手機預付卡6%服務稅轉嫁消費者事宜，政府目前仍與業者探討此事進展，不過，新聞、通訊及文化部副部長拿督佐瑟沙朗希望，流動電訊商可繼續吸收這項稅務，避免增加消費者負擔。
他說，儘管該部門與電訊商針對此事進行洽談，但最終決定仍落在財政部手上。
他日前在P1網絡與中國移動（China Mobile）的諒解備忘錄簽署儀式后，接受記者詢問時，發表上述談話。
若服務稅轉嫁消費者，這意味著10令吉的預付卡內只有9.40令吉的通話時間，60仙則為服務稅。
本地三大流動通訊業者是在月初受詢時披露，決定在7月份將6%服務稅轉嫁給手機預付卡用戶，預計屆時將有1320萬名用戶將受影響
2011年6月29日星期三
6年耐力賽修成正果 雲頂獲英大賭場執照
雲頂大馬（GENM，4715，主要板貿易）在英國伯明翰競投博彩執照長達6年，及最近同意贊助當地球隊阿斯頓維拉（Aston Villa）2年，經歷一場耐力賽后，終修成正果，獲頒大型賭場經營執照！
這場執照競投要追溯至2005年，當時英國博彩法令走出第一步，決定開設8家大型和8家小型賭場，雲頂大馬旗下雲頂英國（Genting UK）即開始參與執照競投。
當時，正是雲頂大馬掌舵人丹斯里林國泰，剛從父親丹斯里林梧桐接過管理棒子兩年后的事。
6年過去了，新加坡聖淘沙名勝世界（Resort World Sentosa）都已建成營運並開始貢獻，伯明翰的賭場執照競投終有結果。
但雲頂英國要當上伯明翰的賭場大亨，仍還有多關要過，獲准博彩執照賭場后，該公司仍要取得政府發出的規劃批准，和賭場的整體經營執照，例如准許售賣酒精飲品。
雲頂英國是擊敗強者Grosvenor賭場，取得在伯明翰的賭場執照，后者已建議在Otium休閒俱樂部建大賭場。
僑豐投資研究分析員說，雲頂英國最后跑出並不意外，皆因該公司在伯明翰“紮根”許久，並營運強穩。
雖然賭場執照競投遲遲未有結果，但雲頂英國一直沒放棄伯明翰，最近還簽定贊助當地球隊阿斯頓維拉2年，建立品牌和打好關係。
雲頂大馬在英國博彩市場並非“初哥”，在倫敦等地已擁46間賭場，是該國最大營運商，不過都是小型俱樂部，目標客戶是重視隱私的賭客。
雲頂大馬是在去年10月15日完成向雲頂新加坡（Genting Singapore）收購英國業務，代價是3億5150萬英鎊（約17億令吉）。
這場執照競投要追溯至2005年，當時英國博彩法令走出第一步，決定開設8家大型和8家小型賭場，雲頂大馬旗下雲頂英國（Genting UK）即開始參與執照競投。
當時，正是雲頂大馬掌舵人丹斯里林國泰，剛從父親丹斯里林梧桐接過管理棒子兩年后的事。
6年過去了，新加坡聖淘沙名勝世界（Resort World Sentosa）都已建成營運並開始貢獻，伯明翰的賭場執照競投終有結果。
但雲頂英國要當上伯明翰的賭場大亨，仍還有多關要過，獲准博彩執照賭場后，該公司仍要取得政府發出的規劃批准，和賭場的整體經營執照，例如准許售賣酒精飲品。
雲頂英國是擊敗強者Grosvenor賭場，取得在伯明翰的賭場執照，后者已建議在Otium休閒俱樂部建大賭場。
僑豐投資研究分析員說，雲頂英國最后跑出並不意外，皆因該公司在伯明翰“紮根”許久，並營運強穩。
雖然賭場執照競投遲遲未有結果，但雲頂英國一直沒放棄伯明翰，最近還簽定贊助當地球隊阿斯頓維拉2年，建立品牌和打好關係。
雲頂大馬在英國博彩市場並非“初哥”，在倫敦等地已擁46間賭場，是該國最大營運商，不過都是小型俱樂部，目標客戶是重視隱私的賭客。
雲頂大馬是在去年10月15日完成向雲頂新加坡（Genting Singapore）收購英國業務，代價是3億5150萬英鎊（約17億令吉）。
