South Korea
Truckers go on strike
Truck drivers are on strike for the second time in less than a year, targeting major ports in a bid to disrupt key exports from autos to petrochemicals. The strike began yesterday, with demonstrations at 16 sites across the country. The Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union, which represents 25,000 workers, earlier this week said it planned to block all ports in the country. The work stoppage threatens a repeat of the union’s actions in June, when protests caused production disruptions costing about 1.6 trillion won (US$1.2 billion). Auto, petrochemical, steel and other key industries were hit as companies from POSCO Holdings Inc to Hyundai Motor Co curbed output. A lengthy dispute could affect global supply chains, as the country is the largest exporter of memory chips and is home to some of the world’s biggest automakers.
United States
Gene therapy approved
Regulators approved CSL Behring’s hemophilia B gene therapy, a one-off infusion that frees patients from regular treatments, but costs US$3.5 million a dose, making it the most expensive medicine in the world. CSL Behring’s Hemgenix, administered just once, cut the number of bleeding events expected over the course of a year by 54 percent, a study found. It also freed 94 percent of patients from time-consuming and costly infusions of Factor IX, which is used to control the potentially deadly condition. “While the price is a little higher than expected, I do think it has a chance of being successful because 1) existing drugs are also very expensive and 2) hemophilia patients constantly live in fear of bleeds,” Loncar Investments chief executive officer Brad Loncar said.
Energy
LNG supplies tighten
Asia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot price rallied to the highest level since early last month on concern that disruptions to production and the arrival of colder weather in key markets could tighten supply. The Japan-Korea Marker, North Asia’s LNG benchmark, jumped 20 percent in the week through Wednesday to US$34.24 per million British thermal units, traders said. An ongoing outage at a key US export plant and forecasts for frigid weather in Europe are boosting global competition for the fuel this winter, and potentially curbing shipments to Asia, the traders said. Although LNG importers such as Japan and China are optimistic that they have secured enough fuel for winter, supplies remain tight and a sudden cold snap in those nations could quickly deplete inventories. Asia is in direct competition with energy-starved Europe for a dwindling amount of available LNG.
Sweden
Interest rates rise to 2.5%
The Riksbank raised borrowing costs by 75 basis points, sustaining its heightened aggression against stubborn inflation even as the economy succumbs to a likely recession. In his final decision as central bank governor, Stefan Ingves and his colleagues lifted the key interest rate to 2.5 percent, the highest since 2008. “The forecast shows that the policy rate will probably be raised further at the beginning of next year and then be just below 3 percent,” the Riksbank said. The risk that “current high inflation will become entrenched is still substantial, and it is very important that monetary policy acts to ensure inflation falls back.” The inflation measure tracked by officials would average 5.7 percent next year, forecasts released with the decision 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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