LONDON : Japanese carmaker Nissan is cancelling plans to make the next model of its X-Trail sports utility vehicle in Britain, less than two months before the country is due to leave the European Union, broadcaster Sky News said on Saturday.

Nissan first said four months after Britain voted in June 2016 to leave the EU that it would manufacture a new model of the SUV in Britain, which was seen as a major vote of confidence in the country’s manufacturing future.

The main production plant for the current X-Trail is in Japan, while Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, northeast England, makes the smaller Qashqai SUV and other models. “Precise details of Nissan’s impending announcement were unclear this weekend, but sources said it was likely to initially involve abandoning the X-Trail production plans which had been announced in the autumn of 2016,” Sky reported.

A UK-based spokesman for Nissan declined to comment. Sky said the announcement due on Monday was not expected to lead to immediate job losses at the Sunderland plant, as the X-Trail is not currently made there, but would raise doubts about further Nissan investment in Britain.

As well as the X-Trail, Nissan said in 2016 it would build the next generation Qashqai SUV in Britain after receiving government assurances over Brexit, in what was seen at the time as a boost for Prime Minister Theresa May.

Tesla to sell cheaper Model 3 in China
However, the failure of Britain’s government so far to negotiate a smooth exit plan from the European Union has made car manufacturers less willing to use Britain as a European manufacturing center. Investment in Britain’s car industry halved last year, data showed on Thursday, and car production by Nissan in Britain fell by more than 10 percent.

Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said leaving the EU on March 29 without a transition deal to preserve the smooth flow of parts and finished vehicles across EU borders would cause “permanent devastation” to the British car industry.

(Reuters)

General Motors Co said on Saturday it is negotiating “feasibility conditions” to invest 10 billion reais ($2.73 billion) in Brazil from 2020 to 2024, after having warned last month that new investments would depend on returning to profit. The automaker also said it is completing an investment plan of 13 billion reais between 2014 and 2019.

“As market leaders, we are taking on the responsibility of facing the challenges of competitiveness that the industry.

Valor reported that GM would invest in its product line until 2022, and then the following year, the company would start to enjoy tax rebates. Valor, which also reported that GM’s losses in Brazil last year totaled 1 billion reais despite being the country’s market leader, did not specify the exact amount GM would expect to generate in tax incentives. 

(REUTERS)

Chinese state-owned firms bought at least 1 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans on Friday, a day after high-level bilateral talks yielded progress toward a trade deal and a Chinese commitment to buy more U.S. soybeans.

The purchases are slated for shipment between April and July, with a large share expected from U.S. Gulf Coast export terminals, three traders with knowledge of the deals said.

One trader with direct knowledge of the deals said total purchases were around 2.2 million tonnes. The other two traders said the sales were similar to three recent waves of buying in which state-owned firms booked 1 million to 1.5 million tonnes of soybeans.

But the market’s gains were restrained by worries that Chinese purchases will hardly dent massive soybean stockpiles in the United States and around the world. The looming harvest of a large soy crop in Brazil, the world’s top supplier, further capped prices.

“It certainly is good to see some concessions and more buying interest from China, but this is a concession in terms of a larger trade agreement. Brazilian offers are cheaper than we are so it’s just part of the negotiation,” said Terry Linn, analyst with Chicago-based brokerage Linn & Associates.

Friday’s purchases by state-owned firms were believed to be destined for China’s state reserves, and thus immune from high import tariffs on U.S. beans. The 25 percent tariffs, imposed last summer in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, remain in place for U.S. soy imports by commercial crushers in China.

Exports to China have plummeted this season during a bitter trade dispute, with swelling supplies sending prices to near decade lows last autumn and U.S. farmers struggling to turn a profit.

China has been buying most of its soybeans from Brazil, which is in pace to harvest a bumper crop in the coming months.

Friday’s sales bring China’s total purchases of the 2018 U.S. soybean harvest to at least 6.5 million tonnes, a fraction of its traditional annual haul from the United States of more than 30 million tonnes.

Trump hails progress in trade talks with China
Through January of 2017, more than 29.4 million tonnes of that season’s harvest had already been shipped to China, with another 4 million tonnes sold and awaiting shipment, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Benchmark Chicago Board of Trade March futures climbed to $9.31-1/4 a bushel on Friday, the highest point for a most actively traded soy contract Sv1 since mid-June. Beijing slapped steep tariffs on U.S. soybeans on July 6, effectively halting all U.S. shipments to their top customer.

Before Friday’s sales, China had previously booked an estimated 5 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans in three waves of purchases since U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a trade war detente on Dec. 1.

After high-level trade talks in Washington this week, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He announced on Thursday China would buy an additional 5 million tonnes.

(REUTERS)

NEW YORK: Oil prices rose about 3 percent on Friday on upbeat U.S. jobs data and signs that U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan exports have helped tighten supply, then extending gains after weekly data showed U.S. drillers cut the number of oil rigs.

Brent crude oil futures rose $1.91 a barrel, or 3.14 percent, to settle at $62.75 a barrel. The international benchmark notched a weekly gain of about 1.9 percent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures ended the session at $55.26, up $1.47 a barrel or 2.73 percent and gained about 3 percent on the week.

Prices climbed to session highs after General Electric Co’s Baker Hughes energy services firm reported that U.S. energy firms cut the number of operating oil rigs for a fourth week in the past five, bringing the count to the lowest in eight months. Last week’s data showed the rig count in January fell the most in a month since April 2016.

Oil prices got a boost from Wall Street after surprisingly strong U.S. job growth data fed demand for equities.  Washington imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s Petróleos de Venezuela SA this week, keeping tankers stuck at ports. On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department provided details.

“We are beginning to see the impact to crude supplies from the sanctions on Venezuela. It has driven up domestic crude prices, cutting into refiner margins,” Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, said.

“That, combined with Saudi cuts and Libyan production declines has changed market sentiment as we appear to be moving toward a better balanced supply situation.”

Some U.S. refiners have begun reducing crude processing as sanctions have boosted oil costs and as gasoline margins crashed to their lowest in nearly a decade, market sources told Reuters on Thursday. In January, Saudi Arabia pumped 350,000 bpd less than in December, a Reuters survey showed.

Financial markets also gained support from comments on Twitter by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, saying he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to try to resolve a trade standoff. But Trump later warned he could postpone talks if a deal remains elusive.

China’s trade delegation said the latest round of talks with the United States made “important progress”, state news agency Xinhua reported. “Many traders recognize that sense is likely to prevail and a deal will be struck after the summit – although the shape of any deal will continue to drive a jittery market,” Cantor Fitzgerald Europe said in a note.

Disappointing factory activity threatens global growth
But a survey showed China’s factory activity shrank by the most in almost three years in January, reinforcing fears about fuel demand in the world’s second-largest economy. Analysts believe the oil market will be more balanced in 2019 after supply cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Iraq’s oil exports averaged 3.649 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, down slightly from the previous month, the oil ministry said on Friday.

(REUTERS)

TOKYO – There were 161 jobs for every 100 jobseekers on average last year in Japan, the highest ratio since 1973, highlighting the labor shortage in the world’s third-largest economy and its ageing society. According to labor ministry data released on Friday, the ratio was even higher in December, at 163 jobs available for every 100 people looking for work.
The Japanese labor market has been tight for many years as the workforce shrinks with a rapidly ageing population and a low childbirth rate. country’s unemployment rate also remained at low levels in December, hitting 2.4 percent, a 0.1-percentage point drop from the previous month, according to separate data from the internal affairs ministry.Along with a labour shortage, Japan has also been engaged in a lengthy battle against deflation.Last month, the Bank of Japan lowered its inflation forecasts for the fiscal year ending March next year to 0.9 percent from 1.4 percent.

Japan’s economy shrank in the three months to September after a string of natural disasters hit consumer spending and exports. But analysts expect a rebound in the last quarter of the year thanks to a broadly solid global economy. AFP

KATHMANDU: With a huge amount of national and foreign investments in cement industries, Nepal is self-reliant in cement production this year onwards. According to industrialists, cement industries have received the investment of around Rs 200 billion, while this sector has the annual transaction of worth Rs 150 billion.
Chairman of Nepal Cement Producers’ Association Dhrubaraj Thapa said that Nepal has become self-reliant in cement production from zero level at the interval of 16 years with the entry of the private sector in the production of cement adding that Nepal is expected to export cement from the next fiscal year.
“Compared to other sectors, cement industry progressed in a speedy manner. This is the prideful moment for Nepal. Now, the government should take steps to resolve the problems facing the cement industries,” he argued.
The Himal Cement Company first started the productions of cement in Nepal in 1960 but the private sector invested in cement industry 16 years ago. Currently, there are 56 cement industries in Nepal including two state-owned companies– Udayapur Cement Industry and Hetauda Cement Industry.
According to Thapa, the cement factories in the country produced 9 million tonnes of cement in the last fiscal year despite their production capacity of 13 million tonnes. Likewise, the country imported meager five percent of cement during the same period. However, industrialists claim that cost of cement production in Nepal is one of the highest in the world and lack of sufficient raw materials and coal is responsible for the high cost, it is said.
The industrialists have argued that frequent changes in policies, problems with labor laws, compulsion to hire foreign human resources, hassles in regard to mines and forest sectors, debate about taxation in between local and provincial levels and some others are the key problems in this sector.
Engineer at Department of Mines and Geology Jayaraj Ghimire said that program to promote limestone would be initiated in Nepal adding that a total of 168 industries are given license to extract the limestone.
Likewise, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav said that the government was planning to further develop the cement industries by amending the legal hassles existing since past. He also urged the stakeholders for cooperation and consultation, stating that prosperity was not likely without development of industries and partnership with the private sector.

WASHINGTON, Jan 30: The United States and China launch a critical round of trade talks on Wednesday amid deep differences over U.S. demands for structural economic reforms from Beijing that will make it difficult to reach a deal before a March 2 U.S. tariff hike.

The two sides will meet next door to the White House in the highest-level talks since U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed a 90-day truce in their trade war in December.

People familiar with the talks and trade experts watching them say that, so far, there has been little indication that Chinese officials are willing to address core U.S. demands to protect American intellectual property rights and end policies that Washington says force U.S. companies to transfer technology to Chinese firms.

The U.S. complaints, along with accusations of Chinese cyber theft of U.S. trade secrets and a systematic campaign to acquire U.S. technology firms, were used by the Trump administration to justify punitive U.S. tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on $200 billion to 25 percent from 10 percent on March 2 if an agreement cannot be reached. He has also threatened new tariffs on the remainder of Chinese goods shipped to the United States.

“Clearly on the structural concerns, on forced technology transfer, there remains a significant gap if not a wide chasm between the two sides,” a person familiar with the talks told Reuters.

Chinese officials deny that their policies coerce technology transfers. They have emphasized steps already taken, including reduced automotive tariffs and a draft foreign investment law that improves access for foreign firms and promises to outlaw “administrative means to force the transfer of technology.”

A crucial component of any progress in the talks, according to top administration officials, is agreement on a mechanism to verify and “enforce” China’s follow-through on any reform pledges that it makes. This could maintain the threat of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods long term. (Reuters)

TOKYO, Jan. 30: The operator of Japan’s All Nippon Airways said Tuesday it has decided to order a total of 48 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus for deliveries from 2021 through 2025.
ANA Holdings said it would buy 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes and 18 Airbus A320neo units, citing growing demand in the region and increased inbound tourism to Japan.
The company said the 30 Boeing jets would have a catalogue price of 383 billion yen ($3.5 billion), adding that the firm has so far confirmed orders for 20 units, with an option to buy 10 more.
The 18 Airbus orders are all confirmed, but their engines are yet to be decided, the company said. For now, the Airbus deal has a catalogue price of 166 billion yen, ANA Holdings said.
The deal makes ANA the first Japanese buyer of the Boeing model, while the Airbus A320neo already serves ANA’s international routes. The company praised the fuel efficiency of the two models. (AFP/RSS)

BEIJING, Jan 29: Beijing reported GDP of over 3 trillion yuan (446.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, authorities said Wednesday.
According to the municipal statistics bureau, Beijing attained GDP of 3.03 trillion yuan last year, up 6.6 percent.
“Beijing spent a lot of efforts on moving the non-capital functions out of the city and attained a stable economic growth with its quality improved last year,” said Pang Jiangqian, deputy director of the bureau.
The city’s new economy grew 9.3 percent to over 1 trillion yuan, accounting for 33.2 percent of the city’s GDP.
The city’s per capita disposable income also rose 9 percent to 62,361 yuan last year.
The city saw a total consumption of 2.54 trillion yuan, up 7.4 percent thanks to the growing income.
Consumption in the service sector reached 1.37 trillion yuan, up 11.8 percent, contributing 82.6 percent to the city’s total consumption growth.
According to the city’s market regulation bureau, the number of enterprises in science and technology, service, culture, sports and entertainment established last year reached 88,716, accounting for nearly 50 percent of new enterprises in Beijing last year.
“Our company invested in a number of science and technology companies in areas such as artificial intelligence,” said Wu Haiyan with China Growth Capital, a venture capital firm.
The technical income of science and technology companies above a designated scale in Zhongguan science park accounted for 17.2 percent of the companies’ total income in the first 11 months of 2018, up 2.2 percent year on year.
The culture industry in Beijing also developed fast, with companies above a designated scale and public institutions in the industry reporting revenues of 925 billion yuan last year.

A UK foreign office minister has suggested that the Bank of England grant access to £1.2bn in Venezuelan gold reserves to the self-proclaimed interim leader Juan Guaido rather than Nicolás Maduro.

In a statement to British MPs, Sir Alan Duncan said the decision was a matter for the Bank and its governor, Mark Carney, and not the government. But he added: “It is they who have to make a decision on this, but no doubt when they do so they will take into account there are now a large number of countries across the world questioning the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduroand recognizing that of Juan Guaidó.”

Guaidó has already written to Theresa May asking for the funds to be sent to him.