ASIA
Closures of factories in Japan up by 50%
TOKYO >> The number of factories in Japan that have been shut down or temporarily closed so far this year surged by more than 50 percent from the same period last year, a newspaper poll published yesterday showed.A total of 187 factories have been closed during Jan. 1-Sept. 30 this year, by 105 companies, as Japan's domestic manufacturing industry continues to struggle, the daily Nihon Keizai financial newspaper said.
Japan's economy has been stagnating for about a decade. While government officials have expressed cautious optimism, they have also warned that the economy could be hit by volatile global markets and a fragile U.S. economic recovery.
GM consortium joins Chinese automaker
SEOUL >> The General Motors consortium that is taking over the three key Korean plants of bankrupt Daewoo Motors acquired a strategic partner in China yesterday in the form of the state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.Shanghai Automotive said it would pay $59.7 million for a 10 percent stake in the GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Co. GM, taking a 42.1 percent stake in the new company for $251 million, is the main partner while Suzuki, a minor Japanese motor vehicle manufacturer that is 20 percent owned by GM, has agreed to buy 14.9 percent for $89 million. The creditor banks to whom Daewoo owes more than $16 billion will acquire the remaining 33 percent of the new company.
MAINLAND
Average gas price up 2.93 cents in 2 weeks
CAMARILLO, Calif. >> Retail gasoline prices jumped almost 3 cents during the past two weeks, the first major spike in prices in six months, an industry survey indicated.The average price for gas nationwide, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.4859, up 2.93 cents from the previous survey Sept. 27, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide.
Continued strong crude oil prices, plus higher demand at the pump, contributed to the rise in prices, analyst Trilby Lundberg said yesterday.
Wampler Foods issues recall on deli products
PHILADELPHIA >> Wampler Foods recalled all cooked deli products made since May at a suburban plant and halted production because the meat is possibly contaminated with listeria, authorities said yesterday.The recall of about 27.4 million pounds of meat is the largest in USDA history. It follows an Oct. 9 recall of 295,000 pounds of turkey and chicken products at the plant in Franconia.
The company voluntarily expanded the recall to all cooked deli products made from May 1 through Oct. 11 and halted production Saturday at the facility about 25 miles north of Philadelphia after receiving test results of samples taken from floor drains.
Citigroup sued over WorldCom loans
NEW YORK >> A shareholder lawsuit charges Citigroup officials "averted their eyes" to WorldCom's financial frauds in order to protect $679 million in loans to the telecom's ex-CEO, Bernard Ebbers.The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, portrays a closer financial relationship than previously revealed between Citigroup and Ebbers, now under investigation in WorldCom's collapse.
Citigroup issued a statement today calling the accusations "just plain wrong," and said the lawsuit misstates both the size of the loans and other crucial details. The lawsuit was filed Friday by state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, the sole trustee of the state and local government pension fund.
The fund was appointed lead plaintiff in August in a class-action securities suit related to the collapse in WorldCom's stock.
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[ HAWAII INC. ]
NEW JOBS
>> James Kostecky has been named resort manager of the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Kailua Kona. He oversees the daily operations of the hotel. Kostecky was most recently general manager of The Tides in Miami Beach, Fla. He replaces Dean Hyry, who was promoted to resort manager of Four Seasons Aviara Residence Club in north San Diego, Calif.>> Exclusive Agent Davidson Owan has opened an Allstate Insurance Co. agency in Pearl City. He will offer a full line of Allstate Insurance products and services, including homeowners, renters, business and commercial insurance.
>> Hoku Scientific Inc. has hired Victor Stancovski as a research scientist. Hoku is a Honolulu-based developer of hydrogen fuel cell technology. Stancovski has worked with fuel cells for 15 years and has broad expertise in various aspects of low operating temperature fuel cell components and system design. He most recently led a postdoctoral research team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the development of various fuel cell component technologies.
RECOGNITION
>> Bank of Hawaii employees Darlene Blakeney, Jill Shimokawa Higa, Lori Hiramatsu, Malcolm Lau and Jason Sunahara received top honors from Washington State's Pacific Coast Banking School. The graduates' honors include a first-ever three-way tie among Lau, Sunahara and another participant for the Kermit O. Hanson Award, given to the graduate with the highest academic achievement. Blakeney is a senior vice president and Hawaii commercial banking center manager; Higa is a vice president and Hawaii branch division consumer sales manager; Hiramatsu is a vice president and district sales manager in the Hawaii branch division; Lau is a vice president and west market manager in the business banking division; and Sunahara is an internal audit consultant.>> Felix Hing Tong Lui of McKinley High School recently received an Enterprise Rent-A-Car scholarship to study at Washington University in St. Louis. He graduated in the top three percent of his class, hopes to attend medical school and is leaning towards pediatric neurosurgery.