Latest news with #Baldy
Business Insider
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
BYD Stock (BYDDY) Reverses Despite Brazil Factory Boost
Shares in Chinese car maker BYD (BYDDY) reversed today despite revealing that it had the checkered flag to start producing electric vehicles in Brazil. Don't Miss TipRanks' Half-Year Sale Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. Brazilian Goals BYD said it was ready to begin manufacturing at its new factory in Bahia state as early as this month, cutting its reliance on imports at a time of huge tariff uncertainty in the BRICS nations. Although final regulatory approvals are still pending, Alexandre Baldy, senior vice president for BYD in Brazil, said the goal is to assemble 50,000 cars this year at the plant from imported kits. 'We should inaugurate in the coming days,' Baldy said. 'We've already completed this year's imports, taking advantage of the period before the import tax increase that took effect on July 1.' Baldy said it would begin full production in July 2026, after assembling vehicles from 'complete knock down' (CKD) kits for the next 12 months. Once fully operational, he said, the complex is likely to generate up to 20,000 direct and indirect jobs. BYD had sent a surge of finished cars into Brazil this year to take advantage of temporarily lower tariffs, shipping some 22,000 from China in the first five months, according to Reuters. Factory Struggles Brazilian car manufacturers were left spluttering, concerned about what it means for domestic sales and jobs. The factory itself has come under fire in recent months. Earlier this year the Public Labor Prosecutor's Office (MPT) in the state of Bahia said it was suing BYD and two of its contractors, accusing them of human trafficking and creating conditions 'analogous to slavery' at a factory construction site. The MPT said it had rescued 220 Chinese workers after receiving an anonymous complaint. It is now seeking $45.5 million in damages from the three firms. BYD has said that it respects human dignity in all of its operations. Despite the furor, BYD's goal of seeking to dominate overseas markets is likely to continue. It has a target to sell half of its vehicles outside the Chinese market by 2030 in response to an increasingly competitive EV market both at home and abroad. What are the Best EV Stocks to Buy Now?
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
China's BYD to start assembling electric cars in Brazil
China's BYD is poised to start assembling electric vehicles at a new factory in Brazil as early as this month, a top executive said, reducing imports as tariffs start to rise in its largest foreign market. Alexandre Baldy, senior vice president for BYD in Brazil, said the goal is to assemble 50,000 cars this year at the plant in Bahia state from imported kits, adding that he is negotiating a lower tax rate on those vehicles. "We should inaugurate in the coming days," Baldy said in an interview late on Friday, without specifying a date, as final regulatory approvals are still pending. "We've already completed this year's imports, taking advantage of the period before the import tax increase that took effect on July 1." BYD had sent a surge of finished cars into Brazil this year to take advantage of temporarily lower tariffs, shipping some 22,000 from China in the first five months, according to Reuters calculations. That stirred complaints in Brazil's auto industry that BYD was privileging Chinese manufacturing over production from Bahia, where a labor probe and heavy rains have disrupted plans. A state labor secretary said in May that the plant would only be "fully functional" at the end of 2026. However, Baldy said it would begin full production in July 2026, after assembling vehicles from "complete knock down" (CKD) kits for the next 12 months. Once fully operational, he said, the complex in Camacari is likely to generate up to 20,000 direct and indirect jobs. Expectations for the operation, on the site of a former Ford plant taken over in 2023, suffered in December when labor inspectors leveled accusations of labor abuses involving Chinese contractors hired to build the complex. Brazilian prosecutors filed a lawsuit in May holding BYD responsible for human trafficking and submitting workers to "slavery-like conditions," after talks on a settlement fell through. "BYD has always sought to respect Brazilian law and human dignity in all operations," Baldy said, adding that the company wanted to reach a resolution. He did not say why efforts to negotiate a settlement had fallen through.>
Leader Live
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Leader Live
Josh is using his knowledge to help North Wales Crusaders
Eaves has been a key part of the set-up this season at Crusaders, helping the side to occupy a lofty position in the League One standings with half of the season now completed. He has formed a strong bond with club colleague Joe Baldwin and Eaves is imparting all the knowledge he has picked up over the course of his career to date. Eaves told CruCast: 'Obviously, Baldy's only a young lad. I've been in similar positions to Baldy. 'I've been privileged and lucky enough to learn off the best hooker for five years when I was at Saints in James Roby and I had Keiron Cunningham as a coach for a year. 'I've played at Leigh on dual-reg with Mickey Higham. So, I've had experience with probably three of the best hookers there's been, but I've also played with other hookers. 'So, I've been like a sponge in my early career. Obviously, I am getting on now, coming up for 28 in a few months, but just it's about passing that experience, that knowledge, that understanding of the game down to Joe and what can I say about Baldy? 'Obviously, he's probably not happy with the minutes he's getting. But, what I can tell you, he trains the absolute house down. 'He's probably one of the best trainers and when he comes on, he does his job. He doesn't overplay. 'He just does his job. So, he's been really good.' Baldwin began his playing career at Orrell St James as a junior, before he was signed by Wigan Warriors in 2019. He gained valuable experience with the Super League champions, prior to making the move to North Wales in 2024. Making an impact within Carl Forster's side, Baldwin became a key figure towards the back end of last season, picking up the young player of the year accolade at the club's end of season awards. While Eaves is helping Baldwin on his journey, the opposite is also the case. Eaves added: 'Obviously, pre-season, guiding him if you want to say. But, also he pushes me, obviously, because I used to be that young, fit lad running about the field, winning every concession. 'But, now he's there, I'm trying to keep up with him and that. It's a good little competition, but we also have a good relationship off the field. 'We're quite close off the field. He's always sitting next to me on the bus, robs my sweets and that! 'But, we do have a close relationship.' Anther big weekend is in the offing for North Wales Crusaders in League One. Crusaders are leading the way in the standings and they play host to second-placed Midlands Hurricanes on Sunday.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Chinese workers in BYD Brazil factory signed contracts with abusive clauses, investigators say
By Fabio Teixeira, Luciana Magalhaes and Lisandra Paraguassu CAMAÇARI, Brazil (Reuters) - The workers who traveled from China to northeast Brazil to build a new factory for electric car maker BYD earned roughly $70 per 10-hour shift, over twice the Chinese hourly minimum wage in many regions. For many, that made signing up an easy decision - but getting out would be much harder. The Chinese workers hired by BYD contractor Jinjiang in Brazil had to hand over their passports to their new employer, let most of their wages be sent directly to China, and fork over an almost $900 deposit that they could only get back after six months' work, according to a labor contract seen by Reuters. The three-page document, signed by one of 163 workers who labor inspectors said were freed from "slavery-like conditions" last month, includes clauses that violate labor laws in both Brazil and China, according to Brazilian investigators and three Chinese labor law experts. Other previously unreported clauses gave the firm the power to unilaterally extend the labor contract for six months and issue 200 yuan fines for conduct such as swearing, quarreling or walking around shirtless at the site or in their living quarters. Many of the clauses "are textbook 'red flags' of forced labor," said Aaron Halegua, a lawyer and fellow at New York University Law School, who won compensation for Chinese workers who sued their employers for forced labor in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. He added that withholding workers' passports or requiring any form of performance bond or security payment would not be permitted under Chinese laws and regulations. Jinjiang, which works on BYD factory construction across China in cities such as Changzhou, Yangzhou and Hefei, has disputed the allegations, saying the findings by Brazilian labor inspectors are inconsistent with the facts and the result of confused translations. "The claim that Jinjiang's employees were 'enslaved' and 'rescued' is totally off base," said Jinjiang in a statement last month. Alexandre Baldy, senior vice president for BYD Brasil, told Reuters the carmaker had no knowledge of any violations until the first reports by Brazilian media in late November, when BYD contacted Jinjiang about the allegations. Baldy and BYD Brasil President Tyler Li then met on Dec. 2 with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. They told Lula at the time that BYD was addressing the issue, according to two people familiar with the conversation. Lula's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Two weeks later, a raid by labor inspectors found the laborers living crammed in lodgings without mattresses. Thirty-one workers were crammed in a single house with only one bathroom and food piled up on the ground alongside personal belongings, in what inspectors said were "degrading conditions." Baldy denied discussing the matter with Lula in their meeting and said the company had no knowledge of the Jinjiang labor contract. BYD is taking action to make sure "this