■ MANUFACTURING
Steel plant halts work
Steelmaking is on hold at the ArcelorMittal plant in Cleveland, Ohio, because of a drop in business. Both blast furnaces were idled last week, and the company plans to offer voluntary layoffs with partial pay starting this week. About 1,450 union members work at the plant. Mark Granakis, president of the United Steelworkers local in Cleveland said there could be as many as 400 job reductions. ArcelorMittal spokeswoman Katie Patterson says updated information could come on Wednesday when the company announces third quarter earnings.
■MINING
Vale slashes output
Brazilian mining giant Vale, the world’s largest producer of iron ore, said it was to slash output at mines in Brazil and elsewhere by up to 10 percent from Saturday to adjust to shrinking demand caused by the global financial crisis. Vale will cut production at facilities in Brazil, China, France, Indonesia and Norway, and some 2,300 workers — nearly four percent of the company’s workforce of 62,600 — will be put on temporary leave, it said in a statement. The company decided to reduce “the mineral production of iron by the equivalent of 30 million metric tons per year,” Rio-based Vale said in its statement on Friday.
■GERMANY
Merkel touts rescue plan
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called on banks struggling to cope with the fallout from the global financial crisis to take advantage of a state rescue package. The help was available to the banks and financial institutions to ensure they could continue with their primary functions of “lending and managing savings,” Merkel said in a video message on her Web site. Weekly news magazine Der Spiegel said on Saturday that the government was considering new measures based on the British government’s bank rescue plan, to be applied in the coming days. On Friday troubled German property lender Hypo Real Estate became the first private financial institution to take advantage of the government package.
■SOUTH KOREA
Bank of Korea confident
The nation is unlikely to fall into a financial crisis because of unstable financial market conditions stemming from the global credit turmoil, the Bank of Korea said. “Households, companies and banks’ ability to endure a crisis is maintained at a good level in general,” the central bank said in its semiannual Financial Stability Report. “Chances aren’t high it will lead to an overall crisis of our financial system.” The bank cut interest rates by a record in an emergency move last week after the won plunged to a 10-year low and the Kospi stock index fell the most in two decades.
■ELECTRONICS
Sanyo eyes Panasonic shares
Sanyo Electric Co is largely in agreement with a bid by Panasonic Corp to take a majority stake in the company and thereby become Japan’s largest electronics manufacturer, a press report said yesterday. Panasonic president Fumio Otsubo and Sanyo president Seiichiro Sano reached the “broad agreement” last month, public broadcaster NHK without naming its sources. Panasonic would make the bid public, possibly this week, if it managed to reach agreement with Sanyo’s top shareholders, the network said. The major shareholders — Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, the Daiwa Securities SMBC group and the Goldman Sachs group — hold a total of nearly 430 million preferred shares in Sanyo.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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