SHIPPING
DP World expects growth
Dubai ports giant DP World yesterday said that it expected growth in shipping freight container volumes to moderate in the next quarter after volumes handled rose 8.1 percent in the third quarter. Global supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 pandemic-driven lockdowns and an unexpectedly rapid recovery in trade have led to a shortage of shipping containers, congestion in ports and skyrocketing freight rates. “The near-term outlook remains positive, but we do expect growth rates to moderate in the final quarter,” DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said in a statement, citing COVID-19, supply chain constraints and geopolitical uncertainty. The company operates more than 90 terminals across six continents.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis reviewing unit
Novartis AG yesterday said that it is reviewing options for its Sandoz generic-drug unit, including a separation of the business, as the Swiss pharma giant focuses on developing cutting-edge medicines for cancer and other diseases. An update is expected before the end of next year and keeping Sandoz is among the possibilities, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said. The unit has struggled this year as demand lagged. “We would explore all options,” Novartis chief executive officer Vas Narasimhan said, adding that it is the right time to reconsider the unit’s strategic fit. “We are in the very early stages.”
CHINA
Coal limits mulled
Officials said that they are considering setting new limits on movements in coal prices that could help ease the nation’s energy crisis, although the move would threaten to curb profit in the sector. The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement that it is studying plans for a “price formation mechanism to guide the long-term stability of coal prices in a reasonable range.” The most-active thermal coal contract on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange fell as much as 7.6 percent to 1,207 yuan a tonne, the lowest intraday price in almost a month. Coal was trading 3.4 percent lower as of 12:30pm yesterday.
GERMANY
Growth forecast cut
The government has slashed its economic growth forecast for this year to 2.6 percent, but lifted its estimate for next year to 4.1 percent, two sources told reporters on condition of anonymity on Tuesday. The revised government forecast for GDP growth compares with an April prediction for the economy to grow by 3.5 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year. Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier is to present the updated growth forecasts at a news conference today.
SOUTH KOREA
Economic expansion cools
The nation’s economic expansion cooled last quarter as global supply chain snags dragged down investment and COVID-19 restrictions weighed on household spending. GDP gained 0.3 percent in the July-to-September period, decelerating from 0.8 percent in the second quarter, Bank of Korea data showed yesterday. From a year earlier, the economy expanded 4 percent. The result complicates the central bank’s plans for another interest-rate increase this year, after it began a tightening cycle in August. Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol has said that the bank would consider another hike next month in the event that economic recovery proceeds as expected, having projected a 4 percent expansion for this year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained