Supply Chain

Workers head home at quitting time at Nike contractor Changshin in Vietnam, one of five communist countries with a single, national labor union. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Supply Chain

Vietnam factory malaise raises specter of New Year labor strikes

Global slump pushes communist country from export boom to salary gloom

30 December 2022
TSMC displays a chip wafer at a ceremony in Tainan, Taiwan, on Dec. 29 marking the start of production for 3-nanometer chips. (Photo by Cheng Ting-Fang)
Semiconductors

TSMC reaffirms 'commitment to Taiwan' despite U.S. chip push

Chipmakers says its has spent $60bn at home to expand cutting-edge production

29 December 2022
Mitsui & Co. and Rio Tinto team up to accelerate decarbonization across the raw material supply chain.
Commodities

Mitsui & Co., Rio Tinto team to clean up raw material supply chain

With EU carbon tax on way, partners go to work in emission-intensive sectors

28 December 2022
TSMC is building an advanced chip plant in northern Phoenix, Arizona. Washington's push to bring more chipmaking to U.S. soil has been a boon for the desert state. (Photo by Hiromi Sato)
Semiconductors

The 'TSMC effect' comes to Arizona as U.S. pushes chip ambitions

Taiwan chipmaker's new high-tech plant has 'catalyzed' development in Phoenix

28 December 2022
Toyota is on track to become the world's top automaker for a third straight year.  
Automobiles

Toyota set to lead global auto sales for 3rd straight year

Rival VW stumbles in China amid lockdowns and chip shortage

27 December 2022
Research work to extract resources in the Minami-Torishima area is underway under the Cabinet Office's Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program. Researchers succeeded in pumping up deposits from a 2,470-meter-deep seabed in a period from August to September.
Commodities

Japan to begin extracting rare earth metals from seabed in 2024

Program a part of effort to wean the country off its reliance on Chinese imports

24 December 2022
Samsung Electronics envisions its just-opened R&D center in Vietnam as a global strategic base. (Photo courtesy of Samsung Electronics)
Supply Chain

Samsung increases bet on Vietnam with $220m R&D hub

Chairman Lee attends ceremony to show commitment to Southeast Asian country

23 December 2022
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is exploring the possibility of building a chip plant in Dresden, Germany, to serve the needs of automakers in the region.
Semiconductors

TSMC in talks to build first Europe chip plant in Germany

World's biggest chipmaker looks to capitalize on demand from region's car industry

23 December 2022
A port in Pomala, Southeast Sulawesi province, Indonesia: The Southeast Asian nation will ban exports of the primary source of aluminum in June.
Commodities

Indonesia's Jokowi bans bauxite exports from June, China likely hurt

Move comes despite country's defeat to EU on nickel restrictions

21 December 2022
Lithium, nickel and cobalt extracted using a process known as electrolytic refining. Rare-earth metals are essential materials for electric-vehicle batteries.
Supply Chain

Japan seeks to release rare earths, 10 other critical items from China's grip

By stockpiling and finding alternatives, Tokyo hopes to bolster resilience of supply chains

21 December 2022
The MacBook is Apple's last major product still manufactured solely in China, but that is set to change in 2023. 
Supply Chain

Apple to start making MacBooks in Vietnam by mid-2023

iPhone maker aims to have 'out of China' production alternatives for key products

20 December 2022
Sony plans to create a network of image sensor plants that procure logic chips from a planned TSMC plant in Kyushu. (Photo courtesy of Sony Group)
Semiconductors

TSMC fab in Japan at center of Sony's image sensor kingdom

Supply chain with locally produced chips key to boosting output

17 December 2022
Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, will sell its equity stake in Tsinghua Unigroup held through a subisidary.
17 December 2022
Not only is the U.S. joining with like-minded partners to build a supply chain less exposed to China, but Washington has moved to tighten access to advanced chip technology by Chinese companies.
Interview

U.S. should brace for '10-year' chip curbs against China: analyst

Author of 'Chip War,' Chris Miller says globalization and free trade are not near death

15 December 2022
One award-winning article highlighted the disruption Russia's invasion of Ukraine would cause to supplies of industrial gases used in chipmaking. (Source photos by Reuters and TSMC)
Announcements

Nikkei Asia captures international business reporting prize

Cheng Ting-Fang, Lauly Li and Kim Jaewon honored by U.S. National Press Foundation

14 December 2022
Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran speaks to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on Dec. 8. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Mayumi Tsumita)
Semiconductors

Tata to enter chipmaking in India: Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Conglomerate to invest $90bn over 5 years, also into other businesses

9 December 2022
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Most read in 2022

TSMC founder Morris Chang says globalization 'almost dead'

Chip veteran's comments come as Apple, AMD cheer shift of production to U.S.

8 December 2022
TSMC is building a multibillion-dollar facility in Phoenix, Arizona, to produce cutting-edge chips for U.S. clients. (Photo courtesy of TSMC)
Semiconductors

TSMC to triple U.S. chip investment to $40bn to serve Apple, others

President Biden hails manufacturing revival in America

7 December 2022
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is the world's biggest contract chipmaker. 
Semiconductors

Apple, Nvidia to be first customers of TSMC Arizona chip plant

Biden and top tech executives to attend equipment move-in event on Tuesday

5 December 2022
State-run co-ops look like regular supermarkets for the most part, except for the political messaging. (Photo by Tsukasa Hadano)
Food & Beverage

China's state-run grocers approach Alibaba in sales

Mao-era co-ops find new footing amid pandemic and threat of future crisis

3 December 2022
Risen Energy photovoltaic solar panel factory in Zhejiang province, China. A recent Nikkei survey of Japanese manufacturers indicates that many plan to shift production out of China to improve supply chain security.  (Zhejiang Daily via Reuters) 
Supply Chain

Japan makers to reduce reliance on China suppliers: Nikkei survey

53% of respondents look for alternatives as Taiwan, COVID risks weigh on

1 December 2022
China's tech suppliers have grappled with COVID restrictions for three years already but some are growing more worried than ever about disruption. (Source photos by Reuters and AP)
Supply Chain

China's tech suppliers brace for disruption after COVID protests

Uncertainty over Beijing's response has companies fearing more lockdowns

30 November 2022
As the U.S. continues to attack China's chipmaking industry with sanctions, domestic tech champions such as Huawei are quietly working to build self-sufficient supply chains at home. 
The Big Story

China's chip industry fights to survive U.S. tech crackdown

Battered by sanctions, Huawei leads the way in stealthily building a domestic semiconductor supply chain

30 November 2022
Concrete mixer trucks are parked at a factory due to a strike by a truckers union in Anyang, South Korea, on Nov. 28.
Economy

South Korea orders striking cement truckers back to work

Union leaders shave heads in protest; talks continue with transport ministry

29 November 2022
Kong Xuanyou, China's ambassador to Japan, says that Chinese companies are too embedded in global supply chains for the U.S. to decouple its economy from his country's. (Photo by Ryotaro Sato)
International relations

U.S. can't decouple from China, says Beijing's ambassador to Tokyo

Kong Xuanyou says readjusting supply chains for security reasons 'not easy'

24 November 2022