ENERGY
US agency selling crude oil
The US Department of Energy is offering 11 million barrels of crude for sale from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve ahead of sanctions on Iran that are expected to reduce global supplies of crude. The delivery period for the proposed sale of sour crudes is to be from Oct. 1 through Nov. 30, according to a notice on Monday. The sale appears to be designed to show the administration of US President Donald Trump is taking measures to restrain energy price increases ahead of the sanctions, one crude trader told reporters. As a shale boom helped US oil production hit an all-time record this year, US lawmakers increasingly have viewed oil-reserve sales as a way to reduce deficits and fund government operations.
TELECOMS
Singtel eyeing Amaysim
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel), Southeast Asia’s largest telecom, is moving ahead with examining a possible bid for wireless operator Amaysim Australia Ltd, people with knowledge of the matter said. The company is working with Bank of America Corp to assess options for investing in Sydney-based Amaysim, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is private. The appointment was made in the past two weeks, one of the people said. A deal for Amaysim, which leases the wireless network owned by the Singapore carrier’s local subsidiary, would give Singtel access to the operator’s more than 1.1 million mobile subscribers. Shares of Amaysim have slumped about 54 percent this year, giving the company a market value of A$193 million (US$142 million).
INTERNET
Microsoft thwarts attack
Hackers linked to the Russian government tried to target the Web sites of two conservative US think tanks, suggesting they were broadening their attacks in the build-up to November elections, Microsoft Corp said. The software giant said it had thwarted the attempts last week by taking control of sites that hackers had designed to mimic the pages of the International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute. Users were redirected to fake pages, where they were asked to enter usernames and passwords. The International Republican Institute has a roster of high-profile Republican board members, including US Senator John McCain, who has criticized US President Donald Trump’s interactions with Russia and Moscow’s rights record.
MALAYSIA
Projects to be canceled
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed during a visit to Beijing yesterday that three China-backed projects totaling US$22 billion will be canceled until his country can find a way to pay its debts. The projects include a railway connecting Malaysia’s east coast to southern Thailand and Kuala Lumpur, and two gas pipelines. Mahathir is trying to reduce the country’s national debt, which has ballooned to about US$250 billion. After meeting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) on Monday, Mahathir said he believed China would help Malaysia resolve its fiscal problems. The leader also warned against “a new version of colonialism happening because poor countries are unable to compete with rich countries just in terms of open free trade.” The US$20 billion rail project was contracted with China’s largest engineering firm, China Communications Construction Co (中國交通建設公司), and mostly financed by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China (中國進出口銀行).
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
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