隔夜官方利率若升至3.5% 基貸率年底料7.1%
分析界預計，國家銀行或在今年底把隔夜官方利率（OPR）調高至3.5%，意味著銀行的基本借貸率（BLR）將升至7.1%。
馬銀行投銀分析報告指出，今年仍有兩次貨幣政策會議，預計法定儲備率（SRR）料率先在7月調漲到危機前的4%水平，隔夜官方利率則在年底上修到3.5%，使
報告說，繼4月和5月各調漲1%后，相信國行7月7日召開貨幣政策會議時，料再把法定儲備率調高100個基點，讓它重返危機前的4%水平。
報告說，隔夜官方利率料先后在7月7日和9月8日，各被上修25個基點到3.5%，也恢復2008年金融危機前的水平。
“到時銀行的基貸率，會從現在平均的6.6%，調高到7月的6.85%，並在9月達7.1%。”
報告透露，4月份消費價格指數按年上揚3.2%，比較平均達2.74%的定期存款利率，使實質儲蓄回酬陷入負數0.5%。
“我們預計，今年的消指年增3.3%，隔夜官方利率則是3.5%，所以全年的實質儲蓄回酬可達0.2%。”
馬銀行投銀透露，自2003年1月以來，我國的實質儲蓄回酬一直保持在0.5%。
馬銀行投銀分析報告指出，今年仍有兩次貨幣政策會議，預計法定儲備率（SRR）料率先在7月調漲到危機前的4%水平，隔夜官方利率則在年底上修到3.5%，使
報告說，繼4月和5月各調漲1%后，相信國行7月7日召開貨幣政策會議時，料再把法定儲備率調高100個基點，讓它重返危機前的4%水平。
報告說，隔夜官方利率料先后在7月7日和9月8日，各被上修25個基點到3.5%，也恢復2008年金融危機前的水平。
“到時銀行的基貸率，會從現在平均的6.6%，調高到7月的6.85%，並在9月達7.1%。”
報告透露，4月份消費價格指數按年上揚3.2%，比較平均達2.74%的定期存款利率，使實質儲蓄回酬陷入負數0.5%。
“我們預計，今年的消指年增3.3%，隔夜官方利率則是3.5%，所以全年的實質儲蓄回酬可達0.2%。”
馬銀行投銀透露，自2003年1月以來，我國的實質儲蓄回酬一直保持在0.5%。
百盛“烏龍”交易漲停板‧暴漲1.78令吉‧交易所拒取消
百盛（PARKSON, 5657, 主板貿服組）股價今早因為“烏龍”交易而漲停板，暴漲1令吉78仙至7令吉73仙，交易所接獲要求取消交易，但被拒絕。
百盛股票一開市交易正常，以5令吉95仙平盤開市，過後股價小幅波動，不過，從9時零6分起，股價開始大步走高，在揚升至6令吉65仙，揚升70仙時，在早市9時零7仙，突然出現7令吉73仙的成交價，導致股價暴漲1令吉78仙，或30%的漲停板水平。
稍後，該公司股票持續以7令吉73仙分批成交，共有12萬9千300股股票以這高水平交易，在9時零8分，股價被大力回壓至6令吉零1仙，共壓低1令吉72仙。
根據交易所特別通知顯示，交易所在9時48分接獲一名市場參與者的要求，取消百盛以7令吉73仙成交的交易，因為有關交易是“失誤”造成的。
經紀或損失23萬
交易所在10時20分作出決定，拒絕這項取消交易要求。
根據每股漲1令吉78仙計算，這名經紀或抽傭經紀，會因為這項“烏龍交易”損失23萬令吉。
這並不是交易所首度接獲“烏龍”交易，要求取消而被拒絕，在2009年10月5日，就有一名交易商的失誤，將吉隆坡甲洞（KLK, 2445, 主板種植組）的最後一宗交易價抬高3令吉30仙或25%至17令吉，導致當時綜指收市大起5.84點至1216.45點。
由於吉隆坡甲洞是綜指成份股，這項失誤抬高綜指，導致交易所必須在第二天糾正綜指的確實報價。
