Search Results for: Australia

BY MARTIN FOSTER, IN TOKYO

AN AMERICAN government minister told a Tokyo-based seminar on the strategic implications of shortages in rare earth that consumer nations faced the need to reduce and over the near to medium term.

US energy secretary Steven Chu said that in the short term it is important to develop technologies to reduce rare earth use, and that rare earth elements should be "used as sparingly as you can."…

BY KARRYN MILLER

IF any two countries could be deemed vulnerable to Chinese dominance of rare earth supplies, it surely has to be east Asia’s high tech exporters par excellence Japan and South Korea. From smart phones to electric cars, these two Asian nations continue to drive technology forward, but with rare earths an essential component of many electronic goods, these Tokyo and Seoul are scanning the region for new sources of these key minerals.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

WHILE China is desperately in need of nurses – 1.9 million to be exact, according to the nation’s ministry of health – the opportunities for overseas healthcare providers who are not ethnically Chinese are limited, as the government requires all nurses working in China to be able to pass a national test in Mandarin.…

BY RAHIMULLAH YUSUFZAI, IN PESHAWAR

PAKISTAN Steel Mills (PSM) has started stabilising its production after receiving 55,000 metric tonnes of coal from Australia and could make further improvements if it regularly received raw material, a spokesman for the country’s sole mega steel facility said.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

DESPITE recent rumours in Russian media that 7-Eleven, the US-based international chain of convenience stores, would be expanding into Russia, the company has denied the claims.

"There is no basis of foundation about 7-Eleven developing in Russia," a spokesperson for the company told just-food from its Texas, USA, headquarters.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

RIGID plastic packaging is usually designed for optimum stiffness and impact performance, but its strict requirements for durability have traditionally ruled out the most eco-friendly materials in its manufacture – however, that is all about to change.

With global demand for it rising alongside increasing environmental awareness, many manufacturers and retailers are moving towards greater sustainability, integrating both effectiveness and environmentalism in their rigid plastic packaging.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT; AND HELENA FLUSFELDER, IN JERUSALEM

IT is not often that a country that has serious energy security issues gets to choose about whether it wants an energy export industry – but the State of Israel is in this relatively happy situation.…

BY GEORGE STONE

THE MARATHON United Nations climate talks in Durban, South Africa, that resulted on December 11 in an agreement to kick-start a fresh round of negotiations to secure a new treaty on global carbon emissions, will spark a host of critical accounting and auditing questions.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

INTERNATIONAL luxury fashion brands are trying to tap India’s fast growing westerns-style clothing ready-to-wear market and at the same time improving their sourcing chains for luxury fabrics.

At an October (11) conference – ‘Dialogue on Luxury – Making India a Source and Destination of Luxury’ – held in New Delhi, big brands Altagamma, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo and Jimmy Choo announced their expansion plans in India and discussed strategies to make their Indian business more profitable.…

BY WANG FANGQING

WHILE soybean oil still remains the main cooking oil of choice used in China, the country’s manufacturers have recently been experiencing a shift – with a growing demand for diversity in terms of cooking products in large and small cities.…