Intel Corp. on Friday said the company will build a new chip manufacturing factory, worth more than $5 billion, in Chandler, Ariz., and hire 4,000 new U.S. employees. Shares of Intel, the world’s biggest chip maker, rose 0.8 percent to close at $22.14 on Friday. Paul Otellini, Intel’s chief executive, said the “new factory will play a central role in extending Intel’s unquestioned leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.” Intel had announced late last year a plan to spend $6 billion to $8 billion over several years to upgrade existing U.S. factories and build a development lab in Oregon. The plan would support up to 8,000 U.S. construction jobs, and eventually add up to 1,000 high-skilled, high-wage positions, the company said.
Demand soaring for mining machinery
Caterpillar says worldwide demand for its heavy construction and mining equipment continues to be strong, with sales growing 49 percent in January. The Peoria, Ill., company said in a filing Friday that machinery sales were strongest in North America, where sales grew 58 percent from a year earlier, and Latin America, where sales surged 56 percent. Engine sales also improved but not as much as machinery sales. Caterpillar says total engine sales grew 23 percent.
American to recall laid-off attendants
American Airlines is recalling 200 more flight attendants who were furloughed in recent years. American said Friday it also agreed to hire 30 new Mandarin-speaking flight attendants to staff flights to and from Shanghai. It’s American’s second announcement of new flight attendants hiring this month. Last week, the airline said it would bring back 368 furloughed attendants because of a pickup in international flying.
Chile orders three more 767-300ERs
Boeing Co. said Friday that Chile’s LAN Airlines ordered three more 767-300ER aircraft. Terms of the order were not disclosed but the planes have a combined list price of $493 million. Aircraft manufacturers routinely give good customers a discount off list prices. The deal brings LAN’s total of Boeing 767 orders to 33. LAN currently has a fleet of 28 767-300ERs and 11 767-300 freighters. The 767 comes in three passenger models and a freighter.
Failed Greek bank declines merger
A proposed merger between two of Greece’s struggling main banks quickly fell through late Friday after Alpha Bank rejected the terms offered by its biggest competitor, National Bank of Greece. An Alpha statement said its board unanimously rejected the “unsolicited” NBG offer, following exploratory talks. “The board … resolved to reject (the proposal), taking into account the uncertainties of the current environment, and the terms of the proposal itself, which were not deemed beneficial to the Alpha Bank shareholders,” said Alpha, Greece’s No. 3 lender.
From Herald news services
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