AVIATION
China greenlights 737 Max
Boeing Co’s 737 Max jets might resume commercial flights in China by the end of this year or early next year, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration said yesterday, a day after issuing an airworthiness directive that paved the way for the single-aisle workhorse to return to the Chinese skies after an almost three-year grounding. China is also to start introducing new Max aircraft around the same time, the agency said, marking a key moment for the US planemaker, which has already convinced most major global regulators about the jet’s safety following extensive fixes. A return in the world’s second-busiest aviation market would pave the way for a planned ramp-up in 737 Max production to at least 31 planes a month early next year from 19 today.
EUROZONE
Business activity picks up
Eurozone business activity accelerated last month, but the bounce might be temporary as demand growth weakened and fears about the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 put a dent in optimism, a survey showed yesterday. IHS Markit’s flash composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) jumped to 55.4 last month from 54.2 in October, below an earlier 55.8 “flash” estimate, but still above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction. “An improvement in the rate of economic growth signaled by the eurozone PMI looks likely to be short-lived,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit. “Not only did demand growth weaken, but firms’ expectations of future growth also sank lower as worries about the pandemic intensified again.” A final PMI for the bloc’s dominant service industry did rise to 55.9 from 54.6, although that was well below the preliminary estimate of 56.6. However, the business expectations index, which measures optimism about the year ahead, sank to 66.7 from 69.0 — its lowest level since February.
AUTOMAKERS
Polestar talks chip shortage
Polestar, the electric-vehicle maker that is set to go public in a US$20 billion reverse merger next year, expects to battle chip shortages into next year, as it ramps up production to meet the sales targets outlined to investors. Executives from Polestar, backed by Volvo Car Group and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co (吉利控股集團), were in New York on Thursday to show off a new luxury sport sedan, the Polestar 5. The sporty sedan, modeled off Polestar’s Precept concept car, is aiming to steal share from Porsche AG and Tesla Inc. It is the first of three new models Polestar plans to introduce by 2025. Polestar, which is set to complete its reverse merger in the first half of next year, is aiming to sell 29,000 cars worldwide this year, 65,000 next year and 290,000 by 2025, achieving margins of 9 percent, it said in an investor presentation.
TRADE
Mexico mulls suing US
The Mexican government on Thursday threatened legal action over provisions of US President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act that would give subsidies of up to US$12,500 for purchases of union-made, US-made electric vehicles. Mexican Secretary of the Economy Tatiana Clouthier said the bill before the US Senate would violate non-discrimination clauses of the US-Mexico-Canada free-trade pact. Clouthier said the measure would discriminate against potential exports of Mexican-built EVs and favor domestic producers, something she said is forbidden under the pact. Clouthier said the Senate bill could cost Mexico jobs and “could generate additional pressures for migration.”
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by