Industrial News

U.S. solar company SunPower (SPWR.O) said on Monday it will split into two publicly traded companies, separating most of its solar panel manufacturing operations from storage and energy services, sending its shares up as much as 15%. The move was intended to boost value in SunPower shares, which are trading at the same level they were at two years ago. Monday’s news was welcomed by investors, with shares up nearly 3.7% at $8.68 in afternoon trade. The new solar panel company, named Maxeon Solar Technologies, will be headquartered in Singapore, with manufacturing operations in France, Malaysia, Mexico and the Philippines. [...]

Southeast Asia is seeing a boom in foreign direct investment as the intensifying trade war between the US and China prompts companies to shift production to the region. Vietnam saw manufacturing inflows jump 18 percent in the first nine months of 2018, driven by investments including a $1.2 billion polypropylene production project by South Korea’s Hyosung Corp., according to a Maybank Kim Eng Research Pte. note on Monday. In January through July, Thailand’s net FDI rose 53 percent from a year earlier to $7.6 billion, with manufacturing inflows surging almost five times, according to central bank data. In the Philippines, [...]

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Infineon has agreed to buy Silicon Valley-based Cypress Semiconductor for $10 billion, in an expensive move by Europe's largest chip-maker to expand further in next-generation automobiles and Internet technologies. Investors swiftly gave the deal a thumbs-down on concerns that Infineon was paying a heavy price just as the chip business was weakening, pushing its shares 9% lower on Monday. The deal would create an automotive leader with a 13% market share, coupling Infineon's prowess in managing electric drivetrains with Cypress's superior connectivity in areas such as in-car entertainment. That would enable the combined company to offer more complete [...]

MANILA, Philippines — A consortium of Japanese and Filipino firms has bagged the contract to design and build the first phase of the Metro Manila subway project, which will commence construction this week. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it has signed the design and build contract for the Metro Manila Subway’s first three stations, or its partial operability section, with the joint venture of Shimizu Corp., Fujita Corp., Takenaka Civil Engineering Co. Ltd. and EEI Corp. The joint venture will be in charge of designing and construction the subway’s partial operability section, which consists of its first three underground [...]

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines, with its continuing economic expansion and population growth, is now seen as the best place to invest in Asia as far as the aviation industry is concerned, an executive from European aerospace giant Airbus said. Jean Francois Laval, Airbus executive vice president for sales in Asia, in a presentation, showed that air traffic growth over the next 20 years in the Philippines is forecasted at 6.1 percent per annum. The growth will primarily be driven by domestic traffic which is seen rising 6.7 percent annually. “An economic growth of the Philippines forecasted at five percent [...]

We take pride in our local manufacturing industry, so it comes as a shock when we hear that a model will no longer be produced in the Philippines. The Isuzu D-Max midsize pickup is the latest to be given the axe. We’ve reached out to Joseph Bautista, Isuzu Philippines Corporation’s (IPC) division manager for marketing and sales, and this is his statement: “We met with local suppliers this morning to inform them that we are discontinuing the assembly of the D-Max in the Philippines. Our 5,000 unitsproduction cannot compete with the 1,000,000 units production in Thailand. Isuzu Philippines will continue to sell the D-Max locally, except that [...]

LAS VEGAS — The biggest single investment in Robert Bosch's history is taking place now at the supplier's semiconductor business in Dresden, Germany. The $1.1 billion spend to construct its second wafer fabricating plant will enable a doubling of output of Bosch chips starting in 2021. Didn't know the world's largest auto supplier was also in the semiconductor business? Bosch would not be upset to hear that. While the company sells "some" of its output to a few customers around the world, that's not the main purpose of the business unit. Bosch's chip- and sensor-making arm and the massive expansion [...]

DETROIT — On Tuesday, Ford and Volkswagen revealed details of a global alliance. In a joint statement, the automakers said that "Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess and Ford CEO Jim Hackett confirmed that the companies intend to develop commercial vans and medium-sized pickups for global markets beginning as early as 2022." The alliance will be strictly an agreement to collaborate; there will be no merger or "shared ownership," Ford and VW said. According to the companies, "the alliance will drive significant scale and efficiencies and enable both companies to share investments in vehicle architectures that deliver distinct capabilities and technologies." On [...]

Researchers at the George Washington University have taken a major step toward reaching one of the most sought-after goals in physics: room temperature superconductivity. Superconductivity is the lack of electrical resistance and is observed in many materials when they are cooled below a critical temperature. Until now, superconducting materials were thought to have to cool to very low temperatures (minus 180 degrees Celsius or minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit), which limited their application. Since electrical resistance makes a system inefficient, eliminating some of this resistance by utilizing room temperature superconductors would allow for more efficient generation and use of electricity, enhanced energy transmission around [...]

MANILA -- Chinese companies have expressed interest in taking over the Philippines' largest shipyard after the local unit of South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction filed for rehabilitation this week. At least two major Chinese shipbuilders have inquired about the operations of Hanjin Philippines, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said on Friday. He declined to name the companies. A successful bid by a Chinese company to take over the shipyard at Subic Bay, in a property that used to host U.S. forces, would symbolize the country's increasing presence in the South China Sea. Beijing has been keen to enlarge its footprint around [...]