■MINING
Lihir supports takeover
Australian gold miner Lihir yesterday gave its backing to a A$9.5 billion (US$8.8 billion) takeover by rival Newcrest, which the firms said would create the world’s fourth-largest gold producer. Lihir Gold’s directors unanimously recommended that shareholders vote in favor of the offer at this stage, but said they would nonetheless continue discussions with multiple other interested parties. Newcrest chairman Don Mercer said the merger would combine operations in Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, the Ivory Coast and Papua New Guinea. “The combined organization will become Asia-Pacific’s leading gold producer and it will become the world’s fourth biggest gold company,” he said.
■AUTOMOBILES
Dongfeng Nissan recalls cars
Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle, a Sino-Japanese joint venture, has launched a recall of 84,200 autos due to an oil leaking defect, state media reported yesterday. The recall was launched on Saturday and covers 69,285 Sylphy cars produced from January 2006 to July 2008, and 14,915 Qashqai compact sports utility vehicles made between August 2007 and July 2008, the Global Times said. The defect could cause vehicles to leak oil when driven with heavy loads for a long period of time, the newspaper said, citing customs.
■CONSTRUCTION
Daewoo to build oil facility
South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering and Construction said yesterday it had signed a US$272 million deal to build an oil storage facility in the United Arab Emirates. It said the deal was signed with a unit of state-run Abu Dhabi Oil Refining. Construction will begin this month for completion in November 2012, it added. The company said the deal brought the total value of its overseas orders so far this year to US$870 million.
■MINING
Russia firm plans HK listing
A mining company run by UC Rusal chief Oleg Deripaska is considering a US$200 million share sale in Hong Kong, which would be the city’s second listing by a Russian firm, a report said yesterday. Strikeforce Mining and Resources (SMR), a unit of the Russian oligarch’s Basic Element investment group, hopes to list in Hong Kong by May 27 if regulators approve the sale, the Financial Times said, quoting an unnamed source close to the deal.
■AVIATION
A380 still to take off: EADS
European aircraft maker Airbus must wait until late next year or 2012 before getting significant orders for its giant A380 airliner, the head of its parent company EADS said yesterday in a German daily. “Airlines must get through the crisis first. For that reason, I do not expect many orders in 2010,” EADS chief executive Louis Gallois told the newspaper Bild. “They will probably only become significant towards the end of 2011 or early 2012,” he said.
■CONGLOMERATES
Banks agree on Dubai World
Most Dubai World creditors have agreed to the terms for restructuring the troubled conglomerate’s debts, a state-owned daily said yesterday. “Most of the banks have agreed on the offer after studying the size of the obligations remaining on the group and the amounts it will pay,” Al-Bayan said, citing an unidentified negotiator who represents the banks. It is likely “that all the banks will sign the contract presented by the company,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. He said the banks would respond within two weeks, it said.
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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