China Chemical Industry

India: Start of an interesting “Journey”, but are we building the right “Roads”!

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Deal would liberalise international trade in agriculture, manufactured goods and services

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BAHRAINI seafood might be more famous for hamour, but it’s the country’s jellyfish that are washing up on menus across Asia. Most commonly viewed as a nuisance at home, Bahraini jellyfish are proving to be a popular delicacy in the Far East. Tonnes of salted jellyfish tentacles are being flown out of Bahrain every year and wolfed down in countries like Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and …

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Calcutta, July 27: Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd and China-based Shanghai Electric Corporation Ltd will enter into an agreement tomorrow to set up a $3-billion joint venture for power equipment manufacturing.

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The rage for sushi and sashimi, Japan’s raw fish dishes that overtook the West and have now spread to increasingly prosperous China, risks wiping out one of the Mediterranean’s most emblematic residents: the bluefin tuna.

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By light years, Washington traditionally has held the upper hand when it comes to foreign influence on Latin America. Its hemispheric power-advantage rests on decades of security, trade, investment, and ideological connections.

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The diamond cutting and polishing industry recently established in Botswana following the setting up of Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB) has already created over 3, 000 jobs, two years ahead of target, Business Week has learnt.

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Software engineer Keith Brown was conducting a meeting by teleconference when he had to call an abrupt halt. Dido, one of the family’s two dogs, had just brought in a dead opossum.

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The furniture factories outside this manufacturing hub are eerily quiet, victims of a housing crisis half a world away in the United States that is sapping demand for everything from beds to bookcases.

Wenzhou is the entrepreneurial heart of Zhejiang, a thriving eastern province that was China’s biggest exporter of furniture in the first five months of the year.

China sells about 40 percent of its furniture output overseas, with half its exports shipped to the United States, according to the China National Furniture Association.

“Business is poor this year, especially since May,” said Liu Yongcheng, a senior executive at Zhejiang Adwin Furniture, which is running well below capacity.

When order books are full, the company can churn out $1 million worth of furniture a month.

The difficulties facing Liu and countless other exporters up and down China’s coast have grabbed the attention of the leadership in Beijing.

Officials from President Hu Jintao down have carried out a series of high-profile inspection visits, including to Wenzhou, to see for themselves how the global credit crunch is hitting Chinese industry.

Seen from Wenzhou, a major producer of garments, shoes, lighters and even sex toys, the picture is not  pretty.

Liu’s company was the first to move into an industrial site about 90 minutes from Wenzhou that was set up in 2005 to specialize in furniture manufacturing.

Many companies in the sector have since come and gone, but Liu said the burst of bankruptcies this year was unprecedented.

Apart from the weakening U.S. demand, companies are having to cope with tight credit and reduced tax rebates. Many are shedding staff to survive. Liu said he has reduced his own work force by one fifth to around 400.

Furniture companies around the globe have faced challenges in recent times.

Stanley Furniture, based in the United States, posted a surprise second-quarter loss and announced this month that it was cutting 350 jobs. The Italian company Natuzzi is reshuffling under a new business plan as it deals with a strong euro, the slowdown in North American and Europe, and low-cost competitors.

Zhu Changling, vice president of the China National Furniture Association, said U.S. importers were cutting orders as America’s housing crisis deepened, while Chinese factories were reluctant to accept the currency risk entailed by long-term orders because of the steadily rising yuan.

Manufacturers are also having to absorb rising production costs, especially from high oil and metal prices.

Cheng Zhe, a director at Zhejiang Haozhonghao Health Product, said raw material and labor costs had risen 20 percent and 10 percent respectively so far this year, squeezing the plump 30 percent profit margin the firm used to enjoy.

His company, which sells a range of orthopaedic chairs, sofas and beds, exports about 80 percent of its production to the United States, the Middle East and neighboring Asian nations.

“We companies are undertaking bigger risks while our profit margin is shrinking,” Cheng said.

The gravity of the sector’s ills are hard to judge from official figures.

Furniture exports in the first six months of 2008 were still up 28.5 percent in dollar terms from a year earlier, almost as strong as the 29.3 percent gain in all of 2007.

But a report to the cabinet by the Ministry of Commerce said the average profit margin of companies it surveys fell to only 1.1 percent in the first five months from 3.2 percent in the same period last year.

The ministry recommended slowing the yuan’s pace of appreciation and increasing rebates of value added tax, or VAT, to exporters to prevent a sharp drop in overseas shipments.

Chinese furniture makers are still very cautious about trying to pass on fast-rising costs to their customers.

“If we raise prices, our clients will leave,” said Liu, the Zhejiang Adwin Furniture executive. “But if we don’t, we are going to suffer.”

While his company still hesitates, many others have already increased their prices. Some are losing export orders as a result and are having to focus more on the domestic market.

Hou Xiaojing, a sales executive at Zhejiang Fudebao Furniture, which makes sofas, desks and beds, said one of its big customers had switched business to Vietnam, where prices are lower.

But Wenzhou is nothing if not resilient. The free-wheeling city is a cradle of capitalism, and its traders are often in the vanguard when China carves out new markets in tough parts of the world.

As well as cutting jobs, companies are trying to use energy and raw materials more efficiently and seeking out alternative, lower-cost suppliers.

“We’re confident that things will get better in the second half,” Liu said, adding that he was counting on the Canton Fair in October and other trade shows to win fresh orders.

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An Australian company’s attempt to stake a mining claim over much of the West Coast has angered the local mining industry.

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