Search Results for: japan

BY PAUL COCHRANE

TURKEY is the fifth largest importer of oils and oilseeds in the world, with demand being driven by its burgeoning economy, sizable food export industry, and a population of 74.8 million people. But while its demand for vegetable oils is outstripping local production, in olive oil production the country has set its sights on rising up the global rankings from its current fifth place to become the second largest producer.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

IN Japan, fraud can be simply so embarrassing, it is swept under the carpet – and that can leave companies prey to fraudsters, especially insiders.

Bill Stewart, a partner and member of the fraud investigation and dispute services department at Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC in Tokyo tells a cautionary tale.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

SAUDI Arabia’s failure to secure a wide-ranging atomic energy treaty with the USA, continues to push the oil-rich country into the arms of other nuclear suiters, experts on the kingdom have told World Nuclear News. The Saudis plan is to invest USD112 billion over the next 20 years to build 16 nuclear power plants (NPPs) to offset rising domestic energy demand and retain its position as a leading hydrocarbons exporter.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation’s (WTO) disputes settlement panel will assess whether a feed-in-tariff favouring renewable energy production in Ontario, Canada, breaks global commerce rules banning governments giving certain special treatment to domestic businesses. Japan brought the case complaining long-term pricing guarantees offered by the Ontario’s system depend on a proportion of green energy being produced in Canada.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

MOUNTAINS of waste are growing atop the paddy fields on the outskirts of the city of Sendai, Japan, which was devastated by this year’s earthquake and tsunami. From the elevated highway that runs north from the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, a steady stream of trucks can be seen depositing loads of twisted metal; flat-beds piled with home appliances that are so mangled they are almost unrecognisable, to be dumped along with the wrecked cars already stacked four-high on the former farmland.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS and WANG FANGQING

THE PURCHASE of yarns, fibres and other materials from developing countries for rich country-controlled garment manufacturing has long been a cost-effective business practice; however, many factors – including high shipping costs, and delays in supplies – have caused companies in recent years to look for a supply chain that is closer to home.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

DESPITE the political unrest that has plagued Thailand this year and in 2009, and 2010; the country’s economy has stayed reasonably strong. Key players in the paint and coatings market have responded, expanding their product range.

According to Chroong Kanjchanapoomi, managing director of Netherlands-based paint and coatings giant AkzoNobel Thailand, the growth of the Thai paint industry has closely tracked that of the country’s GDP, increasing as the economy grows – indicating the importance of the domestic market in this middle-income south east Asian country.…

BY WANG FANGQING

NOW Four months after the earthquake and tsunami that hit Northeast Japan this past March, Japanese companies have now finally begun the enormous task of debris clean-up, recycling salvageable metals, beginning with one of the worst-hit areas: Kamaishi City, in Iwate prefecture.…

BY WANG FANGQING

AS MULTINATIONAL cosmetics companies continue to dominate the vast, multi-tiered personal care market in China, more Chinese companies are turning to Chinese traditional medicine (TCM)-based products, to gain niche market share.

This past July, Hong Kong-based pharmaceutical company Qilike Medicine Group upgraded its business-to-consumer (B2C) website – which sells acne treatment product Deefur, making it look more sophisticated to attract mainland Chinese consumers.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

THE CANADIAN federal government is planning to scrap the legal monopoly operated by Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) for grains grown in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and parts of British Columbia. The legal requirement that farmers in this area sell wheat and barley to the CWB would disappear on August 1, 2012.…