■RESOURCES
Rio dismisses China claims
Mining giant Rio Tinto yesterday said bribery claims against four staff held in China were “wholly without foundation” as Australia pressed Beijing to deal with the case quickly. “Rio Tinto believes that the allegations in recent media reports that employees were involved in bribery of officials at Chinese steel mills are wholly without foundation,” iron ore chief executive Sam Walsh said. “We remain fully supportive of our detained employees, and believe that they acted at all times with integrity and in accordance with Rio Tinto’s strict and publicly stated code of ethical behavior.”
■AUTOMOBILES
Renault reports loss
French auto group Renault reported yesterday an operating loss for the first half of the year, saying that its global sales had plunged by 16.5 percent but a strong showing by Romanian Dacia had been a lifeline. Total sales had fallen to 1.106 million units, the group said, but it also reported that it had generated strong free cash flow with a cost-cutting plan announced in February. Last week, rival French group PSA Peugeot Citroen reported a fall of 14 percent in global sales in the first half.
■STEEL
POSCO to buy Vietnam plant
South Korea’s biggest steelmaker POSCO confirmed yesterday it would buy a Vietnamese stainless steel plant as part of efforts to meet growing demand. POSCO said in a statement its board has approved the purchase of a 90 percent stake in Asia Stainless Corp, but did not give the cost. Industry sources quoted by Yonhap news agency estimated the deal could be worth around US$50 million. Asia Stainless is Vietnam’s only cold-rolled stainless steel manufacturer.
■SINGAPORE
Exports drop 11 percent
Singapore’s key exports fell 11 percent year-on-year last month as consumer demand from the developed economies, especially for electronic goods, continued to languish, the government said yesterday. It was narrower than the 12.3 percent decline in May and 19.2 percent contraction in April. Last month’s decline in non-oil domestic exports (NODX) was the 14th straight month of contraction, a slump that started last year when the trade-led economy sank into a recession. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, NODX shrank 5.2 percent.
■AUTOMOBILES
Nissan may expand hybrids
Nissan Motor Co said yesterday it was considering expanding its line-up of hybrids, seeking to catch-up with rivals Toyota and Honda, whose fuel-sipping cars are surging in popularity. Japan’s third-biggest automaker may add its own hybrid technology to small and mid-sized vehicles in addition to the planned launch of a luxury version, a company official said on condition of anonymity.
■RETAIL
Wal-Mart plans database
US retail giant Wal-Mart on Thursday announced plans to develop a database that it said would revolutionize shopping by putting information about products’ sustainability at consumers’ fingertips. The database, dubbed the sustainability index, could put information about how environmentally-friendly suppliers, manufacturers and their products are, just a garment label or barcode-scan away for shoppers, according to Wal-Mart executives speaking at a webcast gathering of their suppliers.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
A bipartisan group of US representatives have introduced a draft US-Taiwan Defense Innovation Partnership bill, aimed at accelerating defense technology collaboration between Taiwan and the US in response to ongoing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The bill was introduced by US representatives Zach Nunn and Jill Tokuda, with US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and US Representative Ashley Hinson joining as original cosponsors, a news release issued by Tokuda’s office on Thursday said. The draft bill “directs the US Department of Defense to work directly with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense through their respective
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
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