SpaceX botched its maiden satellite launch last month, but the firm still is angling to become “the Southwest Airlines” of the satellite launching industry, CEO Elon Musk told the National Space Symposium Wed. Company engineers’ preliminary analyses suggest the fire that wrecked Falcon 1 in March stemmed from a “pad processing error” 24 hours before launch, Musk said: “The error was made by our most experienced pad technician. It goes to show that even the best people make mistakes.” Despite the crash, Falcon 1’s big brother, Falcon 9, will make its maiden voyage at the end of 2008, Musk said: “Falcon 9 has the same engines, the same basic structural design, the same avionics and the same ground support experience. Every mistake on Falcon 1 is learned on Falcon 9,” Musk said. Musk announced a new Falcon 9 launch contract from MDA Corp. of Canada, set for 2008.
On March 10, 2006, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the European Union (EU) Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development signed a bilateral agreement on wine-making practices, the labeling of wine, etc. (March 2006 wine agreement).
Mediacom’s sales rose 8.7% last quarter to $289.3 million as it added customers for all services except basic cable, said an SEC filing, citing preliminary figures. Cash flow rose at a similar rate, though the firm didn’t disclose whether it had a Q1 loss or profit. Broadband subscribers rose 24% from a year ago, to 504,000, though Mediacom lost 39,000 cable subscribers. There were 46,000 phone subscribers on March 31 as the firm started selling VoIP. There were “very strong data and VoIP adds,” wrote Banc of America analyst Douglas Shapiro. Separately, Moody’s gave a Mediacom loan a Ba3 rating, citing increased debt costs.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the preliminary results of its antidumping (AD) duty changed circumstances review of certain forged stainless steel flanges from India.
Lead managers handling the sale of Daewoo Electronics will receive preliminary bids for the CE and appliance maker April 5-20, in a deal reportedly worth up to $1 billion. A Chinese appliance manufacturer and India’s Videocon are expected to submit bids. Potential bidders must submit letters and confidentiality agreements to lead managers ABM Amro, Woori Investment & Securities and Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers by the deadline, according to an ad in the Korea Economic Daily on Tues. Domestic creditors, which own 97% of Daewoo, are seeking to have final agreement in place by Sept., Reuters reported, quoting sources. They aim to sign a final contract by the end of September, a source at a creditor bank said on Tues. S. Korean lenders are selling stakes in once-troubled companies that they bailed out in the aftermath of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Daewoo Electronics was placed under debt rescheduling led by creditors along with its affiliates after the parent group went bankrupt in 1999, carrying $80 billion in debt. The company swung to a $96.9 million net loss in 2005 from a $31.5 million net profit in 2004, Daewoo said, as a stronger won put pressure on its export-led business. Sales totaled $2.24 billion in 2005. It had $1.71 billion in assets at the end of 2005, including 6 plants in S. Korea and 18 overseas.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews:
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews:
American Shipper recently reported that a few weeks before Census was expected to publish its long-awaited regulations for mandatory electronic filing of export information, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) refused to approve the regulations unless two significant changes were made in the Automated Export System (AES). The article states that first, DHS and CBP want Census to either eliminate post-departure filing in AES (Option 4) or substantially increase the requirements for accepting new companies into the program. DHS and CBP also do not want existing post-departure filers simply grandfathered into the mandatory program. Second, the article states that DHS asked Census to make a "National Interest Determination" (NID) to allow sharing of confidential export information with foreign governments. The article also states that CBP wants Census to give it a blanket "NID" to permit sharing of confidential export information with other federal agencies. (American Shipper, dated 04/06, www.americanshipper.com.)
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that it is again postponing the preliminary antidumping (AD) duty determinations on certain lined paper products from India and China, to April 7, 2006 (from March 18, 2006).
The ITA has amended the scope of the investigation to state that it has determined that canvas woven and primed in India but cut and stretched in China and exported from China is not subject to the AD duty investigation covering artist canvas from China. Aside from this determination, the scope of the investigation appears to be substantially unchanged since the amended preliminary AD duty determination.