Hoku Scientific Inc. has amended two contracts to give it $5 million of payments sooner as it looks to raise cash for a polysilicon manufacturing plant it is building in Idaho.

The company said contracts with Tianwei New Energy Holdings Co. Ltd. had been reworked to accelerate $5 million of $7 million in prepayments the Chengdu, China-based company was to pay Hoku. In return, Hoku has reduced prices it will charge Tianwei for polysilicon to be produced at the plant.

"The early payment of $5 million has helped us manage cash flow for our Hoku Materials subsidiary, especially as some of our other customers were requesting extensions of time to make their prepayments to us," said Dustin Shindo, chief executive officer of Honolulu-based Hoku, in a press statement.

Hoku recently announced it needed another $106 million to complete the $390 million plant and that it was looking for new sources of cash.

STATE OIL IMPORTS UP 65 PERCENT

The state's latest Energy Trend report shows the amount of crude oil imported into Hawai'i rose 65 percent in April compared to a year earlier.

The report said 3.2 million barrels were imported during the month, bringing total imports for the first four months of the year to 14.1 million barrels. That was almost one-sixth higher than the total for 2008's first four months.

Taxes collected for gasoline rose 2 percent during the January to April period compared to the same time in 2008.

SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS ON AGENDA

Bill Sodeman, professor of business ethics at Hawai'i Pacific University, will be among the panelists Friday at a discussion on social media ethics.

Federal Trade Commission policies and guidelines for disclosure and Google blog disclosure requirements will be discussed at the Social Media Club Hawaii meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the ING Direct Café in Waikiki.

Andy Bumatai will moderate the discussion, which also will include Nathan Kam, a public relations and marketing professional, and blogger Arleen Anderson.

For more information, go to http://www.smchawaii.org/.

A&B RESULTS ON LIVE WEBCAST

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. executives will discuss the company's quarterly financial results during a live webcast July 24.

The webcast, set for 8 a.m. Hawai'i time, will feature a presentation on operating and financial performance, followed by questions from investors invited to participate in the interactive portion of the discussion. The webcast will be in a "listen-only" mode.

It will be available at www.alexanderbaldwin.com.