JAPAN
Production falls 1.3%
Factory output fell for a second straight month in January as supply shortages continued to hurt manufacturers, adding to concern that the economy could shrink this quarter as the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 weighs on activity. Production slipped 1.3 percent from the previous month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said yesterday. Economists had expected a decline of 0.7 percent. A separate report by the ministry showed that retail sales also dropped 1.9 percent in January from December, compared with economists’ forecast of a 1.2 percent fall. The weakness in sales shows consumers were less willing to spend than expected amid the nation’s biggest virus wave.
TURKEY
GDP rose 11 last year
The economy expanded more than predicted in the fourth quarter of last year, driven by a surge in domestic consumption and exports. GDP rose 9.1 percent in the October-to-December period from a year earlier, beating the median estimate of 9 percent in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Growth for the full year was 11 percent, the state statistics agency said, making Turkey the fastest growing country among G20 nations both in the last quarter and in last year as a whole. The nation’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic gained pace in the first half of last year and maintained momentum thanks to strong exports. Consumption also remained solid, but inflation spiraled out of control.
SPAIN
Inflation surges 7.5%
Inflation accelerated well above expectations last month, as soaring energy prices continue to weigh on consumers. Consumer prices rose 7.5 percent from a year earlier, national statistics institute INE said yesterday. That is the highest level since records started in 1997 and beats all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The acceleration was driven by food, beverages, fuel and energy. Soaring gas prices are behind the inflation spike in one of Europe’s most vulnerable nations to global energy swings as it imports most of its fuel needs.
AUSTRALIA
Retail sales jump 1.8%
Household spending recovered strongly, defying expectations that a renewed COVID-19 outbreak would keep shoppers at home, as a shift to living with the virus prompted consumers to head out to shop. Retail sales jumped 1.8 percent in January to A$32.5 billion (US$23.4 billion), compared with a forecast gain of just 0.3 percent, the Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday. Sales across the states and territories all rose, led by a 4.7 percent surge in Western Australia. The unexpected jump in household spending is positive for the economic outlook given private consumption accounts for about 60 percent of the nation’s US$1.5 trillion annual economic output.
RETAIL
PT Trans, Bukalapak team up
Tycoon Chairul Tanjung’s CT Corp conglomerate is teaming up with Internet firm PT Bukalapak.com for an online grocery venture as e-commerce gains ground in Indonesia, people with knowledge of the matter said. Closely held CT Corp’s supermarket unit PT Trans Retail Indonesia is driving the push with Bukalapak, and private equity firm Growtheum Capital Partners is joining the pact, the people said. The trio is to invest 1 trillion rupiah (US$70 million) into the venture called AlloFresh, with Trans Retail owning 55 percent, Bukalapak 35 percent and Growtheum 10 percent, they said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
RSS