吉隆坡股票交易所在去年5月公開譴責這名信貸里昂的受薪交易商莫哈末卡馬，並被勒令他必須接受專業培訓計劃，主要是因為他的失誤影響馬股走勢，而且沒有及時發現錯誤並作出糾正（根據當時交易所條例，在收市前交易階段的訂單，有3分鐘時間讓交易商可以取消、修改或保留訂單）。
對馬股走勢影響不大
目前還不清楚百盛交易失誤的證券行，不過由於百盛並非綜指30成份股，而且綜指100公司，因此有關“烏龍”對馬股走勢並沒有造成太大影響。
百盛股價今日以6令吉作收，起5仙，全日共有329萬2千800股易手。
大馬企業積極提昇區域地位，加上政府大力推基建並帶動企業盈利，馬股有望撥開迷霧突破重圍，持續近期“牛勁”。
馬股目前叩試1577點歷史新高，今日一度揚升5.79點至1575.81點，離開歷史新高只有一步之遙，黃氏唯高達研究很有信心，馬股在近期可突破這項高點，改變馬股的歷史新高。
僑豐研究也樂觀認為，富時綜指目前朝年杪目標1680點挺進。
美股與區域股市靠穩，令馬股今日在內外利好“造福”下勢如破竹，儘管在套利圍攻中回吐一些漲幅，終場仍起0.32%或4.99點至1575.01點。
僑豐在結束2011年東盟企業日後指出，企業在大馬外“區域化”業務，與政府藉經濟轉型計劃引領國家發展，為大馬業者兩大主題，在“東盟業者”地位有望提高，與政府致力推基建令企業盈利可期下，對馬股維持“加碼”評級與富時綜指目標1680點。
僑豐指出，表現管理及傳遞單位（PEMANDU）公佈將啟動大馬經濟轉型下個階段，並再度探測新經濟模式下的關鍵改革策略（SRIs），也是另一長期主力。
“這些計劃將成為改革‘高速公路’，並讓國家關鍵經濟領域（NKEA）計劃成‘快車’。”
僑豐認為，除基建將帶動發展的短期利好外，長期的經濟轉型方向在數月遭“冷藏”後再度如火如荼開跑，將激勵企業勇往直前。
參與大會的16家大馬企業，來自公用事業、建築、金融、種植、油氣與保健。種植公司如陳順風資源（TSH, 9059, 主板種植組），正透過尋求新種植地段持續擴張印尼業務；大馬油氣業者如沿海工程（COASTAL, 5071, 主板工業產品組）與達洋企業（DAYANG, 5141, 主板貿服組），也尋求外包較低價值的岸外業務或在大馬水務外物色新約，以趕上逐步走向全球化的較大型同儕。
僑豐認為，這是大馬企業長期發展最終有望提高全球投資者對大馬企業作為東盟業者目光。
盼政府頒基建發展合約
大馬公司熱切盼望政府頒發有關基建發展的合約，建築公司如金務大（GAMUDA, 5398, 主板建筑組）、MMC機構（MMCCORP, 2194, 主板貿服組）與WCT公司（WCT, 9679, 主板建筑組），更有望自輕快鐵與捷運等計劃中受惠。
除純粹的基建發展，政府加重火力推動經濟特定領域，如旅遊醫療，將為保健業者如柔佛醫藥保健（KPJ, 5878, 主板貿服組）“造福”，而政府加快落實津貼合理化，也令國家能源（TENAGA, 5347, 主板貿服組）受益。
過去8個月專注經濟轉型計劃後，表現管理及傳遞單位正評估關鍵改革策略，一些計劃如生命河（River of Life）與吉隆坡捷運計劃預計分別在7月1日與8日宣佈，並將對經濟帶來正面力量。
併購、捷運、乳膠
成3大催化劑
成3大催化劑
企業的另三大催化劑，還包括併購、輕快鐵與捷運、乳膠。
僑豐指出，安聯保險（ALLIANZ, 1163, 主板金融組）、沿海工程與達洋企業，可能潛在涉足併購大計，或催促股價重估。
