the biggest drop since March 2011, to ￥403.3 in Tokyo. The company announced it was extending an accounting probe and withdrawing its earnings forecast for last fiscal year Friday last week, after trading had closed. Toshiba also said it may have to revise earnings from fiscal year 2013 and earlier. The company had projected net income of ￥120 billion (US$1 billion) on sales of ￥6.7 trillion in the year ended March.
INVESTMENT
Chinese futures top trade
Chinese stock index futures have surpassed S&P 500 futures in turnover to become the world’s most traded equity futures as global investors expanded their exposure to the market. Turnover in the CSI300 futures contract expiring on Friday has soared in recent weeks, in step with surging shares in China. Daily volumes rose to 1.5 million contracts on Friday last week, according to Thomson Reuters data, exceeding the 1.4 million “e-mini” S&P 500 contracts traded on that day. Analysts predict the CSI 300 looks set to overtake futures contracts in other asset classes such as US Treasuries, the most heavily traded futures contract in the world for any asset type.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
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