SEOUL (ITNTV) - South Korea’s March factory output jumped by the most in 11 years as demand for display panels and cars received an unexpected boost from lengthy shutdowns in competing Chinese factories amid the coronavirus pandemic. Industrial output surged by a seasonally adjusted 4.6% in March from a month earlier, government data showed on Wednesday, marking the biggest expansion since a 7.3% jump in February 2009 and handily beating a 1.3% fall tipped in a Reuters survey. Production of electronic components including display panels soared 12.7% while autos output surged 45.1%, as virus-related production disruptions in China benefited Korean manufacturers and the launch of new car models also helped. “Output of electronic components were seen weakening before March but demand surged in March on production disruptions at Chinese companies,” a Statistics Korea official said. ADVERTISEMENT The boost is likely to be short-lived, however, as factories in China gradua...
CHICAGO (ITNTV) - With the pandemic hobbling the meat-packing industry, Iowa farmer Al Van Beek had nowhere to ship his full-grown pigs to make room for the 7,500 piglets he expected from his breeding operation. The crisis forced a decision that still troubles him: He ordered his employees to give injections to the pregnant sows, one by one, that would cause them to abort their baby pigs. Van Beek and other farmers say they have no choice but to cull livestock as they run short on space to house their animals or money to feed them, or both. The world’s biggest meat companies - including Smithfield Foods Inc, Cargill Inc, JBS USA and Tyson Foods Inc - have halted operations at about 20 slaughterhouses and processing plants in North America since April as workers fall ill, stoking global fears of a meat shortage. Van Beek’s piglets are victims of a sprawling food-industry crisis that began with the mass closure of restaurants - upending that sector’s supply chain, overwhelming...