金務大（GAMUDA, 5398, 主板建筑組）、MMC機構（MMCCORP, 2194, 主板貿服組）與WCT公司（WCT, 9679, 主板建筑組），預計自更多捷運與輕快鐵相關的潛在合約中受惠。
早前“垂頭喪氣”的手套業者，期盼乳膠價急挫等各種因素，令手套業重振旗鼓。
● 安聯保險基本面仍穩健
該公司將與MNRB控股（MNRB, 6459, 主板金融組）聯營發展回教保險業務，若計劃如期進行，必然為企業加分，即使計劃告吹，安聯保險基本面仍穩健。
● 沿海工程探討潛在併購計劃
該公司正與數國內外業者探討潛在併購計劃，該公司約70%的船務建設活動已外包中國，儘管尋求新夥伴與業務，旗下船務建設依然是核心業務。
● 達洋企業攫取汶萊更多計劃
該公司預計在短期內攫取汶萊更多計劃，同時尋求併購機會，潛在夥伴相信與核心業務相關。
● 金務大獲80億隆捷運工程
獲吉隆坡捷運計劃隧道工程“資格預審”，值高達80億令吉，合約預計明年首季頒發。
● 柔佛醫藥保健放眼醫療旅遊
已提呈安邦專科醫生國際單位的建設計劃，放眼醫療旅遊。
● MMC機構獲隧道合約有勝算
吉隆坡捷運與旗下大馬氣體（GAS MALAYSIA）為焦點，而與金務大的聯營在攫獲隧道合約方面仍勝券在握。
● 陳順風資源擴大棕油地段
該公司自2003至2006年期間已邁入多達9萬5千公頃的棕油地段，一旦完成東加里曼旦的收購，地段將在今年擴大至1萬公頃以上。該公司也預見印尼鮮果串回酬在未來超越沙巴。
● 國家能源調整電費有望
政府下一輪的電費評估料為12月1日，國能對政府可能宣佈的電費調整感樂觀。
第二大藍圖料不放寬外資持股頂限‧推動銀行合併擴海外
即將在今年第三季度出爐的第二金融業大藍圖，預料把重心放在市場的開放化，並購依然是大藍圖主題，進而加速國內銀行業的鞏固及進一步擴充本地銀行在海外市場版圖。
外資頂限料保持30%
不過，國內銀行的外資持股權開放幾率不大，因國行總裁丹斯里潔蒂較早也披露，外資在本地銀行的持股頂限保持30%，國內銀行的持股權主要由本地操控，以維持金融包容性政策。
大眾和豐隆
或受個人持股頂限影響
或受個人持股頂限影響
再者，首個金融業大藍圖當中的建議，限制機構及個人在銀行機構的持股權頂限分別為20及10%，馬銀行研究相信，第二金融業大藍圖會秉持此政策，或受此條例影響的股東包括丹斯里鄭鴻標持大眾銀行（PBBANK, 1295, 主板金融組）的有效股權為23.5%及丹斯里郭令燦持豐隆銀行（HLBANK, 5819, 主板金融組）有效股權為64.6%。
兩大銀行巨頭馬來亞銀行（MAYBANK, 1155, 主板金融組）及聯昌集團（CIMB, 1023, 主板金融組）與興業資本（RHBCAP, 1066, 主板金融組）的並購洽談失敗，對國內銀行業的並購前路是一大打擊，但分析員認為，市場的開放化為國內銀行業並購鋪路，以提高競爭力，而業務規模小型的艾芬控股（AFFIN, 5185, 主板金融組）及安聯金融（AFG, 2488, 主板金融組）難在未來競爭市場立足，其中一家不排除被並購的可能性。
馬銀行研究也不排除新策略股東或加入，以替代持艾芬控股23.5%股權的東亞銀行及持安聯金融14.8%股權的LANGKAH BAHAGIA。
澳紐銀行
或增持大馬投資至49%
或增持大馬投資至49%
由於首相拿督斯里納吉的談話，不排除澳紐銀行（ANZ）在大馬投資（AMMB, 1015, 主板金融組）的持股權或從現有23.8%增至49%。
此外，國行頒佈兩張回教銀行執照予巨霸銀行，回教銀行（BIMB, 5258, 主板金融組）旗下的回教銀行（BANK ISLAM）及MUAMALAT銀行在長期難以在市場爭鋒，基於回教銀行的外資持股權增至70%，預見國內外個體對這兩家回教銀行或深感興趣。
回教銀行以資產計是國內第三大回教銀行，回銀控股持51%股權；MUAMALAT銀行的大股東分別為多元資源工業（DRBHCOM, 1619, 主板工業產品組）70%及國庫控股30%。
投銀並購創造價值小
與此同時，人才的欠缺使獨立投資難以在市場一爭高低，馬銀行研究認為，投資銀行並購不會製造太多的價值，但在7家獨立投資銀行當中，肯納格控股（KENANGA, 6483, 證券主板金融組）及益資利金融（ECM, 2143, 主板金融組）或展開合併，而馬國際銀行（MIMB）或被豐隆銀行吞並。
黃氏發展證券（HDBS, 6688, 主板金融組）或與安聯投資銀行結盟，在長期或達到有意義的商業效果，因星展銀行的最終股東為淡馬錫控股。
海外貸款成長或達18%
另一方面，隨著市場的愈加成熟，國內銀行不斷增強海外業務，以提昇盈利成長，預計海外貸款的成長率在2011及2012年將分別提速至18.2及14.4%，比較國內貸款同期成長分別為12.4及11.5%。
海外比重增加
預計海外貸款的比重在2012年將增至佔總貸款的23%，比較2009年為22%。
至去年杪為止，國內6家銀行集團已伸展觸鬚至19個國家，海外業務總資產達2千500億令吉，盈利約20億令吉。
馬銀行放眼在2015年的海外業務將佔集團稅前盈利的40%，比較現有財政年則達25%的貢獻，在收購金英控股後，其貢獻料攀升。
聯昌集團則從印尼的聯昌商業銀行（BANK NIAGA）中獲利；大眾銀行預計其今年的海外業務在積極放貸支撐下也更上一層樓；豐隆銀行的20%聯號公司成都銀行對該集團的盈利貢獻佔約10%。
興業資本及艾芬控股分別收購印尼的PT BANK MESTIKA DHARMA及PT BANK INA PERDANA各80%股權之計劃即將完成。
馬銀行、聯昌集團及興業資本對進一步擴充泰國有興趣，也探視潛在的收購機會，馬銀行研究認為，這有兩個可能性，即GE CAPITAL所持的32.9%之AYUDHYA銀行及ING持25.2%股權的TMB銀行，以2.0倍價格對賬面值計，GE股權值66億令吉左右，ING持股權則值25億令吉。
銀行今年凈利成長12.6%
儘管海外環境充滿一些變數，但國內銀行股在本地有利的因素烘托下，預見持續驅動銀行的盈利成長，預計今明年凈利成長分別達12.6及12.1%。
馬銀行研究透露，在國內貸款成長在今明年估計分別達12.4及11.5%的支撐下，同期營運盈利成長預測分別達8.9及12.6%。
下半年賺幅將回穩
儘管貸款及資金的競爭相當強烈，但在升息的加助下，預料下半年的凈利息賺幅將回穩。
“我們預計2012年的凈利息賺幅增長5至8個基點，比較今年料壓縮6至10個基點。”
與此同時，家庭貸款持續漲高，包括個人貸款的節節上揚，不排除當局或進一步訴諸嚴謹的措施，以勒緊房產貸款及個人貸款。
家庭貸款按年增長超過13%已達10個月左右，家庭貸款目前佔總貸款55%，比較2000年1月僅22%.房貸及車貸分別佔家庭貸款的比重為48及27%。個人用途及信用卡貸款也在騰漲當中，至今年4月佔總貸款14.7%，比較2005年底為12.2%。
房產貸款在過去6個月依然企穩於逾13%的成長率。
個人貸款在過去4個月的成長力道也在增溫當中，年平均成長率為14.3%。
Bridge Comes to San Francisco With a Made-in-China Label
SHANGHAI — Talk about outsourcing.
