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APEC statement expected to press
EU on trade
Seoul: It is expected that the 21 Pacfic Rim economies,
constituting the regional bloc APEC and accounting for
half the world's trade, will send a strong message this
week urging the European Union to end an impasse in global
free trade talks, officials said Tuesday.
Trade
ministers from the Pacific Rim economies have almost completed
a joint statement to be adopted by heads of state at the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit meeting
on Saturday, said Kim Jong Hoon, South Korea's APEC ambassador,
during a briefing for reporters. The bloc is meeting in
the southern port city of Busan for the annual conference
championing trade liberalization.
WTO
negotiators are to meet in Hong Kong next month to try
to end a stalemate over agriculture. Many APEC members
stand to make gains from greater access to European markets
and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, in a bloody clash near the National Assembly
in Seoul, thousands of South Korean farmers clashed violently
with the police, protesting a bill that would allow more
rice imports. About 10,000 militant farmers had rallied
in a park near Parliament.
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As
Chinese rogue trader disappears, copper price soars
London:
The price of copper hit a record high yesterday on
the London Metals Exchange (LME) on the back of fears
of supply shortages and the impact of a potential rogue
trader operating on the London market. The metal hit US$4,160
a tonne on the LME despite a promised sell-off of supplies
by the State Reserves Bureau (SRB) in Beijing.
China
has suddenly come under the scanner amid speculation that
it could be up to 200,000 tonnes short of copper as a
result of a short position taken by one of its dealers
on the LME, worth up to US$800mn.
The
bet on a future fall in the copper price was taken by
Liu Qibing, a senior trader working for the SRB. After
the Chinese bureau qualified to Reuters that Liu was "on
leave" and that any short position taken by him was
undertaken by him personally and not on behalf of the
SRB, the market reacted badly as the statement suggested
that the Chinese authorities do not intend to take responsibility
for any financial losses suffered by its trading counterparties.
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Boeing's
747-8 to take on Airbus A380
London: Boeing Co., the world's second-largest
commercial aircraft manufacturer, has said that it will
build a bigger and more efficient version of the 747,
the 747-8, to challenge Airbus's A380.
Boeing
has decided to extend the life of the 36-year-old 747
after Japan's Nippon Cargo Airlines Co. ordered eight
cargo versions and Luxembourg's Cargolux Airlines International
SA firmed up a commitment for 10 planes. The 18 aircraft
are worth US$5bn at list prices, or US$278mn a plane,
said Alan Mulally, head of Boeing commercial aircraft,
at a London press conference today.
The
new plane will borrow technology from Boeing's new 787,
including General Electric Co. engines, to provide 20
percent lower trip costs, Boeing said. The 747-8 will
have about 450 seats, 34 more than the current 747-400,
and carry 15 more tons of freight. The A380 seats 555
and costs US$280mn in the passenger version and US$300mn
as a freighter.
The
747-8 ``is right in the sweet spot of what we think airlines
will want,'' said Mulally. The new airliner won't require
expensive investments in reinforcing runways and new airport
terminals ``helping our customers enormously,'' he said.
The
new passenger plane will be stretched 3.6 meters, or 11.7
feet, compared with the 747-400 to accommodate 34 additional
passengers in a typical three-class configuration. The
747-400 plane seats about 420 passengers in three classes.
The new plane will have a range of 8,000 nautical miles,
about 500 more than the current model.
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