TRADE
No taste for Japanese brews
South Korean imports of Japanese beer slumped almost to zero last month in the face of a consumer boycott sparked by a trade and historical dispute between Seoul and Tokyo, Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute (KTSPI) data showed yesterday. Japanese companies shipped US$223,000 worth of beer to South Korea last month, down 97 percent from US$7.57 million last year. “Japan’s rank dropped to the 13th place last month,” a KTSPI official said, adding that beers from China, the Netherlands and Belgium now had the biggest shares of the nation’s imports.
RETAIL
H&M’s sales growth slows
Hennes & Mauritz AB’s (H&M) sales growth slowed in the key July and August months, hampering the Swedish giant’s attempt to end a three-year slump in earnings. Sales growth probably slowed down to 6 percent in those two months from 12 percent in June, Berenberg analysts said, based on calculations from figures H&M reported yesterday. Rival Inditex SA this month reported an acceleration in sales, while Primark announced a drop in like-for-like revenue. H&M said its summer collections were well-received and it managed to increase market share.
REAL ESTATE
Singapore sales slump
Private home sales in Singapore slipped 4.8 percent last month even as developers launched more units than the previous month. Developers in the city-state sold 1,122 apartments last month versus 1,179 in July, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority released yesterday. Singapore last month slightly lowered, on average, the charges that developers must pay to enhance the use of certain property sites, or build bigger projects on them. That could have the effect of spurring activity as home builders are incentivized to rejuvenate certain areas.
PHILIPPINES
Online casinos targeted
Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez wants the Bureau of Internal Revenue to shut down online gaming operators that have not paid their taxes. Dominguez issued the order on Sunday after finding out that the bureau has not collected most of the 21.6 billion pesos (US$420 million) in income taxes that should have been withheld by online gaming operators. It has issued 130 tax assessments to companies involved in online gaming. The online casinos employ mostly Chinese workers catering to gamblers from the China. Beijing has asked Manila to ban online gaming, but President Rodrigo Duterte has said the country needs the industry.
RETAIL
Sainsbury to sell mortages
Sainsbury is talking with advisers about a sale of its mortgage book, the Telegraph reported on Sunday, as the UK supermarket chain looks for ways to shore up finances after its bid to buy Walmart Inc’s Asda was blocked. Its mortgage business, which amounted to about £1.4 billion (US$1.8 billion) at the end of February, could fetch £1.3 billion if it finds a buyer, but it might struggle to sell its loss-making business because of high costs, the paper said.
TELECOMS
GCX files for bankruptcy
GCX Ltd, a unit of Anil Ambani’s distressed Reliance Communications Ltd, has filed for bankruptcy protection. GCX owns the world’s largest private undersea cable system. The company missed payment on its US$350 million of 7 percent bonds that matured on Aug. 1.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective