Globalization
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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
EU Lawmakers Veto Tighter Cap-And-Trade System
April 16, 2013 10:16 am | by Juergen Baetz, Associated Press | News | CommentsEuropean lawmakers dealt a blow to one of Europe's flagship policies on fighting climate change when they voted Tuesday against tightening the bloc's system of making companies pay for pollution. The European Union cap-and-trade system — the world's biggest — was introduced in 2005 in the hope of encouraging industries to reduce emissions and invest in greener technologies.
Bridgestone To Set Up First Russia Tire Plant
April 16, 2013 10:12 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsBridgestone Corp. has said it plans to establish a car tire plant in Ulyanovsk in western Russia -- its first tire production base in the country -- by the end of June, aiming to build production capacity for around 12,000 tires per day in 2018.
U.S. Declines To Label China Currency Manipulator
April 15, 2013 1:40 pm | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsThe Obama administration declined to label China a currency manipulator, although it said that China's currency remains significantly undervalued. The decision came in a twice-a-year Treasury report on whether any nations are manipulating their currencies to gain trade advantages.
Amid Investigation, Coal Exports At Record Levels
April 15, 2013 9:35 am | by Matthew Brown, Associated Press | News | CommentsFrom the time coal is scooped from the depths of the Spring Creek strip mine in Montana's wide-open Powder River Basin until it travels more than 6,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to power plants in South Korea, the price can increase more than fivefold.
Business As Usual For South Korean Tech Giants
April 12, 2013 4:03 pm | by ReutersTV | Videos | CommentsWhile the world waits for the next big provocation from North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un, across the de-militarized border to the South, it's business as usual. Even if rising threats from North Korea were to disrupt production for Samsung or LG in the South, it would have limited impact on the global supply chain. Reuters' Jon Gordon explains why.
U.S. Approves Japan Entry Into TPP Trade Talks
April 12, 2013 3:30 pm | by Matthew Pennington, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe United States on Friday approved Japan's entry into negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a critical step for Tokyo's inclusion in a regional trade pact that underpins the Obama administration's efforts to boost exports to Asia.
German Leader Welcomes GM Investment
April 12, 2013 10:01 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed General Motors' decision to invest another 4 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in European subsidiary Opel by 2016 as part of an attempt to turn the money-losing division around. Merkel met with GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson and other company officials Thursday in Berlin.
Employers Eager For New Foreign Worker Program
April 10, 2013 12:40 pm | by Sam Hananel, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe new W visa program would admit 20,000 low-skilled foreign workers starting in 2015 and could gradually grow up to a cap of 200,000 after five years. The number of visas would fluctuate, depending on unemployment rates, job openings, employer demand and other data.
China And California Sign Deal To Boost Investment
April 10, 2013 12:37 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsBrown and the California business executives he is traveling with on the seven-day mission are keen to attract more Chinese investment. Brown, however, is acknowledging there are limits to the incentives the state will make, telling American executives that keeping the state's budget in balance is a priority.
Global Trade To Be Weaker Than Expected
April 10, 2013 12:06 pm | by John Heilprin, Associated Press | News | CommentsGlobal trade will be weaker than expected this year as European economies struggle with their debt crisis, and will recover only slightly in 2014, the World Trade Organization said Wednesday. The global trade body forecast in its annual report that trade would grow 3.3 percent during 2013, significantly less than the 4.5 percent it had earlier predicted.
BMW Sets Monthly Sales Record
April 9, 2013 2:06 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsGerman luxury automaker BMW AG says it had its best month ever in March, increasing global sales by 3 percent to 191,269 vehicles. For the first three months of the year, sales rose by 5.3 percent compared with a year earlier, to 448,200 units — even though sales slipped in the company's home market, Germany.
Ford: Focus Is Best-Selling Car In The World
April 9, 2013 10:17 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsFord Motor Co. says its Focus small car was the best-selling vehicle nameplate in the world last year, with just over 1 million sold. More than a quarter of all Focuses were sold in China, its largest market. The U.S. was the car's second-largest market.
Factories That Ran On Korean Cooperation Go Silent
April 9, 2013 10:16 am | by Kim Yong-Ho, Youkyung Lee, Associated Press | News | CommentsA few hundred South Korean managers, some wandering among quiet assembly lines, were all that remained Tuesday at the massive industrial park run by the rival Koreas after North Korea pulled its more than 50,000 workers from the complex. Others stuffed their cars full of goods before heading south across the Demilitarized Zone that divides the nations.
