Torch Relay Start
March 25, 2021 (Thursday) cloudy with occasional rain
・Toyota <7203> [Closing price 8,120 yen] Isuzu Motors <7202> [Closing price 1,186 yen] Hino Motors <7205> [Closing price 1,001 yen] on the 24th,
announced that it will collaborate with a focus on decarbonization, including development of electric vehicles (EVs) and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) powered by hydrogen.
Toyota and Isuzu will each invest about 40 billion yen, and through a jointly owned company formed with Hino, will develop new technologies and services.
・The Tokyo Olympic Flame Relay will start on the 25th in Fukushima Prefecture.
It will be a 121-day period in which the measures’ effectiveness will be tested.
・Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama Prefectures have agreed on 24th to extend the request for shortening business hours at eateries and other establishments until April 21.
With the season of welcome and farewell parties approaching, they judged that continuing the measures is necessary.
・The Biden administration in the United States will hold high-level consultations with Japan and South Korea in Washington, D.C. next week.
The review of the U.S. North Korea policy is in the final stage, and through allied coordination they aim to reset efforts toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
・The United States is moving to revive the semiconductor industry.
Under the Biden administration’s push for domestic production, major Intel plans to invest about 2 trillion yen to build a new factory in the United States.
They will also enter contract manufacturing to mass-produce other companies’ developed products.
・Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings <9501> [Closing price 361 yen] The reactivation prospects for the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture remain uncertain.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority on the 24th issued an instruction to TEPCO to correct deficiencies in anti-terror measures at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, indicating potential regulatory actions.
It is expected to impact the government’s energy policy.
・The burden on citizens to support the spread of renewable energy will grow.
Household burden under the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) system for renewable energy is projected to be 10,476 yen per household in fiscal 2021, up more than 1 digit percent from the previous year.
・In Europe, where COVID-19 infections are resurging, economic recovery is clearly lagging.
Major countries such as Germany, France, and Italy are tightening lockdowns, and recovery to pre-crisis levels may be delayed to the second half of 2022.
The gap with the United States, which is expected to recover to pre-crisis levels in April–June 2021, is widening.
・The European Union (EU) Commission on the 24th announced strengthened measures to regulate the export of COVID-19 vaccines.
With concerns about vaccine distribution to member states and delays in vaccination, the aim is to ease dissatisfaction ahead of the online summit scheduled for the 25th–26th.
・Global COVID-19 infection numbers (new deaths by region, as of 4:00 PM, 3/24) summarized by Johns Hopkins University: World total 1,247,202,000 (10,783 deaths)
United States 29,922,392 (+89,4); Brazil 12,130,019 (+3,251); India 11,783,058 (+275); Russia 4,424,595 (+419); France 4,373,607 (+288); United Kingdom 4,321,019 (+112)
Italy 3,419,616 (+551); Spain 3,234,319 (+201); Turkey 3,061,520 (+138); Germany 2,699,231 (+246); Colombia 2,347,224 (+126); Argentina 2,261,577 (+152)
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