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Jabil downplays effect of revalued currency
By JEFF HARRINGTON
Published July 22, 2005
Few Tampa Bay area companies have more at stake than Jabil Circuit in China's move toward a more flexible currency system.
The St. Petersburg contract electronics manufacturer counts on China for roughly 30 percent of its $6-billion-plus in annual revenues. It has more than 7,000 employees there with three plants - in Huangpu, Shanghai and Shenzhen - and a fourth facility slated to open this fall in Wuxi in the Jiangsu province.
Yet, Jabil spokeswoman Beth Walters downplayed Thursday's news as having a "minuscule" effect in increasing the cost of doing business in China.
"We're not changing anything based on it," she said, adding that any higher costs of doing business there will simply be passed on to customers.
"I suppose you'd rather have it not happen if it's something that is going to (increase) the cost to our customers, but we're not voting on that," she said.
The effect could grow exponentially, however, if China takes more steps to revalue its currency, as the United States has been heavily promoting. Wachovia Corp. global economist Jay Bryson said a 10 percent appreciation of the yuan versus the dollar is "very reasonable" to expect this year.
[Last modified July 22, 2005, 00:32:15]
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