Search Results for: japan

BY WANG FANGQING

ASIA is opening up to the wider world culturally and its hair styles are becoming more varied as a result, allowing personal care product companies to sell a wider range of hair care lines.

With growing attention paid to appearances, Chinese consumers, for instance are spending more on their hair care.…

BY GAVIN BLAIR

JAPAN’S Aeon Co. will sever all its ties with Carrefour when its licensing deal expires on March 9, renaming six outlets and phasing out Carrefour-branded merchandise.

The French retailer struggled after opening its first Japan store in 2000.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

WHEN Mexico’s economy faced a sharp decline last year, few industries were spared – tobacco included. A downturn in the world economy teamed with a slew of factors made a dent in the country’s tobacco sales. But in spite of this tobacco companies have remained positive.…

BY MARK ROWE and KEITH NUTHALL

THIS April, the UK will launch a feed-in tariff for electricity, which the government said will accelerate take-up of green energy among the general public. According to the European Commission’s energy directorate-general, the European Union (EU) already uses at least 20% more energy than is justified, which has led to twin concerns – the need to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and to encourage consumers to switch to green energy tariffs and sources.…

BY MARK GODFREY

IT has not traditionally featured on prospectors’ radar but Mongolia is quickly emerging as an Asian oil exporter. Thanks to rising oil demand from China, the Petroleum Authority of Mongolia has inked production-sharing agreements on 12 oil fields with explorers from north America, Australia and China.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CHINA has come under increased pressure to scrap export restrictions on certain key non-ferrous metals, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) establishing a disputes panel to adjudicate complaints about these rules. With the European Union (EU) being joined by the United States and Mexico as formal parties to this dispute, the outlook could be serious for China if it loses.…

BY GAVIN BLAIR

JAPAN’S Asahi Breweries has said it plans to build a Japanese Yen JPY400 billion (US$4.5 billion) war chest for overseas acquisitions by 2012 without raising cash from shareholders, instead using loans and revenue. Company officials have predicted it will earn Yen 360 billion (US$4 billion) by 2012 from overseas holdings including Schweppes Australia and Tsingtao Brewery in China.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A YEAR of struggle would be the best way to sum up 2009 as far as the global clothing and textile industry is concerned. The depth and severity of the worldwide recession left many clothing and textile companies reeling, even impacting upon China, which had previously been dominating global markets.…

BY GAVIN BLAIR

JAPAN-based food retailer Seven & I Holdings has opened a new online mall, ‘Seven Net Shopping’, stocked with five million items.

The service consolidates the online presence of the group’s department stores, supermarkets and convenience stores, while adding 32 outside specialist retailers, including record labels and an animation studio.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD, ANCA GURZU, GAVIN BLAIR and KEITH NUTHALL

NEW technologies devour new resources and the move towards hybrid and electric vehicles could make some currently impoverished countries rich. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, the soft metal lithium will become increasingly in demand as a critical component of auto batteries for green cars.…