Posco to buy LNG From BP Indonesia
Posco to buy LNG From BP Indonesia
SEOUL: South Korea's Posco, one of the world's largest steelmaker, signed a deal on Thursday with BP Indonesia to buy liquefied natural gas from its Tangguh project in Indonesia, Posco said on Thursday.
Under the deal, Posco will secure 550,000 metric tons of LNG a year for 20 years starting in 2005. The LNG will be used to operate its power plants and steel mills, the company said in a statement.
The agreement will save the company 46 billion won a year in costs related to securing LNG, Posco said.
It also noted that it is the first Korean company, along with SK Corp.to import LNG. Until now, the market had been monopolized by state-run Korea Gas Corp.
SK Corp., the country's largest refiner, Sunday signed an agreement with BP to import 600,000 tons of LNG a year, with the option of increasing the import by 200,000 tons if needed. --Dow Jones
;Agencies; ANPAf..r.. ~CorporateBrief-LNG-Posco Posco to buy LNG From BP Indonesia JP/14/BRIEF
Paiton to build another power plant
JAKARTA: PT Paiton Energy will build another coal-fired power plant with a capacity of 800 megawatts in November to boost its power generating capacity in East Java, the Antara news agency reports.
"The construction of the third plant will take three years," Syakib Bafagih, a director with Paiton, said in the report.
Paiton has been operating two plants in Paiton village in East Java with a combined capacity of 1,200 MW.
The company sells the electricity to power utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara, which in turns sells electricity to end users.
Paiton is jointly owned by affiliates of Edison Mission Energy, Mitsui & Co., General Electric Capital Corp.and Indonesia's PT Batu Hitam Perkasa. --Dow Jones
Allianz finally back in the black
MUNICH, Germany: Allianz, the German insurance giant, said on Thursday it returned to profit in the second quarter of the current year after four consecutive quarters of losses, on the back of improved performance at its troubled banking arm Dresdner Bank.
Allianz said in a statement it booked net profit of 622 million euros (US$703 million) in the period from April to June, compared with a net loss of 356 million euros a year earlier.
The new profit figure was way ahead of analysts' expectations.
And taking the first six months as a whole, Allianz turned in a net profit of 102 million euros, compared with a loss of 1.575 billion euros in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Allianz said first-half premium income amounted to 49.548 billion euros, compared with 42.140 billion euros in the period from January to June 2002. --AFP
Taco Bell plans expansion in China
SHANGHAI, China: U.S. fast food giant Yum Brands, parent of Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken, plans to expand operations in China following the success of its first Taco Bell restaurant, state press reported on Thursday.
Yum Brands, formerly known as Tricon Global Restaurants, will open a second Taco Bell outlet in China's largest city Shanghai, with plans afoot for further expansion in the country, the Shangahi Daily said, citing company president Peter Bassi.
"We hope to open the second Taco Bell Grande in Shanghai within the year. Of course we are considering expanding in other places in China," Bassi said.
With its new Shanghai restaurant running at near-capacity since its opening in May, the Mexican food chain seems to have hit on a new formula for success. --AFP
Ford's F150 the world's fastest
DEARBORN, Michigan: The Ford Motor Co. said on Wednesday that its supercharged F150 pickup truck has been officially certified as the world's fastest production pickup by the Guinness Book of World Records.
The V8, 380 horse-power truck logged speeds in excess of 147 mph during tests at Ford's Michigan test circuit last month, making it "the fastest truck on the planet," according to Ford SVT sales manager Tom Scarpello.
The performance version of Ford's best-selling F150 truck, which retails for 33,495 dollars, replaces General Motor Corp.'s GMC Typhoon as the fastest pick-up on dealers' lots.
The Typhoon reached speeds of 127 mph according to GM, although its top speed was never independently verified by the Guinness Book of World Records, and hence it never had an official entry in the record book, a Ford spokesman said. --AFP