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Belgium is a beer heavyweight in global markets, and hence a major source of canning demand, with 417 brewers according to the country’s industry association Belgian Brewers, providing nearly 7,000 jobs (1). It is the fifth biggest producer in Europe, producing 2.047 billion litres of beer in 2023, according to the latest European Union (EU) statistical agency Eurostat figures (2).…

India’s Birla Cellulose, a global leader in supplying viscose staple fibre (VSF), is soon to launch an upgraded version of its popular traceability tracking platform, GreenTrack, the company has told Textile 4.0. GreenTrack 2.0 will, among other features, help partner textile brands measure the quantity of fibre used at each stage of their value chain.…

China’s paint and coatings companies are struggling to make headway in a tough domestic real estate market, even though medium-term forecasts remain positive. In the first six months of 2024, the value of real estate sales fell by 26.4% year-on-year. The average prices of deals struck dropped 7%, according to the China Real Estate Information Corp which bases its data on the country’s 100 largest real estate developers.…

The election of Sri Lanka’s new left-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on September 23 – who campaigned on a ‘clean Sri Lanka’ programme referencing politics as well as the environment) – has built hope for the country’s next mutual evaluation rounds (MER).…

Taiwan’s major packaging and packaging machine industries – with more than 1,000 factories – have been prospering in through proactive service delivery. They have helped the country’s local and overseas packaging value chain in handling and using their goods and services, including eco-plastics.…

New members of the European Commission have been proposed for the next 2024-29 term, starting November 1, with knitwear lobbyists facing experienced hands in the key trade and economy/de-regulation portfolios. Re-appointed Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has nominated Maroš Šefčovič, of Slovakia, as trade and economic security; interinstitutional relations and transparency Commissioner, for example.…

Auditors can play a major role in fighting fraud, with the onset of sustainability reporting creating a new opportunity to sniff out swindles. Keith Nuthall reports.

While the initial goal of audits is not to detect fraud, rather to say whether financial statements (and latterly, sustainability reports) are accurate, these assessments do often uncover crime.…

The Ghanaian government has welcomed an “unprecedented increase” in cocoa prices in the 2023/24 season of 129.36% year-on-year as the market responded to production declines worldwide – costing chocolate manufacturers dear. Ghana’s food and agriculture minister Bryan Acheampong said Ghanaian cocoa prices had risen from Ghanaian Cedi GHS20,928/tonne (USD1,325) and GHS1,308 (USD82.80) per 64kg bag in September 2023 to GHS48,000/tonne (USD3,030) or GH3,000 (USD190) per 64kg bag as the season wrapped last month (September 2024).…

In a “scary” world that is moving faster, adhesive businesses should assess opportunities to innovate, focusing on their “your sense of timing”, innovation expert Peter Hinssen told participants in the FEICA 2024 European Adhesive & Sealant Conference. Speaking in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, Hinssen, partner at consultancy nexxworks, told members of the Association of the European Adhesive and Sealant Industry (FEICA) companies should not wait until they are at their peak or past it, to reinvent themselves: “That doesn’t work anymore.…

Autonomous Chinese gambling centre Macao has been responding to pressure from Beijing to tighten controls on gaming, amidst ongoing concerns that the special administrative region (SAR) is a hub for dirty money, washing through its casinos.

The Macanese government expects its tiny peninsular and associated islands of 33.3 square kilometres to generate gross gaming revenues of Macao Patacas MOP216 billion (USD27 billion) in 2024, up from MOP183.1billion (USD22.8 billion), recovering from a Covid-19 induced slump (1).…