UNITED STATES
Fed poll sees faster growth
The economy grew at a somewhat faster pace in April and last month, despite disruptions that choked supplies to the nation’s manufacturers, the Federal Reserve reported on Wednesday. In the Fed’s latest survey of economic conditions around the nation, known as the “beige book,” several of the central bank’s districts reported that increased vaccination rates and relaxed social distancing measures were having a positive impact on the economy. However, offsetting those gains were headwinds coming from supply chain problems, the report said, adding that the supply chain disruptions added to price pressures. The report is to form the basis of discussion when Fed policymakers meet on June 15 to 16 to decide interest rate trends.
SHIPPING
Ships avoid virus-hit port
The world’s shipping lines are avoiding a key port in China hit by a COVID-19 outbreak, causing increased congestion at other seaports across the nation that could delay the delivery of goods to the US and Europe. Tightened health and safety checks have caused congestion and reduced productivity at the port of Yantian, prompting the cancelation of calls there, a notice from Mediterranean Shipping Co on Wednesday said. The port in Shenzhen stopped accepting export-bound container boxes last week and suspended three berths after a COVID-19 cluster emerged among the port staff and broader community. Shenzhen is the world’s fourth-busiest container port.
TRADE
UK, Australia hold talks
Britain is seeking to remove a 5 percent tariff on exports of Scotch whisky to Australia in an upcoming trade deal, British Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss said yesterday. “A UK-Australia trade agreement would be significant for Scotch whisky and the Union,” she said in a statement. Britain and Australia held another round of talks to progress a free-trade deal, the British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell said in Canberra, as they seek to strike an agreement in the middle of this month. The proposed deal with Australia is the most advanced of several pacts London is pursuing.
MEXICO
Economy to grow 6%: bank
The COVID-19 pandemic-hit economy is expected to grow by 6 percent this year, the Bank of Mexico said on Wednesday, upgrading its outlook for the second time since March. The central bank had predicted growth of 4.8 percent for Latin America’s second-largest economy this year. The brighter outlook reflects strong external demand, mainly from the US, as well as an easing of the pandemic in the nation, one of the worst affected by the virus. The economy shrank 8.5 percent last year, in the worst slump since the Great Depression about nine decades ago.
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Google to allow crypto ads
Alphabet Inc’s Google, the world’s largest digital advertising seller, is to allow companies offering cryptocurrency wallets to run ads beginning in August. Starting in August, Google is to let wallets run ads on search, YouTube and other properties as long as they go through the company’s certification process. Google is making the change “in order to better match existing FinCEN regulations and requirements,” a spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. In a blog post, Google specified that the ad ban still exists for initial coin offerings and services that aggregate or compare issuers of cryptocurrencies.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has secured three construction permits for its plan to build a state-of-the-art A14 wafer fab in Taichung, and is likely to start construction soon, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, Wang Chun-chieh (王俊傑), deputy director general of the science park bureau, said the world’s largest contract chipmaker has received three construction permits — one to build a fab to roll out sophisticated chips, another to build a central utility plant to provide water and electricity for the facility and the other to build three office buildings. With the three permits, TSMC
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
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