At a sprawling manufacturing complex here, hundreds of Chinese laborers are now completing work on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Next month, the last four of more than two dozen giant steel modules — each with a roadbed segment about half the size of a football field — will be loaded onto a huge ship and transported 6,500 miles to Oakland. There, they will be assembled to fit into the eastern span of the new Bay Bridge.
The project is part of China’s continual move up the global economic value chain — from cheap toys to Apple iPads to commercial jetliners — as it aims to become the world’s civil engineer.
The assembly work in California, and the pouring of the concrete road surface, will be done by Americans. But construction of the bridge decks and the materials that went into them are a Made in China affair. California officials say the state saved hundreds of millions of dollars by turning to China.
“They’ve produced a pretty impressive bridge for us,” Tony Anziano, a program manager at the California Department of Transportation, said a few weeks ago. He was touring the 1.2-square-mile manufacturing site that the Chinese company created to do the bridge work. “Four years ago, there were just steel plates here and lots of orange groves.”
On the reputation of showcase projects like Beijing’s Olympic-size airport terminal and the mammoth hydroelectric Three Gorges Dam, Chinese companies have been hired to build copper mines in the Congo, high-speed rail lines in Brazil and huge apartment complexes in Saudi Arabia.
In New York City alone, Chinese companies have won contracts to help renovate the subway system, refurbish the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River and build a new Metro-North train platform near Yankee Stadium. As with the Bay Bridge, American union labor would carry out most of the work done on United States soil.
American steelworker unions have disparaged the Bay Bridge contract by accusing the state of California of sending good jobs overseas and settling for what they deride as poor-quality Chinese steel. Industry groups in the United States and other countries have raised questions about the safety and quality of Chinese workmanship on such projects. Indeed, China has had quality control problems ranging from tainted milk to poorly built schools.
But executives and officials who have awarded the various Chinese contracts say their audits have convinced them of the projects’ engineering integrity. And they note that with the full financial force of the Chinese government behind its infrastructure companies, the monumental scale of the work, and the prices bid, are hard for private industry elsewhere to beat.
The new Bay Bridge, expected to open to traffic in 2013, will replace a structure that has never been quite the same since the 1989 Bay Area earthquake. At $7.2 billion, it will be one of the most expensive structures ever built. But California officials estimate that they will save at least $400 million by having so much of the work done in China. (California issued bonds to finance the project, and will look to recoup the cost through tolls.)
California authorities say they had little choice but to rebuild major sections of the bridge, despite repairs made after the earthquake caused a section of the eastern span to collapse onto the lower deck. Seismic safety testing persuaded the state that much of the bridge needed to be overhauled and made more quake-resistant.
Eventually, the California Department of Transportation decided to revamp the western span of the bridge (which connects San Francisco to Yerba Buena Island) and replace the 2.2-mile eastern span (which links Yerba Buena to Oakland).
On the eastern span, officials decided to build a suspension bridge with a complex design. The span will have a single, 525-foot tower, anchored to bedrock and supported by a single, enormous steel-wire cable that threads through the suspension bridge.
