MACROECONOMICS
Russian economy contracts
The Russian economy is on course for a 3.9 percent year-on-year contraction in the fourth quarter, Russian Minister of Economic development Alexei Ulyukayev told a government meeting on Thursday. Ulyukayev also said that the country’s current account surplus would exceed US$70 billion next year. Russian Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said the Kremlin is planning a federal budget deficit of 3 percent of GDP next year, equivalent to 2.36 trillion rubles (US$38.34 billion).
STEEL
Tax slows India’s imports
Steel shipments to India grew at a slower pace for a second month last month after Asia’s third-largest economy increased the import tax on some products, fearing an influx of cheaper goods from China. Domestic steel stocks gained. Imports rose 1.7 percent to 850,000 tonnes last month from a year earlier, slowing from 17 percent in August and 69 percent in July, according to initial data from the Indian Ministry of Steel on Thursday. For the six months through to last month, imports grew 41 percent to 5.4 million tonnes.
LABOR
Cambodia to increase wages
Cambodia on Thursday said it is to raise the minimum monthly wage for garment workers to US$140, an increase of nearly 10 percent. The Cambodian Ministry of Labor said a US$12 monthly pay rise had been agreed after a week of talks between union representatives, employers and government officials. By January next year employees will earn 40 percent more than this year after rounds of strikes and violent protests forced contractors to improve wages. However, unions want upwards of US$150 a month for their members and expressed dismay at the settlement.
COMMODITIES
Aluminum demand climbing
Alcoa Inc, the largest US aluminum producer, maintained its forecast for global consumption of the metal. Demand is set to climb by 6.5 percent this year, New York-based Alcoa said on Thursday. That matched the company’s prediction in July. Alcoa narrowed this year’s surplus forecast to 551,000 tonnes from 762,000 tonnes in its second-quarter earnings presentation. The company also lowered its China consumption forecast to 9.3 percent this year, from 9.5 percent. It still expects global aluminum demand to double between 2010 and 2020.
ECONOMY
OECD says growth easing
Growth seems to be easing off in most of the world’s major economies, including the US and more notably in China, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday. The OECD said its monthly leading indicator showed moderating growth generally. Taking an index reading of 100 as the long-term average, China slipped to 97.2 from 97.6 in its latest update, the US economy dropped to 99.2 from 99.5, Japan to 99.8 from 99.9 and the UK to 99.5 from 99.7, while the eurozone as a whole remained stable at 100.7.
RETAIL
Amazon sells handmade
Amazon.com Inc on Thursday opened a shop showcasing handmade goods sold directly by artisans. Handmade at Amazon came as a challenge to New York City-based Etsy, an e-commerce Web site devoted to personally crafted and vintage items. All items in the store must be “factory-free” and made by hand, according to the Seattle-based firm
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
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
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
COLLABORATION: The operations center shows the close partnership between Taiwan and Japan in the field of semiconductors, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Tokyo Electron Ltd, Asia’s biggest semiconductor equipment supplier, yesterday launched a NT$2 billion (US$61.5 million) operations center in Tainan as it aims to expand capacity and meet growing demand. Its new Taiwan Operations Center is expected to help customers release their products faster, boost production efficiency and shorten equipment repair time in a cost-effective way, the company said. The center is about a five-minute drive from the factories of its major customers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) advanced 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer fabs. The operations center would have about 1,000 employees when it is fully utilized, the company
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