MINING
Copper hits 20-month low
Copper yesterday tumbled to a 20-month low as fears of a global recession hurt the demand outlook for the metal seen as an economic bellwether due to its wide range of uses. The commodity, used in everything from power cables to electric motors, dropped as much as 3 percent to sink below US$7,000 a tonne. Prices were down 35 percent from a record high set just four months ago when investors worried that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could disrupt supplies in an already-tight market. The focus has since switched to demand concerns and the threats are stacking up. China — which accounts for half of all copper consumption — is struggling with the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns, while Europe is battling an energy crisis. Copper was down 2.7 percent at US$6,980 a tonne at 9:43am on the London Metal Exchange.
ARGENTINA
Inflation may surge to 90%
Argentines face the prospect of 90 percent inflation by the end of the year after economy minister’s exit triggered overnight price rises and the central bank comes under pressure to let the peso depreciate more rapidly. That would be the fastest pace since hyperinflation three decades ago, and the highest rate in the world outside Venezuela and Sudan, IMF forecasts show. The dramatic exit of former economy minister Martin Guzman this month led to price mark-ups by many businesses. Some Argentines raced to the shops the morning after Guzman quit, to try to stock up ahead of the peso’s devaluation and price hikes. Annual inflation reached a 30-year high of 64 percent last month, according to government data published on Thursday.
APPAREL
Uniqlo soars on record profit
Shares of Fast Retailing Co climbed the most in three months after it projected a record full-year profit on a weaker yen and as strong sales globally outweigh a China slump due to “zero COVID” lockdowns. Shares of Uniqlo’s owner yesterday surged as much as 8.5 percent in Tokyo, the biggest intraday gain since mid-April. Fast Retailing raised its full-year operating forecast to ￥290 billion (US$2.1 billion) from an earlier estimate of ￥270 billion, it said in a statement on Thursday. That topped analysts’ projections and, if achieved, would beat the previous record set in 2019. The outlook was aided by robust quarterly earnings that also beat analysts’ expectations. A slump in the yen, which hit a 24-year low against the US dollar, is helping the company’s bottom line.
AUTOMOTIVE
Panasonic picks Kansas
Japan’s Panasonic Corp selected Kansas as the location for a US$4 billion mega-factory to produce electric vehicle batteries for Tesla and other automakers, lured by the largest package of taxpayer-funded incentives that the state has offered a private business. The company and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly on Wednesday announced the new project, just hours after Kelly and eight top leaders of the Kansas legislature signed off on a package of incentives worth US$829 million over 10 years. The state had created a new program to offer incentives that could reach US$1 billion or more only five months before — because of Panasonic’s project. State officials expect the new plant to have about 4,000 workers, which would make Panasonic a “top 20, easily” private employer for the state in terms of its size, Kansas Secretary of Commerce David Toland said.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
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