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DESPITE relatively stagnant year-end results in 2016 for the paints and coatings market in Italy, last year proved unexpectedly dynamic in terms of sales and acquisitions, with several companies in the sector moving to increase their market share in specific subsectors of the market.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU)-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA), on which negotiations concluded December 2, 2015, will open up “huge business opportunities” for Vietnamese garment companies, business experts agreed earlier this month at an event jointly organised by EU business federation BusinessEurope, EuroCham [European Chamber of Commerce] Vietnam and the EU-Vietnam Business Network.…

JAPAN’S paint and coatings sector is putting on a positive face and playing up overseas expansion efforts, as well as its traditional strength in innovation, but analysts are concerned about the longer-term outlook for domestic companies.

Sales of paint in Japan came to Japanese Yen JPY 675 billion (USD6.10 billion) in 2016, a marginal increase of around 1% on the previous year’s figure, according to the Japan Paint Manufacturers Association.…

Customer willingness to pay a premium for the natural health qualities of honey appears to be outweighing price hikes for the natural sweetener amid falling production levels as beekeepers have battled catastrophic colony losses.

This has reduced worldwide bee numbers, prompting fears that confectioners might adapt production methods to replace honey with other naturally occurring sweeteners, such as stevia.…

SOUTH Africans are boosting their spending on cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures, with their national market expected to generate South African Rand ZAR94.15 million (USD7.1 million) in annual receipts by 2024. This reflects a 5.8% annual growth rate from the ZAR61 million (USD4.6 million) spent in 2016, according to US-based market research and consulting company Grand View Research, in figures released in July (2017).…

AS Ethiopia rapidly emerges as a key clothing and textile hub of Africa, the country has been making impressive strides as a knitwear manufacturing and sourcing centre, attracting the attention of global clothing majors.

“International buyers are beginning to buy knitted clothes from Ethiopia including Zara, Tesco, H&M [Hennes & Mauritz] and Decathlon,” said Fassil Tadesse, president of the Ethiopian Textile and Garment Manufacturing Association (ETGAMA).…

While moves in the knitwear sector are afoot to overtake ‘fast fashion’ with sustainable products and processes, the ultimate push to become certified organic is proving an unnecessary step too far for many producers.

There is widespread support in the industry to embrace sustainable business practices and boost eco-credentials for yarns and knitwear items.…

A smarter approach to asset integrity is proving to be the cost-effective answer to corrosion and erosion in ageing oil and gas assets. Indeed, the global oil and gas industry is maintaining a sharp focus on costs as operators grapple with ‘end or extend’ decisions over the commercial life of ageing assets in a lower-for-longer oil price environment.…

WORK is advancing on a major expansion of Santiago’s Pudahuel International Airport to cope with Chile’s rapidly-growing aviation market. But airlines feel they are bearing more than their share of the USD1 billion construction cost.

Officially known as Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, the facility has been Chile’s gateway to the world since it opened 50 years ago.…

In a major healthcare fraud clampdown, the USA’s Department of Justice (DoJ) has arrested and charged 412 people, including 115 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for defrauding America’s public funds of some USD1.3 billion. A July 13 DoJ statement said the US Medicare Fraud Strike Force (MSSF) swoop had “aggressively” targeted schemes falsely billing the Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE (armed forces) funds “for medically unnecessary prescription drugs and compounded medications that often were never even purchased and/or distributed to beneficiaries.”…