“We wanted something strong and secure, but we also wanted something iconic,” said Bart Ney, a transportation department spokesman.
A joint venture between two American companies, American Bridge and Fluor Enterprises, won the prime contract for the project in early 2006. Their bid specified getting much of the fabricated steel from overseas, to save money.
California decided not to apply for federal funding for the project because the “Buy America” provisos would probably have required purchasing more expensive steel and fabrication from United States manufacturers.
China, the world’s biggest steel maker, was the front-runner, particularly because it has dominated bridge building for the last decade. Several years ago, Shanghai opened a 20-mile sea bridge; the country is now planning a much longer one near Hong Kong.
The selection of the state-owned Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company was a surprise, though, because the company made port cranes and had no bridge building experience.
But California officials and executives at American Bridge said Zhenhua’s advantages included its huge steel fabrication facilities, its large low-cost work force and its solid finances. (The company even had its own port and ships.)
“I don’t think the U.S. fabrication industry could put a project like this together,” Brian A. Petersen, project director for the American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises joint venture, said in a telephone interview. “Most U.S. companies don’t have these types of warehouses, equipment or the cash flow. The Chinese load the ships, and it’s their ships that deliver to our piers.”
Despite the American union complaints, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, strongly backed the project and even visited Zhenhua’s plant last September, praising “the workers that are building our Bay Bridge.”
Zhenhua put 3,000 employees to work on the project: steel-cutters, welders, polishers and engineers. The company built the main bridge tower, which was shipped in mid-2009, and a total of 28 bridge decks — the massive triangular steel structures that will serve as the roadway platform.
Pan Zhongwang, a 55-year-old steel polisher, is a typical Zhenhua worker. He arrives at 7 a.m. and leaves at 11 p.m., often working seven days a week. He lives in a company dorm and earns about $12 a day.
“It used to be $9 a day, now it’s $12,” he said Wednesday morning, while polishing one of the decks for the new Bay Bridge. “Everything is getting more expensive. They should raise our pay.”
To ensure the bridge meets safety standards, 250 employees and consultants working for the state of California and American Bridge/Fluor also took up residence in Shanghai.
Asked about reports that some American labor groups had blocked bridge shipments from arriving in Oakland, Mr. Anziano dismissed those as confused.
“That was not about China,” he said. “It was a disagreement between unions about which had jurisdiction and who had the right to unload a shipment. That was resolved.”
The New York Times
At a sprawling manufacturing complex here, hundreds of Chinese laborers are now completing work on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Next month, the last four of more than two dozen giant steel modules — each with a roadbed segment about half the size of a football field — will be loaded onto a huge ship and transported 6,500 miles to Oakland. There, they will be assembled to fit into the eastern span of the new Bay Bridge.
The project is part of China’s continual move up the global economic value chain — from cheap toys to Apple iPads to commercial jetliners — as it aims to become the world’s civil engineer.
The assembly work in California, and the pouring of the concrete road surface, will be done by Americans. But construction of the bridge decks and the materials that went into them are a Made in China affair. California officials say the state saved hundreds of millions of dollars by turning to China.
“They’ve produced a pretty impressive bridge for us,” Tony Anziano, a program manager at the California Department of Transportation, said a few weeks ago. He was touring the 1.2-square-mile manufacturing site that the Chinese company created to do the bridge work. “Four years ago, there were just steel plates here and lots of orange groves.”
On the reputation of showcase projects like Beijing’s Olympic-size airport terminal and the mammoth hydroelectric Three Gorges Dam, Chinese companies have been hired to build copper mines in the Congo, high-speed rail lines in Brazil and huge apartment complexes in Saudi Arabia.
In New York City alone, Chinese companies have won contracts to help renovate the subway system, refurbish the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River and build a new Metro-North train platform near Yankee Stadium. As with the Bay Bridge, American union labor would carry out most of the work done on United States soil.
