NEW ZEALAND
Growth slower than expected
The economy grew less than expected in the final three months of last year as it recovered from a contraction caused by a COVID-19 lockdown in Auckland, the country’s largest city. GDP rose 3 percent from the third quarter, when it fell a revised 3.6 percent, Statistics New Zealand said yesterday. The economy expanded 3.1 percent from one year earlier. The fourth-quarter recovery was led by services and production, while output from the primary sector fell, the agency said.
BRAZIL
Rate raised for ninth time
The central bank raised its key interest rate for the ninth straight time on Wednesday, as Latin America’s largest economy continues to reel from surging inflation, now exacerbated by the Ukraine war. The bank’s monetary policy committee raised the benchmark Selic rate by 1 percentage point, to 11.75 percent, in line with analysts’ forecasts, citing inflation that “continued to negatively surprise” policymakers. The annual inflation rate stands at 10.54 percent, far above the central bank’s target of 3.5 percent.
ENERGY
Battery firms get financing
Reliance Industries Ltd and Softbank Group-backed Ola Electric Mobility Pvt are to receive incentives under India’s US$2.4 billion program to boost local battery cell production after winning a tender, four sources said. The winning bidders also include Hyundai Global Motors Co and Indian jewelry maker Rajesh Exports Ltd, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Ola Electric and Hyundai would get incentives for 20 gigawatt hours capacity, while Reliance and Rajesh Exports have won incentives for 5 gigawatt hours, the sources said. They did not provide a financial value.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Qualcomm halts Russia trade
Qualcomm Inc said on Wednesday that it has stopped selling its products to Russian companies in compliance with US-imposed sanctions after Moscow invaded Ukraine. The company’s action was disclosed by Qualcomm senior vice president of government affairs Nate Tibbits on Twitter, replying to a comment by Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Revenue from Russia and Ukraine accounts for less than 1 percent of its total revenue, Qualcomm said earlier this month.
STEELMAKERS
Thyssenkrupp faces concern
Thyssenkrupp AG said the planned separation of its steel operations has been thrown into uncertainty by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The German industrial conglomerate can no longer offer “a statement on the feasibility” of a standalone steel business due to economic conditions, the firm said in a statement. The firm also suspended its full-year forecast for free cash flow before mergers and acquisitions.
RETAILERS
Ocado lowers forecast
Ocado Group PLC’s online grocery joint venture with Marks & Spencer Group PLC yesterday said this year’s revenue growth might be lower than previously expected. Ocado Retail said it is initiating cost-cutting measures across the business and reported a 5.7 percent decline in first-quarter retail revenue, as customers return to pre-COVID-19 shopping habits. Revenue growth would likely be closer to 10 percent for the full year, while earnings margin might be affected by significant increases in energy costs, the company said.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
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