■METALS
POSCO cuts production
South Korea’s POSCO, the world’s fourth largest steelmaker, announced yesterday its first-ever production cut to reduce rising inventory caused by a sharp fall in local demand. POSCO, which produces 2.78 million tonnes of crude steel a month, said it would reduce output by 200,000 tonnes this month and 370,000 tonnes next month. “We are cutting production for the first time since the start of our operations” in response to a sharp fall in demand from local auto and home appliance makers, it said in a statement. It said the downturn in local demand was deeper than expected, leading to a sharp increase in inventory.
■ELECTRONICS
Panasonic to buy Sanyo
Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp has secured the takeover of competitor Sanyo Electric Co with deals to buy stakes in the smaller firm held by the US investment bank Goldman Sachs and two Japanese investment firms, the Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday. Sanyo’s management threw its support last month behind the takeover, which would create one of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies. Goldman Sachs had originally refused Panasonic’s ¥130 (US$1.47) per share offer as too low, but Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs late on Wednesday. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Co and Daiwa Securities SMBC Co, Sanyo’s two other major shareholders, already agreed to the deal.
■METALS
Wuhan to buy into Centrex
Australia’s Centrex Metals said yesterday that Chinese steelmaker Wuhan had agreed to pay up to A$180 million (US$126 million) for a half share in its iron ore projects. “This is a landmark, high integrity agreement with a top three steel group in China and is a company-maker for us in every sense,” Centrex chairman David Lindh said in a statement. Wuhan will also pay an additional A$9.7 million for a direct 15 percent stake in Centrex and will work with the miner on its plans for the development of a new deep water export port.
■SOUTH KOREA
Seoul plans injection
The country plans to set up a 20 trillion won (US$15.4 billion) fund to help banks raise their capital base and access cash during the credit crisis, the financial watchdog said yesterday. The move will ensure banks “will be prepared for possible losses that they could incur from a prolonged economic slowdown and restructuring [of businesses],” the Financial Services Commission said. It said the central Bank of Korea is expected to contribute up to 10 trillion won through loans, while the state-run Korea Development Bank will add 2 trillion won and the rest would come from institutional and other investors.
■AVIATION
EADS plans to protect cash
The head of the European aerospace group European Aeronautic Defense Space Company (EADS), Louis Gallois, said yesterday that “in the coming months our highest priority is to protect our cash reserves” of 9 billion euros (US$13 billion). “We will have to push back acquisitions that we might have made. We must also define priorities for our investments,” Gallois told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in an interview. He also said his group was ready to “help some airlines with the financing of their aircraft orders” to avoid cancelations and suspensions. If necessary, it would reduce output at plane-making unit Airbus.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
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