AUTOMAKERS
Honda recalls minivans in US
Honda is recalling about 800,000 of its Odyssey minivans in the US over faulty parts blamed for 46 minor injuries, the company said, just a month after settling a huge lawsuit on other defects. The recall, which affects the 2011 to 2017 models sold in the US, might later be expanded to include vehicles sold in Canada, Mexico and South Korea, spokesman Teruhiko Tatebe said. The fault relates to a latch that connects the back seat, the company said. If not properly engaged, the seat might tip forward during braking, a statement said. The announcement comes after the Japanese group last month reached a US$605 million settlement in a lawsuit over defective airbags in millions of cars on US roads.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Biocon gets US clearance
Biocon Ltd has received US Food and Drug Administration clearance for the sterile products unit of its Bengaluru facility, a sign of progress in its bid to bring the plant up to regulatory standards and be among the first wave of a new class of biologic drugs in the US. The regulator issued a report asking for some voluntary improvements at the facility, but said the inspection conducted from May 25 to June 3 is closed, Biocon said in a statement yesterday. Manufacturing issues at the Bengaluru plant have proved a stumbling block in Biocon’s efforts to be among the first to sell copies of complex biologic medicines in the US and European markets.
TECHNOLOGY
Bitcoin surges past US$8,000
Bitcoin yesterday topped US$8,000 for the first time, as investors set aside technology concerns that had derailed its advance earlier this month. Bitcoin rose 4 percent to US$8,015.67 as of 7:47am in London, paring a rally of as much as 5.2 percent during Asian hours. It is up more than 700 percent this year after shrugging off a tumble earlier this month. It has been a tumultuous year for the largest cryptocurrency, with three separate slumps of more than 25 percent all giving way to subsequent rallies. Recent volatility has also stemmed from a pickup in people switching to alternative virtual currencies, notably bitcoin cash.
ENERGY
China solar forecast raised
China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, is poised to install a record amount of solar-power capacity this year, prompting researchers to boost forecasts as much as 80 percent. About 54 gigawatts are be put in place this year, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said yesterday, raising a forecast of more than 30 gigawatts made in July. That amount of additional capacity would likely surpass all the solar energy generated in Japan this year. CCB International Securities Ltd (建銀國際證券) raised its forecast for China’s solar power capacity to 55 gigawatts from 40 gigawatts for next year, according to a research note on Friday.
AEROSPACE
Firms warn on Brexit costs
Brexit could cost the UK’s aerospace industry ￡1.5 billion (US$2 billion) because of increased customs checks, the British Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee said. The committee is to question industry representatives, including Airbus UK vice president Katherine Bennett and ADS Group CEO Paul Everitt today. It received written evidence from leading aerospace companies, such as Airbus SE and Boeing Co, expressing their concerns, as well as a submission from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the committee said in an e-mailed statement.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
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