CHINA
Virus hits capital’s economy
Beijing’s economy was slammed last month as it contended with COVID-19 outbreaks, a sign that government curbs to contain the virus still had a significant effect, even though it managed to avoid a citywide lockdown like Shanghai’s. Retail sales in Beijing fell about 26 percent last month from a year earlier, data from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics showed. That is worse than any other provincial-level jurisdiction that has published monthly data so far, except for Shanghai, where spending plunged about 37 percent. Industrial output in the capital city dropped nearly 40 percent last month, worse than Shanghai’s almost 28 percent decline. Beijing blamed the slide on the COVID-19 outbreaks and a high base of comparison from last year, the statistics bureau said in a statement.
AIRLINES
EasyJet to buy 56 A320neos
British low-cost airline EasyJet PLC yesterday exercised options to purchase 56 fuel-efficient single-aisle A320neo aircraft from European aerospace giant Airbus SE. EasyJet said in a statement that it had obtained steep discounts for the jets, which are worth US$6.5 billion at list prices and are due for delivery between 2026 and 2029. Meanwhile, Japan Airlines Co plans to make a decision in a year or two about the replacement of its aging fleet of Boeing Co 767s and Embraer SA regional jets, a senior executive said. Japan Airlines would consider the 787 and Airbus A321neo families for regional jets, said Ross Leggett, the airline’s head of route marketing, international relations and alliances.
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla sued over job cuts
Former Tesla Inc employees have filed a lawsuit against the US electric vehicle company alleging that its decision to carry out a “mass layoff” contravened federal law, as the company did not provide advance notice of the job cuts. The lawsuit was filed late on Sunday in Texas by two workers who said they were terminated from Tesla’s gigafactory plant in Sparks, Nevada, this month. The lawsuit said that more than 500 employees were terminated at the Nevada factory. The workers allege the company failed to adhere to federal laws on mass layoffs that require a 60-day notification period under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the lawsuit said. They are seeking class-action status for all former Tesla employees throughout the US who were laid off in May or June without advance notice. “Tesla has simply notified the employees that their terminations would be effective immediately,” the complaint said.
STEELMAKERS
Tata buys Russian coal
India’s top steelmaker, Tata Steel Ltd, imported about 75,000 tonnes of coal from Russia in the second half of last month, two trade sources and one government source said, weeks after promising to stop doing business with Russia. Tata Steel had said in April all its manufacturing sites in India, the UK and the Netherlands had sourced alternative supplies of raw materials to end its dependence on Russia. Still, the company last month shipped about 75,000 tonnes of pulverised coal injection coal, used in steelmaking, from Russia’s Vanino port, of which 42,000 tonnes were offloaded in a port in Paradip on May 18, while 32,500 tonnes were offloaded in Haldia, the two trade sources said. A spokesman for Tata Steel said the deal to import coal from Russia was made before the company’s announcement to cut business ties with Russia. He provided no further details.
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV yesterday said that it has reached an agreement to acquire a subsidiary brewery of Taiwan’s Sanyo Whisbih Group (三洋維士比集團). Heineken is to assume majority ownership and management rights of the Long Chuan Zuan Co (龍泉鑽興業) brewery in Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔), the Dutch company said. It would become the first multinational brewing company to operate brewery in Taiwan once the acquisition is completed. The deal has been approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission, but details of the financial transaction cannot be disclosed at this time, as terms of the settlement have not been completed,
Had Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck hopped on an electric scooter rather than a Vespa in the classic film Roman Holiday, their spin around the Eternal City might have ended in tears. The number of crashes and near-misses involving the two-wheelers has prompted Rome authorities to impose some order on a booming rental market that began two years ago. The havoc came to a head earlier this month when two US tourists attempted a night-time drive down the Spanish Steps, causing more than 25,000 euros (US$26,392) worth of damage to the 18th-century monument. Caught on security footage, the couple in their late 20s
LOOK WHO OWES: China’s exposure to Taiwanese banks was the second-largest, with Luxembourg third, followed by Hong Kong and Japan, the central bank said The US remained the largest debtor country to Taiwan’s banking sector for a 27th consecutive quarter in the first quarter of this year, with its exposure rising 8.3 percent from a quarter earlier on the back of an increase in US bonds, the central bank said on Friday. Data compiled by the central bank showed that outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks on a direct risk basis to the US stood at US$125.38 billion as of the end of March. Department of Financial Inspection deputy head Pan Ya-hui (潘雅慧) said that the US Federal Reserve’s launch of a rate hike cycle in
GREEN CITY: The company is set to invest US$8 billion to make electric vehicles and batteries for a new city that would rely entirely on renewable energy sources Indonesia said that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is considering investing in the country’s new capital city, a move that would bolster the US$34 billion construction project. Hon Hai, which is known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), is looking at setting up an electric bus system and an Internet of Things network at Nusantara, as Indonesia’s new capital is to be called, Indonesian Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia said in a statement yesterday. Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Saturday to discuss the company’s plan to invest US$8 billion to build a manufacturing plant
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