Singapore's PSA Corp. eying China port market

Singapore's PSA Corp. eying China port market

SINGAPORE: Singapore port operator PSA Corp. is eying
locations around the Pearl River Delta near Hong Kong in its bid
to tap the giant China market, the company's chairman said in
remarks published Monday.

"China today is a very large originator of boxes (containers)
so we are looking at China with a lot of interest... so of course
we are trying places like Shanghai," new PSA chairman Stephen Lee
was quoted as saying in the Business Times.

There are not yet any giant ports in mainland China but areas
like Shanghai are showing huge potential as they grow rapidly, he
said.

Lee said "all along the coast we've seen a pick-up in many of
the smaller ports with some of them very active, especially
around the Pearl River Delta, near Hong Kong." -- AFP

Nikon sees red in April-September

TOKYO: Japan's Nikon Corp. said on Monday it posted a group
net loss of 3.48 billion yen (US$29.2 million) in the April-
September period from a profit of 3.04 billion yen a year
earlier.

The Japanese camera maker said it had a group pre-tax profit
of 1.70 billion yen in the first six months of fiscal 2002,
falling 91.1 per cent from the year-earlier period.

Nikon's group sales were down 8.5 per cent from April-
September 2001, to 215.2 billion yen in April-September 2002.

The company expects group sales to total 480 billion yen in
the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003. The company also expects
both a group pre-tax profit and net profit of 0 in the fiscal
year to March. -- DPA

ABB Grain warns the effect of modified crops

CANBERRA: Australian exporter and trader ABB Grain Ltd. Monday
warned that production and export of genetically modified (GM)
crops from Australia could result in loss of major overseas
markets.

The company also warned that Australia's grain storage and
handling system needs to be upgraded in order to ensure
separation of GM and non-GM grain if and when GM-grains are
brought into wider production.

ABB Grain, formerly Australian Barley Board, is a major
exporter of barley, and a minor exporter of some other grains.

The company said some of its major buyers now want
certification to assure them that their purchases are free of
genetically-modified organisms.

Saudi Arabia requires a GMO-free certificate with every
shipment, "while also indicating that they may refuse to trade
barley with ABB if Australia produces any commercial GM grain
crops in the future," it said in an occasional newsletter to
shareholders. -- Dow Jones

Toyota eyes Fiat's Sicilian factory

MILAN: Japanese carmaker Toyota is interested in taking over
Fiat's Termini Imerese plant in southern Sicily, which is
threatened with closure as part of a restructuring of the Italian
industrial group's auto unit, Italian newspaper Corriere della
Sera said Monday.

"Toyota is putting together a bid to take over Fiat's Termini
Imerese factory", the newspaper said.

Fiat Auto, a major employer and an icon of Italian industry,
has been forced into substantial restructuring to jump start
sputtering sales.

The newspaper said economics professor Edward Luttwak, acting
as a consultant for Toyota, had been in contact with the Italian
economy ministry over the issue. -- AFP

Mitsubishi aims to sell 7,000 new 'Colt'

TOKYO: Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Monday it aims to sell
7,000 units monthly of its new "Colt" compact over the model's
life cycle of around five years in Japan.

The Japanese carmaker, ailing since the discovery of its
decades-long coverup of product defects, is hoping its first car
developed jointly with DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) will help it
achieve a product-driven recovery. DaimlerChrysler has a 37.3
percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors.

The "Airtrek" and "eK-Wagon" passenger cars launched since the
product-defect scandal broke in mid-2000 didn't manage to
convince the market of the firm's bright future as a carmaker.

Presenting the Colt to the press and analysts Monday,
Mitsubishi Motors President Rolf Eckrodt said: "The Colt is a new
symbol for a new Mitsubishi Motors... This car is very, very
important for Mitsubishi because it symbolizes a change in our
company." -- Dow Jones

United reaches cutbacks agreement with workers

CHICAGO: United Airlines has reached a tentative cost-cutting
agreement with its flight attendants union as part of an effort
to avoid bankruptcy, the carrier announced.

Terms of the agreement announced Sunday were not released.
United said it is in line with the airline's plan to achieve
US$5.8 billion in labor cutbacks with its flight attendants and
machinists.

The reductions are key to its application for a $1.8 billion
federal loan guarantee, which it says is needed to avoid a
Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

"United continues to make great progress toward implementing
its financial recovery program," United CEO and chairman Glenn
Tilton said in a statement.

United spokesman Joe Hopkins would not discuss details of the
agreement, other than to confirm it includes wage cuts. The deal
still must be ratified by members of the Association of Flight
Attendants and the company's board. -- AP