■ ENERGY
LNG producers mull cartel
The world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporting countries gather in Doha today to discuss proposals to form a cartel -- an idea that has consumer nations worried even if it does not appear imminent. The two-day Gas Exporting Countries Forum will be hosted by Qatar, which aspires to eventually become the world's top exporter of LNG. Founded in 2001, the forum is an informal structure grouping 15 countries which together control 72 percent of world reserves and 42 percent of production. The Doha meeting will focus mainly on the possibility of forming a cartel along the lines of the OPEC. The International Energy Agency warned in February that a gas cartel would reduce demand and hurt producers.
■ METALS
Gold expected to rise
Gold will climb to at least US$700 an ounce in the next two months, about 4 percent more than today, Fortis and Virtual Metals Research & Consulting wrote in their monthly metals report. The forecast is up from US$670 predicted last month, Brussels-based Fortis and London-based Virtual Metals said on Thursday in the e-mailed report. Gold has gained since February because the US might begin cutting interest rates in the third quarter, the report said. Lower interest rates may hurt the US dollar and spur investor demand for alternatives such as gold. The one-month forecast for gold was raised to a range of US$680 and US$630, from US$670 and US$600, the report said.
■ TRADE
G4 to meet in New Dehli
India and other key trading powers will meet in New Dehli this week for potentially make-or-break talks to end a deadlock in the Doha Round of global trade negotiations. Officials from the G4 group of influential trading players -- the EU, the US, Brazil and India -- will strive to reach a common position on agriculture, industrial goods and services during the two-day meeting which starts Wednesday. "These talks are timely and important," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in Brussels. "If we fail [at these talks], Doha's prospects for this year will be lost."
■ CAMERAS
Executives oppose merger
Pentax Corp, a Japanese camera maker, said some of its executives opposed a merger agreement with Hoya Corp on Wednesday, two days before Hoya announced it would raise its takeover bid."At a meeting on April 4, some board members proposed that the company terminate the merger plan, and on April 3 there was a motion that the president should resign," Jiro Okamura, a spokesman at Pentax, said yesterday. "Neither proposal was approved." The Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday that Pentax chief executive Fumio Urano intended to resign after six executives proposed to scrap the Dec. 21 merger agreement with Hoya. Hoya announced on Friday it might offer about ¥770 (US$6.49) a share to Pentax shareholders, valuing Pentax at ¥98.5 billion.
■ IPR
Lucky, Flo find more DVDs
Anti-piracy dogs Lucky and Flo have sniffed out 12,000 more counterfeit DVDs in northern Malaysia that led to the arrest of one person, officials and reports said yesterday. The Los Angeles-based Motion Picture Association said that Lucky and Flo sniffed out two locations on Saturday where Malaysian officials found illegal DVDs.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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