situation never happens again," he told Reuters. Inspectors have provided no evidence that BYD knew of the violations, but BYD is "directly responsible," said Matheus Viana, acting chief of Brazil's Division of Inspection for the Eradication of Slave Labor, because the carmaker is responsible for the actions of a third-party contractor on its site. REPLACING FORD The previously unreported contract offers fresh details of how a plant held up as a beacon of closer Brazil-China relations became the site of scandal for BYD in its biggest market outside of China. BYD agreed in late 2023 to take over and invest heavily in electric vehicle production in an industrial park in Camaçari, near the capital of Bahia state, the site of a Ford Motor Co plant for two decades. Ford abandoned the plant in 2021, firing some 5,000 workers as it ended manufacturing in the country. For President Lula, former head of a metalworkers union in Sao Paulo, the BYD deal promised to deliver 21st-century manufacturing jobs in a stronghold of his Workers Party. News of the big investment stirred hopes the Chinese firm would bring back twice as many jobs as Ford had eliminated, in a state where almost 10% of people are unemployed. But when BYD brought in the Chinese contractor to build the factory, Antonio Ubirajara Santos Souza, coordinator of the local union of construction workers (Sindticcc), said it was a sign the company "didn't play fair." In a statement to Reuters, BYD said the firm is committed to generating local jobs and that when the factory complex is fully operational, it will have 20,000 workers, including Brazilians. During the December raid, inspectors found copies of 10 contracts with similar clauses to those seen by Reuters, they said. Some workers told inspectors they did not have contracts, and others said they only signed theirs after months in Brazil. BYD and Jinjiang will be charged with hampering the probe because they did not provide inspectors with the address for the workers' lodgings when requested, said Daniel Santana, a labor inspector investigating the case, exposing the two companies to a potential fine. PROBE STIRS LOCAL RESIDENTS Hundreds of Chinese workers are still working at the construction site alongside Brazilians, union leaders told Reuters. Union officials say the Brazilian employees complained this month of irregularities at the site, including a lack of drinking water. BYD shared pictures with Reuters of new lodgings and cafeterias it made available to employees. Still, the local construction workers union, Sindticcc, has decided to sue both BYD and Jinjiang over past violations. Local politicians also raised concerns about other projects in Bahia slated for construction by Chinese firms, such as a bridge in the state capital Salvador budgeted at 7.6 billion reais ($1.28 billion), which some local residents fear could be the latest in a series of projects leaning on imported labor. "We can never bring development to our state at the cost of slave labor," said Alan Sanches, a state congressman. Bahia Governor Jeronimo Rodrigues told Reuters BYD is still expected to create 10,000 local jobs and that the state cannot "lose that opportunity." Still, he said, BYD has to provide work in decent conditions. Julio Bonfim, head of the metalworkers union of Camaçari, said he already warned BYD officials that his office will not accept Brazilians losing out on job opportunities to workers brought from China. If that happens, he said, "the factory will face its first strike under BYD before production even begins." Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
31-01-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Exclusive: Chinese workers in BYD Brazil factory signed contracts with abusive clauses, investigators say
CAMAÇARI, Brazil, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The workers who traveled from China to northeast Brazil to build a new factory for electric car maker BYD ( opens new tab earned roughly $70 per 10-hour shift, over twice the Chinese hourly minimum wage in many regions. For many, that made signing up an easy decision - but getting out would be much harder. The Chinese workers hired by BYD contractor Jinjiang in Brazil had to hand over their passports to their new employer, let most of their wages be sent directly to China, and fork over an almost $900 deposit that they could only get back after six months' work, according to a labor contract seen by Reuters. The three-page document, signed by one of 163 workers who labor inspectors said were freed from "slavery-like conditions" last month, includes clauses that violate labor laws in both Brazil and China, according to Brazilian investigators and three Chinese labor law experts. Other previously unreported clauses gave the firm the power to unilaterally extend the labor contract for six months and issue 200 yuan fines for conduct such as swearing, quarreling or walking around shirtless at the site or in their living quarters. Many of the clauses "are textbook 'red flags' of forced labor," said Aaron Halegua, a lawyer and fellow at New York University Law School, who won compensation for Chinese workers who sued their employers