QUOTE OF THE DAY
“In the car category, performance is often misinterpreted as mindless pedal-to-the-metal testosterone.” Mike Accavitti, senior vice president, American Honda Motor Article, 1D
No changes at ex-Murphy ethanol plant
HANKINSON, N.D. - The new owners of an ethanol plant in the southeastern North Dakota city of Hankinson aren’t planning any major changes at the facility, the manager of the alternative fuel factory says.
Arkansas-based fuel supplier Murphy USA Inc. has sold Hankinson Renewable Energy LLC for $173 million to Guardian Hankinson LLC. The deal closed late last year, with Murphy President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Clyde calling it “a major step in executing our strategy to exit noncore businesses while realizing significant value for our shareholders.”
Guardian is a joint venture involving Minnesota-based Heartland Corn Products and Chippewa Valley Ethanol, Nebraska-based KAAPA Ethanol and South Dakota-based Dakota Ethanol, the Daily News of Wahpeton reported.
Plant Manager Neil Crocker called the transition “seamless,” with no changes in staff or operations.
The plant was built in 2008 and converts about 130,000 bushels of corn into about 365,000 gallons of ethanol every day, according to Crocker.
DirecTV loses Weather Channel over fee
LOS ANGELES - DirecTV, the biggest U.S. satellite TV service, lost The Weather Channel from its lineup Tuesday after failing to secure lower fees.
The channel owned by Comcast Corp.’s NBC Universal and private equity firms Blackstone and Bain Capital was unavailable from 12:01 a.m. New York time, according to a statement from Atlanta-based The Weather Channel.
DirecTV is seeking a “substantial” reduction in monthly carriage fees, David Kenny, chairman and chief executive officer of The Weather Co., the channel’s parent, said before the statement was released.
Cable channels with smaller audiences such as The Weather Channel are bearing the brunt of pay-TV carriers’ efforts to limit cost increases, as the most-watched cable systems and broadcast networks demand more.
The Weather Channel is even more vulnerable because viewers can get up-to-date information on smartphones or watch local TV or a 24-hour cable-news channel when there is a storm in their area, said Christopher King, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
“Carriage fees are an ongoing area of contention,” King wrote in an email. “It’s difficult for me to say whether we need a channel dedicated to weather.”
DirecTV, with 20 million subscribers, is seeking to cut the fee it pays The Weather Channel by 20 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The channel had asked for a 1-cent increase in the monthly subscriber fee, Kenny said. The Weather Channel averaged 13 cents a month per subscriber in 2013 and in 2012, according to researcher SNL Kagan.
- The Associated Press
Mill at start of Buffett empire torn down
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - The Massachusetts textile mill that helped billionaire Warren Buffett start his investment empire, but which he also called one of his biggest blunders, is being torn down.
Roland Letendre, the current owner of the Berkshire Hathaway mill in New Bedford, started demolishing the structure Monday after efforts to sell the property failed.
The mill, built in 1927, had been on the market with an asking price of $500,000, but it needs about $1 million in repairs, Letendre said.
“The building just needed too much work,” Letendre told The Standard-Times of New Bedford.
Although it has been home to some businesses in the years Letendre has owned it, the mill currently has no tenants.
Letendre doesn’t have plans to redevelop the site himself, but will likely sell the land, he said.
Buffett acquired control of the textile manufacturer in 1965 but closed the mill in 1985 and sold the complex in 2000 to Letendre for $215,000.
Although he expressed regret at buying the company, Buffett’s Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate is still called Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Buffett is the nation’s second wealthiest person, worth an estimated $58.5 billion, according to the latest Forbes 400 list.
- The Associated Press
Kodak expects gain as China upgrades
Eastman Kodak Co. is forecasting “double-digit” revenue growth in China this year as it seeks to capitalize on the nation’s demand for technology to spur economic growth, according to its chief executive officer.
The U.S. company is seeing increased demand for digital printing in China as customers move up the value chain to avoid obsolescence, Antonio Perez said. Rochester, N.Y.-based Kodak emerged from bankruptcy protection last September as a smaller company making equipment for commercial printing and packaging after selling units including its photographic-film business.
“China desperately needs to move to digital methodologies in printing if they want to keep the position they have as volume manufacturers,” Perez said. “If they don’t, business is going to go away from China.”
Kodak is investing in China, including plans to open a training center in Shanghai, on prospects the nation will increase spending in technology as part of changes aimed at supporting the economy.
Boeing tackles new 787 battery woe
Aerospace giant Boeing Co. is working to resolve another battery malfunction reported on one of its 787 Dreamliner jets when Japan Airlines discovered what appeared to be white smoke during routine maintenance work.
The lithium-ion battery system was found to be “venting” gas while the plane sat at Narita International Airport in Japan, Boeing said. No passengers were on board.
It is the first known event with the problem-plagued battery system since Boeing instituted a fix on the jets last year. At the time, instances of overheating had grounded the planes around the world for more than three months.
The 787s that were already built had to be retrofitted with the new design, which involved insulating and spacing out parts in the battery unit and enclosing the system in stainless steel cases so little oxygen can reach them.
It also involved a venting system for the batteries so built-up gas could escape outside the aircraft. The redesign removed any risk of a fire breaking out within the battery system, Boeing said.
The incident Tuesday conveys that “the improvements made to the 787 battery system last year appear to have worked as designed,” Boeing said.
Business, Pages 26 on 01/15/2014