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February 17, 1999atimes.com
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Business in Asia Today

Kuwait firm to build $2.4 bn Indonesian oil refinery site
UJUNG PANDANG, Indonesia - Kuwaiti Hemeco Selayar International OilRefinery will construct a U.S.$2.4 billion integrated area foran oil refinery and petrochemical plant on Selayar Island, inIndonesia's South Sulawesi province. The construction of theproject, which is to occupy 2,000 hectares of land, will startin April 1999 and production is expected to start at thelatest by the year 2004.

Globe Telecom signs $60m supply contract with Nokia
MANILA - Globe Telecom has signed a $60 million supplycontract with Nokia Telecommunications for the expansion ofGlobe's cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) service, GlobeHandyphone, in Metro Manila, North Luzon and South Luzon.Under the agreement, Nokia will supply base stationcontrollers, base stations, mobile switching centers, theNokia Network Management System and transmission systems toGlobe Telecom, a joint venture of Ayala Corporation andSingapore Telecom International.

Manila Electric plans bond issue
MANILA - Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is planning toissue from $75 million-$100 million in bonds to theinternational market this year to finance about 30 percent ofthe expected 6.5 billion pesos ($167 million) 1999 capitalexpenditures (capex). The planned issue will add to theutility's existing 16 billion pesos ($411 million) inlong-term debt, according to a BPI corporate update. Seventypercent of the capex would be funded through internallygenerated funds.

Australian merchandise import value nosedives
CANBERRA - Australia's merchandise import value nosedivedby A$665 million (U.S.$427.93 million) in January, in rawfigures, led by a fall in imports of machinery and transportequipment. The Australian Bureau of Statistics saidAustralia's merchandise imports were worth A$7.225 billion(U.S.$4.65 billion) in January, in original terms. This compareswith an original figure of A$7.89 billion recorded forDecember, before seasonal factors were taken into account.

Petronet appoints advisors for LNG terminals
NEW DELHI - India's Petronet LNG has appointed a consortiumof Dutch Bank ABN Amro, Infrastructure Development and FinanceCorporation (IDFC) and JM Financial and Investment ConsultancyServices as financial advisor for two of its LNG terminals.Petronet LNG, set up to import liquefied natural gas (LNG),selected the consortium to fund the LNG terminals at Dahej inwestern India and Kochi in the south and to suggest thedebt-equity ratio of the company. The consortium would assistPetronet in attaining financial closure for its two projects,Petronet sources said.

Philippines' Cosmos Bottling reports 28% rise in sales
MANILA - Cosmos Bottling Corporation, the softdrinksubsidiary of food & beverage giant RFM Corporation, hasreported a 28 percent jump in sales, posting 3.5 billionpesos ($89.9 million) in net sales in 1998, up from 2.75billion pesos ($70 million) in 1997. Cosmos, the secondlargest softdrink bottler in the Philippines, posted a netincome after tax of 560 million pesos ($14.3 million), upfrom 508 million pesos ($13 million) reported in 1997.

Showa Denko to absorb Tokuyama Petrochemical
TOKYO - Showa Denko KK (TSE:4004) announced that it wouldmerge with Tokuyama Petrochemical Co., its wholly-owned makerof ethyl acetate, on May 1. The major chemical maker seeks toconsolidate production and marketing of ethyl acetate-relatedproducts, which it sees as a pillar in its petrochemicalbusiness. Tokuyama Petrochemical is Japan's largest maker ofethyl acetate, deriving 56% of its sales from the solvent usedin paints, ink and adhesives. It ranks second in worldwideethyl acetate production, after BP Chemicals Inc. of the U.S.

Brazilian plane maker picks Australia for Asian HQ
MELBOURNE - A major aircraft manufacturer is to invest A$12million (U.S.$7.72 million) to set up a new Asia-Pacificregional headquarters in Australia. Brazilian aerospace giantEmbraer (Embraer) Aircraft Corporation will set up inMelbourne, as part of a push to increase its market share inAsia, Victorian Industry Minister Mark Birrell announced. The30-year-old company has provided more than 5,100 military andcivilian aircraft and has other regional headquarters inBrazil, United States and France.

Dec. orders for Japanese chip-making equipment fall 40%
TOKYO - Orders for Japanese-madesemiconductor-manufacturing equipment, including exports, cameto 49.76 billion yen ($436 million) in December 1998, for ayear-on-year drop of 40 percent and the 13th straight monthof declines, according to the Semiconductor EquipmentAssociation of Japan. But the decline's size narrowed by 19.7percentage points from November 1998, indicating the marketmay be emerging from its worst phase. Orders formask-and-reticle equipment increased by about 480 percentfrom December 1997, but orders for wafer-making equipment fell85.7%.

(Asia Pulse)


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