Thu, Jun 01, 2017 page11

• Taiwan Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  MACROECONOMICS

  Japanese output accelerates

  Japan’s factory output in April rose at its fastest pace in six years, government data released yesterday showed, in the latest sign the economy is gathering steam. Industrial production expanded 4 percent, rebounding from a decline in March and rising at its quickest rate since June 2011, when it grew 4.2 percent. The figures come a day after separate data showed consumer demand remains weak despite years of government efforts to boost spending. Still, the latest output numbers are good news for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who swept to power in late 2012 on a pledge to reignite Japan’s once-booming economy with a policy blitz comprising massive monetary easing, stimulus spending and structural reforms. The figures “show that production will be strong in the April to June quarter, underpinning the view that the economy is on a recovery path,” Dai-ichi Life Research Institute chief economist Yoshiki Shinke told reporters.

  LUXURY GOODS

  Handbag breaks price record

  Christie’s says a luxury handbag has shattered the world auction record in Hong Kong. The auction house did not identify the buyer of the matte white crocodile skin Hermes Birkin bag with 18 karat gold and diamond hardware at yesterday’s sale. The item fetched HK$2.94 million (US$377,437), which Christie’s says is a record for any handbag sold at auction. The price surpasses the record set a year ago when Christie’s auctioned a similar Birkin bag for US$300,000. The highly coveted bag was created in 1984 by the French luxury label in honor of British singer and actress Jane Birkin. It is famous for a stratospheric price tag, celebrity owners and a years-long waiting list.

  SHIPBUILDERS

  Saudi Aramco to build wharf

  Saudi Aramco is to build the biggest shipyard in its region in a US$5.2 billion joint venture with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries and others, the partners said yesterday. The yard, to be constructed on the Persian Gulf coast, will have the capacity to produce four offshore rigs and 40 vessels, including three supertankers, a year, the state-owned oil giant said in a statement. Lamprell, a United Arab Emirates-based provider of services to the energy industry, and Bahri, Saudi Arabia’ national shipping company, have also signed on to the venture. Located in the new industrial port city of Ras al-Khair, the yard will also provide maintenance services for rigs and vessels. In a separate statement, Lamprell PLC said the yard will cost an estimated US$5.2 billion to build, of which roughly US$3.5 billion will come from the Saudi government.

  AVIATION

  Air India could be privatized

  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is considering a proposal to privatize state-run Air India, possibly asking the buyer to absorb loans of about 200 billion rupees (US$3.1 billion) linked to aircraft purchases, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The deliberations follow recommendations by a government panel for the sale of the money-losing carrier that has nearly US$8 billion in debt, the person said. As for the rest of the flag carrier’s debt, the government has yet to decide whether to write off or reorganize it, the person said. The process may include disposing of Air India’s real estate and other non-core assets worth about US$3 billion before the sale or hiving them off, the person said. Unprofitable for a decade, with taxpayers bailing it out in the past six years, Air India’s appeal to any investor is contingent on the government’s ability to write off the debt not backed by assets. Many state-run lenders have been seeking capital injection from taxpayer funds amid mounting bad loans.
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