TOKYO: Japan's third largest tire maker Sumitomo Rubber
\nIndustries Ltd. said Monday it would start importing tires for
\nminicars this month from a factory in Indonesia to cut costs.<\/p>\n
\"It is much cheaper to make tires at our Indonesian plant and
\nimport them,\" said Sumitomo spokesman Mitsuru Igarishi, comparing
\nthe cost with Japanese-produced tires.<\/p>\n
The company, which has a tie-up with U.S. counterpart Goodyear
\nTire Rubber Co. Ltd. in Japan, the United States and Europe,
\nwould import 20,000 Goodyear-brand tires a month from PT Sumi
\nRubber Indonesia, for minicars made by Mitsubishi Motors Corp, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Daily production capacity at the Indonesian plant would be
\nincreased to 20,000 tires from 15,000 by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Sumitomo Rubber would reduce output from a domestic tire plant
\nin Nagoya, 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Tokyo, to
\ncompensate for the rise in Indonesian imports.-- AFP<\/p>\n
Unocal plans gas pipeline<\/p>\n
BANGKOK: U.S. energy giant Unocal Corp. plans a pipeline
\nconnecting its gas fields in Vietnam to markets in Thailand and
\nMalaysia as part of its 2004 investment strategy, The Nation
\nnewspaper reported Monday.<\/p>\n
Unocal is Thailand's largest natural gas producer and is also
\nactive in Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The Nation quoted a company official as saying that Unocal's
\ninvestment plans over the next five years would place importance
\non the Arthit field in the Gulf of Thailand, in which the company
\nhas minority interest, and adjacent blocks in Vietnamese
\nterritory where it has a majority stake.<\/p>\n
Company officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment.<\/p>\n
The Thai and Vietnamese gas exploration blocks are estimated
\nto have gas reserves totaling about 10 to 14 trillion cubic feet.
\n-- AP<\/p>\n
Daimler to develop cars in Thailand<\/p>\n
BANGKOK: Daimler-Chrysler has agreed in principle with its
\nJapanese partner Mitsubishi Motors to use Thailand as the
\nproduction base for the development of a new car, a newspaper
\nreported Monday.<\/p>\n
The report by The Nation quoted Mitsubishi Motors officials as
\nsaying that a new model will be assembled in Thailand in order to
\nbe price competitive.<\/p>\n
\"What we will do here is build a new model that has never been
\nintroduced anywhere in the world before,\" Vatchara Panchate,
\nexecutive vice president of MMC Siitipol, Mitsubishi Motors'
\njoint venture in Thailand, was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
He declined to reveal the project's timeframe or specify the
\nproduction site for the new model, The Nation said.<\/p>\n
Company officials weren't immediately available for comment.
\n-- DJ<\/p>\n
SingTel subscribers nearing 25m<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) said
\nMonday its Asia-Pacific mobile phone subscriber base is nearing
\n25 million.<\/p>\n
Subscribers from its operations in Singapore, Australia,
\nThailand, India, the Philippines and Indonesia totaled 24.8
\nmillion as at end June, up 11 percent compared to 22.3 million as
\nat end March.<\/p>\n
SingTel shares were trading at S$1.34 (76 US cents) early
\nMonday afternoon, down one cent from Friday's close. --AFP<\/p>\n
Cement maker to cut 1,000 jobs<\/p>\n
BOMBAY: India's leading cement maker, Associated Cement
\nCompanies Ltd. (ACC), plans to cut its workforce by around 1,000
\nin the financial year to March 2003 as part of efforts to reduce
\ncosts, a company official said Monday.<\/p>\n
To offset the brunt of the economic slowdown seen in the past
\ntwo years, ACC has been implementing a series of cost cutting and
\nrestructuring measures which also included exiting many non-core
\noperations.<\/p>\n
After the job cuts, the company's workforce would be around
\n8,000.<\/p>\n
ACC, with an annual cement capacity of over 10 million tons,
\nwas badly affected by the economic slowdown.<\/p>\n
It has however started seeing some increase in cement sales in
\nthe past few months on the back of a revival in the economy.<\/p>\n
The company's April-July 2003 cement dispatches were up at 4.7
\nmillion tones against 3.9 million tones a year earlier. --AFP<\/p>\n
Chiyoda to build methanol plant<\/p>\n
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's International Methanol Co. (IMC) said
\nMonday it has selected Japan's Chiyoda Corp. and local firm
\nChiyoda Petrostar Co. to construct a methanol plant in the
\nkingdom's eastern province.<\/p>\n
The project involves engineering, procurement and construction
\nof the plant with a daily production capacity of 2,900 metric
\ntons, IMC said in a statement released by parent company Saudi
\nInternational Petrochemical Co. (SIPC).<\/p>\n
The deal, estimated at some US$400 million, also includes
\nassociated utilities and offsite facilities for the plant to be
\nbuilt in Jubail Industrial City.<\/p>\n
IMC is a joint venture between SIPC and Japan-Arabia Methanol
\nCo. SIPC is a privately held Saudi joint stock company
\nestablished to invest in the petrochemical, chemical and
\nhydrocarbon base industries. -- AFP<\/p>\n
OCBC H1 profit down 30.4%<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) on
\nMonday reported a 30.4 percent drop in group net profit for the
\nfirst half of the year to S$301.61 million (US$171 million).<\/p>\n
The results were attributed to higher provision charges,
\ngoodwill amortization arising from the purchase of competitor
\nKeppel Capital Holdings, and the effect of a one-off gain
\nachieved in the same period last year.<\/p>\n
Total group income rose 22.5 percent to S$1.1 billion after
\nthe merger with Keppel, boosted by a 15.8 percent rise in net
\ninterest income to S$745 million.<\/p>\n
Keppel TatLee Bank was legally and operationally merged with
\nthe OCBC group in February this year as part of a financial
\nsector consolidation that saw Singapore's domestic banks
\nconsolidated into three groups, from five. -- AFP<\/p>",
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