CHINA
Producer prices slump
Factory gate prices last month fell the most in five months, with deflation deepening and set to worsen in the coming months due to the economic damage wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic at home and abroad. The National Bureau of Statistics data suggested a durable recovery was some way off, with the producer price index falling 1.5 percent year-on-year, the biggest decline since October last year. It compared with a median forecast of a 1.1 percent in a Reuters poll of analysts and a 0.4 percent drop in February. The overall decline in the factory gate gauge was exacerbated by a slump in global crude oil and commodities prices, the bureau said in a statement accompanying the data.
RIDE HAILERS
Uber plans to ship masks
Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday said that it plans to ship millions of masks to its drivers and food delivery employees around the world to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Uber vice president of safety and insurance Gus Fuldner in a company blog post also said that the company plans to ship nearly 500,000 masks to US drivers located in the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak. The initial mask order would come from a Chinese company that typically manufactures electronics and now produces ear-loop masks, but the company would be sourcing masks from all over the world as a long-term commitment, a company spokesman said.
AUTOMAKERS
Renault seeking US$5.5bn
Renault SA is seeking up to 5 billion euros (US$5.5 billion) in government-backed loans to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said, while dismissing the possibility of nationalization. Renault on Thursday scrapped its dividend to conserve cash after plant and showroom closures strangled operations. Senard and interim chief executive Clotilde Delbos are taking a 25 percent pay cut for at least the second quarter. The dividend, which had already been reduced, would have totaled 325 million euros.
AVIATION
Airbus cuts plane output
Airbus SE has slashed its aircraft output by a third in a stark concession to the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended the aviation industry. The world’s biggest commercial aircraft manufacturer now plans to produce about 48 planes a month across its A320, A330 and A350 programs, it said in a statement. It had gone into the year with a goal of producing about 880 planes, or an average of 73 per month. Airbus is to produce about 40 of its top-selling A320 narrow-body each month, it said, while reducing production of the advanced A350 wide-body to six per month. A330 production is to be cut to two per month, raising a question about whether the program can remain viable. The company plans to assess production on a monthly basis, chief executive Guillaume Faury told reporters.
INTERNET
Amazon plans testing lab
Amazon.com Inc is building a laboratory that would enable it to test employees for COVID-19, the latest step the online retailer is taking to try to protect its warehouse workers and delivery drivers, who are getting essential products to customers locked down at home. Amazon said that its effort might not accomplish much during the current pandemic, but it is still assigning a team of scientists, software engineers and procurement specialists to build a laboratory that would enable the company to “start testing small numbers of our front-line employees soon.”
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
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