Fiat-Chrysler Bearish On Europe
April 9, 2013 10:13 am | by Colleen Barry, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsItalian carmaker Fiat, which controls Chrysler, will revise its earnings targets later this month as the European market is expected to decline for a sixth straight year, CEO Sergio Marchionne told shareholders Tuesday. European economies are suffering as governments cut spending and raise taxes to lower debt.
Vestas' CO Factories Benefit From Canada Order
April 9, 2013 10:09 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsVestas' Colorado factories will produce wind turbines for a wind farm that will be built in Canada. The Danish company announced Monday that it has received an order to make 166 wind generators for the Blackspring Ridge Wind Project near Alberta.
How Government Can Help Small And Midsize Manufacturers Export
April 5, 2013 3:52 pm | by Mike Collins, Author, Saving American Manufacturing | Blogs | CommentsIn 2009, President Obama set a goal of doubling exports in 5 years. The President portrayed his initiative as a boon for small companies, likely because fewer than four percent of all service businesses export, according to the Small Business Administration.
China Is The World’s Largest Manufacturer, And By An Increasing Margin
April 5, 2013 3:19 pm | by Daniel J. Meckstroth, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Economist, MAPI | Articles | CommentsChina1 displaced the United States as the world’s largest manufacturing nation in 2010 and widened its lead in 2011, according to recently published data from the United Nations. Manufacturing value-added in China totaled $2.35 trillion in 2011 while U.S. manufacturing value-added was $1.90 trillion.2
U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows To $43B In February
April 5, 2013 9:42 am | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsThe U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in February as exports climbed close to an all-time high and the volume of imported crude oil fell to the lowest level in 17 years. The gap between exports and imports shrank to $43 billion in February, down 3.4 percent from January's revised $44.5 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Is Re-Industrialization The Key?
April 5, 2013 8:00 am | by Dr. Tom McNamara, Assistant Professor of Operations Management, Rennes School of Business | Blogs | CommentsMost economists agree that the “Great Recession” of 2008 ended sometime around August 2009, and while the economy has been slowly recovering, unemployment still appears to be a stubborn problem. The headline rate is just a shade under 8 percent, which translates into a little over 12 million Americans out of work.
U.S. Is Halfway To Obama's Export-Doubling Goal
April 4, 2013 2:20 pm | by Tom Raum, Associated Press | News | CommentsSuddenly outsourcing is on the way out and insourcing on the way in as the U.S. trudges unevenly toward President Barack Obama's goal of doubling American exports around the world by the start of 2015. So far, export levels are about halfway to his mark.
HK Dockworkers Refuse To Back Down In Port Strike
April 3, 2013 10:14 am | by Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsStriking Hong Kong dockworkers refused to back down Wednesday in a weeklong pay dispute that is slowing cargo shipments at the world's third busiest port. Several hundred dockworkers and supporters camped out on the road in front of a container terminal. The workers are demanding a 20 percent pay rise but subcontractors supplying labor to port operators are only offering 5 percent.
Turkish Company Plans TX Steel Pipe Plant
April 3, 2013 10:12 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA Turkish company has announced plans to build a $148 million steel pipe-making plant near Houston. Gov. Rick Perry says about 250 jobs are expected to be created at the facility planned for Baytown. Perry on Tuesday announced Borusan Mannesmann will receive $1.6 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund in support of the project.
Why Global Carmakers Are Feeling Good
April 2, 2013 1:37 pm | by CNN Money | Videos | CommentsThe auto market is up, the worldwide economic recovery continues, and auto manufacturers seem to be doing well. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says there is "much more excitement" thanks to profits in the auto industry despite the bad economy in Europe.
Euro Area Unemployment At Record 12 Percent
April 2, 2013 10:17 am | by Pan Pylas, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe eurozone economy has passed another bleak milestone. Official figures Tuesday showed that unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro has struck 12 percent for the first time since the currency was launched in 1999.
Honda To Resume Construction Of India Plant
April 2, 2013 10:15 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Indian subsidiary of Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it will resume construction of its second auto plant in India, suspended since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Honda Cars India Ltd. aims to complete the plant in the western Indian state of Rajasthan next year, and to boost its annual vehicle production capacity in India to 240,000 vehicles.