American steelworker unions have disparaged the Bay Bridge contract by accusing the state of California of sending good jobs overseas and settling for what they deride as poor-quality Chinese steel. Industry groups in the United States and other countries have raised questions about the safety and quality of Chinese workmanship on such projects. Indeed, China has had quality control problems ranging from tainted milk to poorly built schools.
But executives and officials who have awarded the various Chinese contracts say their audits have convinced them of the projects’ engineering integrity. And they note that with the full financial force of the Chinese government behind its infrastructure companies, the monumental scale of the work, and the prices bid, are hard for private industry elsewhere to beat.
The new Bay Bridge, expected to open to traffic in 2013, will replace a structure that has never been quite the same since the 1989 Bay Area earthquake. At $7.2 billion, it will be one of the most expensive structures ever built. But California officials estimate that they will save at least $400 million by having so much of the work done in China. (California issued bonds to finance the project, and will look to recoup the cost through tolls.)
California authorities say they had little choice but to rebuild major sections of the bridge, despite repairs made after the earthquake caused a section of the eastern span to collapse onto the lower deck. Seismic safety testing persuaded the state that much of the bridge needed to be overhauled and made more quake-resistant.
Eventually, the California Department of Transportation decided to revamp the western span of the bridge (which connects San Francisco to Yerba Buena Island) and replace the 2.2-mile eastern span (which links Yerba Buena to Oakland).
On the eastern span, officials decided to build a suspension bridge with a complex design. The span will have a single, 525-foot tower, anchored to bedrock and supported by a single, enormous steel-wire cable that threads through the suspension bridge.
“We wanted something strong and secure, but we also wanted something iconic,” said Bart Ney, a transportation department spokesman.
A joint venture between two American companies, American Bridge and Fluor Enterprises, won the prime contract for the project in early 2006. Their bid specified getting much of the fabricated steel from overseas, to save money.
California decided not to apply for federal funding for the project because the “Buy America” provisos would probably have required purchasing more expensive steel and fabrication from United States manufacturers.
China, the world’s biggest steel maker, was the front-runner, particularly because it has dominated bridge building for the last decade. Several years ago, Shanghai opened a 20-mile sea bridge; the country is now planning a much longer one near Hong Kong.
The selection of the state-owned Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company was a surprise, though, because the company made port cranes and had no bridge building experience.
But California officials and executives at American Bridge said Zhenhua’s advantages included its huge steel fabrication facilities, its large low-cost work force and its solid finances. (The company even had its own port and ships.)
“I don’t think the U.S. fabrication industry could put a project like this together,” Brian A. Petersen, project director for the American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises joint venture, said in a telephone interview. “Most U.S. companies don’t have these types of warehouses, equipment or the cash flow. The Chinese load the ships, and it’s their ships that deliver to our piers.”
Despite the American union complaints, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, strongly backed the project and even visited Zhenhua’s plant last September, praising “the workers that are building our Bay Bridge.”
Zhenhua put 3,000 employees to work on the project: steel-cutters, welders, polishers and engineers. The company built the main bridge tower, which was shipped in mid-2009, and a total of 28 bridge decks — the massive triangular steel structures that will serve as the roadway platform.
Pan Zhongwang, a 55-year-old steel polisher, is a typical Zhenhua worker. He arrives at 7 a.m. and leaves at 11 p.m., often working seven days a week. He lives in a company dorm and earns about $12 a day.
“It used to be $9 a day, now it’s $12,” he said Wednesday morning, while polishing one of the decks for the new Bay Bridge. “Everything is getting more expensive. They should raise our pay.”
To ensure the bridge meets safety standards, 250 employees and consultants working for the state of California and American Bridge/Fluor also took up residence in Shanghai.
Asked about reports that some American labor groups had blocked bridge shipments from arriving in Oakland, Mr. Anziano dismissed those as confused.
“That was not about China,” he said. “It was a disagreement between unions about which had jurisdiction and who had the right to unload a shipment. That was resolved.”
The New York Times
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