for forced labor in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. He added that withholding workers' passports or requiring any form of performance bond or security payment would not be permitted under Chinese laws and regulations. Jinjiang, which works on BYD factory construction across China in cities such as Changzhou, Yangzhou and Hefei, has disputed the allegations, saying the findings by Brazilian labor inspectors are inconsistent with the facts and the result of confused translations. "The claim that Jinjiang's employees were 'enslaved' and 'rescued' is totally off base," said Jinjiang in a statement last month. Alexandre Baldy, senior vice president for BYD Brasil, told Reuters the carmaker had no knowledge of any violations until the first reports by Brazilian media in late November, when BYD contacted Jinjiang about the allegations. Baldy and BYD Brasil President Tyler Li then met on Dec. 2 with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. They told Lula at the time that BYD was addressing the issue, according to two people familiar with the conversation. Lula's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Two weeks later, a raid by labor inspectors found the laborers living crammed in lodgings without mattresses. Thirty-one workers were crammed in a single house with only one bathroom and food piled up on the ground alongside personal belongings, in what inspectors said were "degrading conditions." Baldy denied discussing the matter with Lula in their meeting and said the company had no knowledge of the Jinjiang labor contract. BYD is taking action to make sure "this situation never happens again," he told Reuters. Inspectors have provided no evidence that BYD knew of the violations, but BYD is "directly responsible," said Matheus Viana, acting chief of Brazil's Division of Inspection for the Eradication of Slave Labor, because the carmaker is responsible for the actions of a third-party contractor on its site. REPLACING FORD The previously unreported contract offers fresh details of how a plant held up as a beacon of closer Brazil-China relations became the site of scandal for BYD in its biggest market outside of China. BYD agreed in late 2023 to take over and invest heavily in electric vehicle production in an industrial park in Camaçari, near the capital of Bahia state, the site of a Ford Motor Co plant for two decades. Ford abandoned the plant in 2021, firing some 5,000 workers as it ended manufacturing in the country. For President Lula, former head of a metalworkers union in Sao Paulo, the BYD deal promised to deliver 21st-century manufacturing jobs in a stronghold of his Workers Party. News of the big investment stirred hopes the Chinese firm would bring back twice as many jobs as Ford had eliminated, in a state where almost 10% of people are unemployed. But when BYD brought in the Chinese contractor to build the factory, Antonio Ubirajara Santos Souza, coordinator of the local union of construction workers (Sindticcc), said it was a sign the company "didn't play fair." In a statement to Reuters, BYD said the firm is committed to generating local jobs and that when the factory complex is fully operational, it will have 20,000 workers, including Brazilians. During the December raid, inspectors found copies of 10 contracts with similar clauses to those seen by Reuters, they said. Some workers told inspectors they did not have contracts, and others said they only signed theirs after months in Brazil. BYD and Jinjiang will be charged with hampering the probe because they did not provide inspectors with the address for the workers' lodgings when requested, said Daniel Santana, a labor inspector investigating the case, exposing the two companies to a potential fine. PROBE STIRS LOCAL RESIDENTS Hundreds of Chinese workers are still working at the construction site alongside Brazilians, union leaders told Reuters. Union officials say the Brazilian employees complained this month of irregularities at the site, including a lack of drinking water. BYD shared pictures with Reuters of new lodgings and cafeterias it made available to employees. Still, the local construction workers union, Sindticcc, has decided to sue both BYD and Jinjiang over past violations. Local politicians also raised concerns about other projects in Bahia slated for construction by Chinese firms, such as a bridge in the state capital Salvador budgeted at 7.6 billion reais ($1.28 billion), which some local residents fear could be the latest in a series of projects leaning on imported labor. "We can never bring development to our state at the cost of slave labor," said Alan Sanches, a state congressman. Bahia Governor Jeronimo Rodrigues told Reuters BYD is still expected to create 10,000 local jobs and that the state cannot "lose that opportunity." Still, he said, BYD has to provide work in decent conditions. Julio Bonfim, head of the metalworkers union of Camaçari, said he already warned BYD officials that his office will not accept Brazilians losing out on job opportunities to workers brought from China. If that happens, he said, "the factory will face its first strike under BYD before production even begins." here.
