Company news in brief

Rio Tinto to restart SA unit in 2020Global miner Rio Tinto said yesterday full operations at its South African unit Richard Bay Minerals (RBM) will resume in early January after cutting back because of security concerns for its workers.Rio said regular production by RBM, which produces ilmenite ore for titanium from mineral sand deposits, will be reached in early 2020, and that it was contacting customers who were earlier told about disruptions to their supply.There have been a number of violent incidents at mines across South Africa, including robberies, that have raised questions about the lack of security and the threats they pose to the industry.Earlier in December, the Anglo-Australian miner said one of its unit's employees was shot and that there was escalating violence against them, causing a curtailment in operations.The decision in early December also included a pause in the construction of the US$463 million Zulti South project which will extend Richards Bay Minerals mine life and maintain current capacity.Rio says it will review Zulti South after operations at RBM normalise. – Nampa/ReutersZambia's Zesco to hike pricesZambia's state power firm Zesco will increase the price of electricity by an average 113% for all customers from next month as the African nation seeks to attract investment into power generation, the energy regulator said on Friday.Zambia's Energy Regulation Board said it had allowed Zesco to increase electricity tariffs by more than 200% for residential customers consuming the least amount of power.On Thursday, the energy regulator also increased the price of fuel, citing the depreciation of the kwacha and higher crude oil prices, sparking a public outcry against the decisions.State House spokesman Isaac Chipampe said in a statement on Friday that president Edgar Lungu had ordered a reduction in his salary and that of his cabinet by between 15% and 20% from next month.Lungu has also ordered a reduction in salaries for all non-unionised government officers, including those working in state-owned companies, Chipampe said.The new power tariff measure will not affect global mining firms including First Quantum Minerals, Glencore, Barrick Gold Corp and Vedanta Resources which pay a flat tariff of 9.30 US cents/kilowatt hour (kWh).The price of electricity for many categories of commercial customers would nearly double, the energy regulator said, adding that Zesco needed revenue to cover its operating costs."Zesco is facing serious financial problems with regard to its profitability, liquidity, solvency and efficiency," it said. – Nampa/ReutersEC sceptical on Huawei in EuropeEuropean Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen voiced scepticism Friday over involving Chinese tech giant Huawei in the rollout of Europe's 5G networks amid concerns its equipment could be used for spying by Beijing.Critics, led by Washington, say the firm is too close to Beijing and could by law be forced to hand over data to Chinese intelligence services."If there's a risk that the data of civilians or companies can be tapped into on the basis of this law, then we can't accept that," Von der Leyen told German weekly Der Spiegel.The next-generation of superfast 5G mobile networks are "a crucial technology" for the future, she said, adding that the EU was working on common standards to respond to the security concerns."One of these standards has to be that the companies who provide us with these highly sensitive technologies are independent and can't be forced by their governments to pass on data," she told Der Spiegel.The comments are the latest sign of a toughening stance towards Huawei after EU telecoms ministers this month urged member states to consider "the legal and policy framework" that potential 5G suppliers may be subject to.US president Donald Trump has already ordered American firms to cease doing business with market leader Huawei, and has urged allies to follow suit.Australia and Japan have also taken steps to bar or tightly restrict the firm's participation in their 5G networks. Germany so far has resisted pressure to exclude Huawei from supplying technology for its 5G infrastructure. – Nampa/AFPTiffany sees holiday sales growthTiffany & Co estimates sales during the holiday shopping season rose between 1% and 3%, with the biggest contribution coming from China, the luxury jeweller said on Thursday."We continued to see the Chinese Mainland drive our overall sales growth with a strong double-digit increase, offset by the persisting declines in the Hong Kong market and, to a lesser degree, Japan," chief executive officer Alessandro Bogliolo said.Net sales in China, for the interim holiday period from Nov. 1 to Christmas Eve, rose about 5%-7%, the company said. – Nampa/ReutersAmazon workforce surges for holiday spreeAmazon said Thursday it added some 250 000 employees to handle operations for "record" holiday sales for the online giant.The full and part-time seasonal employees were added in Amazon's "fulfillment network," the sprawling system of warehouses and delivery operations, according to the company, which now has a workforce of 750 000."This holiday season has been better than ever thanks to our customers and employees all around the world," said chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos.Amazon, which was already among the world's largest private global employers behind Walmart, with more than two million workers, has been ramping up investment as it moves to offer one-day delivery on most sales.The company did not indicate how many of the seasonal workers would remain after the holiday season.The Amazon jobs figure excludes some 800 private delivery contractors who employ an estimated 75 000 drivers in the United States.Amazon offered no specific sales figures for the holiday period but said it was "record-breaking" with "billions of items" ordered worldwide including tens of millions of Amazon-branded devices. – Nampa/AFP

Company news in brief

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