Search Results for: cars

Until recently, the automotive sector relied more heavily on liquid spray coatings and resins than other industries, but this trend is changing, with powder coatings becoming more popular. One stumbling block regarding efficiency improvements centred on the type of conveyor belts used to move the parts, which are dictated by load weight.…

THE MARKET distorting economic policies of Venezuela’s government were supposed to help the country’s poor, but instead have created a boom in contraband smuggling into neighbouring Colombia, generating massive profits for organized crime, James Bargent reports.

CONTRABAND and smuggling permeate every aspect of economic life in the windswept Colombian border city of Cúcuta.…

THE ETHICAL traits of Sharia-compliant, or Islamic, financing, such as not allowing interest or investments in gambling and tobacco, have made sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) and green funds an obvious extension for the sector. But with Islamic finance already being a niche market, compared to conventional financing, initiatives to diversify into SRIs have struggled over the past several years.…

CHINA’S technical textile sector – producing everything from protective gear for steel workers to materials used in artificial kidneys – has enjoyed strong growth in recent years, and 2013 was no exception. According to the annual report of the Beijing-based China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA), the value of the technical textile sector and the fixed asset investments within it grew in 2013 by 12.9% and 28.7% respectively year-on-year.…

European and American automotive manufacturers are working together in pressing US and European Union (EU) negotiators to be ambitious as they try to forge a Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement.

Erik Bergelin, director of trade and economics at the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) and Matthew Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), have together called for the agreement to recognise the equivalence of engine emission standards and safety regulations.…

AFTER in November 2013 Typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda) smashed into the Philippines’ Visayas island chain, killing 6,000 people and destroying or damaging about 1 million homes, plus schools and other infrastructure, a lot of repainting and recoating was required.

However, while the country’s government spoke of committing some USD8 billion for reconstructing and rehabilitating the devastated areas, nine months on, few replacement housing units have been built, indeed some May local press reports suggest none at all have been constructed.…

Ethiopia’s booming textile industry is set to benefit from a new partnership between Chinese textile company Zhejiang Jinda Flax Llc and the Ethiopian ministry of industry.

A memorandum of understanding signed mid-May outlined how Zhejiang Jinda Flax and the ministry would form a joint company, the Kingdom Linen Textile Industrial Zone, which will be responsible for the construction and development of the textile industrial zone project.…

Nonwovens are taking on an increasingly important role in creating more sustainable vehicles, particularly in interiors, offering lightweight materials reducing fuel usage, recyclability, and the use of green feedstocks such as plant and waste food material.

The US-based global Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) estimates there was about 560,000 tonnes of nonwovens in global automotive usage in 2013, said Dave Rousse, INDA’s president.…

HELPING AND ADVISING EUROPEAN CONSUMERS SHOPPING AND TRAVELLING ABROAD

WHEN CAN ECC-NET OFFICES HELP YOU?

• Air travel

So much can go wrong: flights can be delayed or cancelled; luggage can be lost or damaged; and hidden fees can be charged.…

WHEN it comes to subsidies in the European Union (EU), the representatives of the fossil fuels industries and those of the renewable energy sources have long pointed the finger at each other about who receives more support from the public purse.…