UNITED KINGDOM
Unemployment drops
Unemployment fell unexpectedly to the lowest since 1974 as people dropped out of the workforce at a record rate. The government said that 3.5 percent of adults were looking for work in the three months through August, down from 3.6 percent the month before and a rate last lower in 1974. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng hailed the figures as indicating strength in the UK. “The fundamentals of the UK economy remain resilient, with unemployment at its lowest point for almost 50 years,” Kwarteng said in a statement. Average earnings growth excluding bonuses accelerated to 5.4 percent, Office for National Statistics figures showed.
AUSTRALIA
Confidence near historic low
Consumer confidence is hovering around historic lows at the same time as business conditions strengthen, reinforcing a divide between households and corporates’ experiences in the economy. Westpac Banking Corp’s index of consumer sentiment slid to 83.7, highlighting that pessimists easily outweigh optimists with the divide at 100. Shortly after, National Australia Bank Ltd’s business conditions — measuring hiring, sales and profits — rose above their pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak. The contrast likely reflects policy lags, with the Reserve Bank of Australia hiking interest rates by 2.5 percentage points since May as it tries to rein in inflation.
AIRLINES
Region’s outlook improves
Passenger airline traffic in the Asia-Pacific region should recover to about 73 percent of 2019 levels by the end of the year as travel restrictions relax, up from 53 percent in August, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said yesterday. “There is no mistaking I think the momentum is very strong especially with all major markets in the Asia-Pacific now open except for China,” IATA Asia-Pacific vice president Philip Goh (吳仕綿) told reporters on a webinar. Taiwan’s border controls are to ease tomorrow. The year-end traffic estimate is based on China opening its borders soon, although the actual date remains unclear, Goh said.
AUTOMAKERS
NEV China sales rise
New-energy vehicle (NEV) sales in China retained their strong momentum last month, led by record sales from local automaker BYD Co (比亞迪) and US electric vehicle giant Tesla Inc. Total NEV sales, which include pure-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, rose 83 percent from a year earlier to 611,000 units, China Passenger Car Association data released yesterday showed. BYD sold just over 200,000 vehicles for the first time, while Tesla delivered a record 83,135 vehicles after upgrading production capacity at its Shanghai factory. Overall passenger vehicle sales in China increased 21 percent from a year earlier to 1.95 million units last month, the association said.
TURKEY
Deficit enters 10th month
Turkey’s current account remained in deficit for a 10th consecutive month as the trade balance took a hit from a global rally in energy prices. The deficit widened to US$3.1 billion in August compared with a surplus of US$1.1 billion the same month a year earlier, Turkey’s central bank said yesterday. The shortfall for the first eight months of this year widened to US$39.7 billion. Tourism revenue was US$5.1 billion, with services posting a surplus of US$7.2 billion. Foreign tourist arrivals had risen by an annual 58 percent in August, a separate data release said.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
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