Sat, Jul 16, 2022 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  MINING

  Copper hits 20-month low

  Copper yesterday tumbled to a 20-month low as fears of a global recession hurt the demand outlook for the metal seen as an economic bellwether due to its wide range of uses. The commodity, used in everything from power cables to electric motors, dropped as much as 3 percent to sink below US$7,000 a tonne. Prices were down 35 percent from a record high set just four months ago when investors worried that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could disrupt supplies in an already-tight market. The focus has since switched to demand concerns and the threats are stacking up. China — which accounts for half of all copper consumption — is struggling with the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns, while Europe is battling an energy crisis. Copper was down 2.7 percent at US$6,980 a tonne at 9:43am on the London Metal Exchange.

  ARGENTINA

  Inflation may surge to 90%

  Argentines face the prospect of 90 percent inflation by the end of the year after economy minister’s exit triggered overnight price rises and the central bank comes under pressure to let the peso depreciate more rapidly. That would be the fastest pace since hyperinflation three decades ago, and the highest rate in the world outside Venezuela and Sudan, IMF forecasts show. The dramatic exit of former economy minister Martin Guzman this month led to price mark-ups by many businesses. Some Argentines raced to the shops the morning after Guzman quit, to try to stock up ahead of the peso’s devaluation and price hikes. Annual inflation reached a 30-year high of 64 percent last month, according to government data published on Thursday.

  APPAREL

  Uniqlo soars on record profit

  Shares of Fast Retailing Co climbed the most in three months after it projected a record full-year profit on a weaker yen and as strong sales globally outweigh a China slump due to “zero COVID” lockdowns. Shares of Uniqlo’s owner yesterday surged as much as 8.5 percent in Tokyo, the biggest intraday gain since mid-April. Fast Retailing raised its full-year operating forecast to ￥290 billion (US$2.1 billion) from an earlier estimate of ￥270 billion, it said in a statement on Thursday. That topped analysts’ projections and, if achieved, would beat the previous record set in 2019. The outlook was aided by robust quarterly earnings that also beat analysts’ expectations. A slump in the yen, which hit a 24-year low against the US dollar, is helping the company’s bottom line.

  AUTOMOTIVE

  Panasonic picks Kansas

  Japan’s Panasonic Corp selected Kansas as the location for a US$4 billion mega-factory to produce electric vehicle batteries for Tesla and other automakers, lured by the largest package of taxpayer-funded incentives that the state has offered a private business. The company and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly on Wednesday announced the new project, just hours after Kelly and eight top leaders of the Kansas legislature signed off on a package of incentives worth US$829 million over 10 years. The state had created a new program to offer incentives that could reach US$1 billion or more only five months before — because of Panasonic’s project. State officials expect the new plant to have about 4,000 workers, which would make Panasonic a “top 20, easily” private employer for the state in terms of its size, Kansas Secretary of Commerce David Toland said.
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