Briefs, October 4, 2012
Foxconn Technology and GCL-Poly Energy will build and jointly operate a solar-power plant in Shanxi province. They will share revenue from selling electricity to the government from the 310 megawatt plant, which will use GCL's solar cells, to be assembled by Foxconn, Shu Hua, executive president of Hong Kong-listed GCL, said. Bloomberg
European Union antitrust regulators have set a November 8 deadline to decide on whether to allow Glencore's US$33 billion takeover of Xstrata, after months of talks. The European Commission said it had received the notification from Glencore, setting the clock ticking for the regulator. Reuters
Iron ore, the commodity most leveraged to China's growth, is heading for the longest bear market in 20 years. Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, which control about two-thirds of seaborne supply, are spending about US$47 billion on mines from Brazil to Australia. The new cargoes are set to reach the market just as China shifts to lower growth. Bloomberg
Boeing lowered its long-term forecast for global air cargo market growth to 5.2 per cent annually over the next 20 years, down from the 5.9 per cent rate it forecast in 2010. The world's largest maker of jet freighters gave its forecast a day after the International Air Transport Association said global air-cargo traffic this year would fall 0.4 per cent from last year. Bloomberg