PR Resource – Muarateweh.net

China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany signed an agreement on Wednesday, Jan 9 that will speed up transport of goods and cargo between Asia and China and halve current traveling time by sea.

The treaty aims to simplify customs and border checks, according to the China Daily.

“Barring any complications, a scheduled container train should be shuttling between China and Germany in a year’s time,” said Zheng Mingli, chairman of China Railway Container Transport, according to the report.

The route, which will link Beijing and Hamburg, is expected to boost trade and cargo flows between the two continents and would allow goods to be delivered in a record 18 days. Currently, delivery of cargo by sea between the two destinations takes about 40 days. (continue reading…)

PLANS for a rail line to the State Government’s new flagship “sustainable” community in Melbourne’s north were shelved despite a predicted cost for the project of less than $100 million — under a third the price cited by transport chiefs.

A Department of Infrastructure report says an extension of the Epping line, with a station at the new suburb of Aurora, would cost just $76 million, or $224 million less than the $Ꮼ million price tag cited by the Government.

Aurora and nearby South Morang are in one of Victoria’s fastest-growing urban areas. The state-backed property developer, VicUrban, lauds its Aurora project as a best-practice, sustainable development, with transport central to the pitch to buyers.

Original plans of the suburb showed a rail line branching off the Epping line at Lalor, with new stations at Epping Plaza, Aurora and Epping North. (continue reading…)

Hong Kong stocks rebounded Tuesday as investors were heartened by overnight gains on Wall Street and snapped up beaten down shares amid expectations for a U.S. interest rate cut later this week.

The blue chip Hang Seng Index rose 238.19 points, or 0.99 percent, toಘ,291.8, trimming some of its earlier gains. It tumbled 4.27 percent Monday on worries that a prolonged contraction in the U.S. economy would hurt Hong Kong exports.

Since the end of last year, the Hang Seng has lost about 13 percent.

Monday’s sell-off gave investors a chance to re-enter the market, said Francis Lun, a general manager at Fulbright Securities. “Hong Kong’s rally is really making up for yesterday’s fall. The market was oversold,” he said.
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Aiming to cash in on the growing retail market, Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd (GHCL) is planning to demerge its consumer business division into a separate subsidiary.

The company also has plans to set up 300 exclusive home furnishing and textile stores across the country during the next fiscal under ‘Roseby Interior’ brand which it acquired from its promoters in UK.

“We will launch our first outlet in the first quarter of the 2008-09 fiscal. Within the first year, we are planning to roll out 300 stores across the country,” GHCL Chairman Sanjay Dalmia told PTI.

He said the company is looking at a franchisee model to roll out the brand pan-India.

Roseby is the largest home furnishing retailer in the UK with more than 300 stores operational. (continue reading…)

Asian exporters are already feeling the effects of a US economic downturn — effects that may be magnified by a weak dollar, volatile world markets and fears that more bad loans may be ticking in the coffers of US companies.

Rather than waiting for things to get worse, companies from Chinese garment businesses to Japanese equipment manufacturers are changing how they operate.

The weakening US demand is clear. US orders for small tractors fell 5 percent last year at the Kubota Corp in Osaka, Japan, and are expected to fall further this year. Orders from the US have been weak for a year at Top Form, the Hong Kong company that is the world’s largest bra manufacturer. And at Aigret Industries, a manufacturer of multiline phone systems and fax machines in Xiamen, China, orders from the US plunged 30 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago. (continue reading…)

With a global recession dominating world headlines, it is only a matter of time before the fashion and manufacturing industries become affected. In India, one of the world’s leading producing countries of cotton, prices for cotton have risen dramatically in the past year and many textile mills are in the crisis, according to the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA). Most high street and international conglomerates will have some link to Indian manufacturing, from Topshop to River Island to Katharine Hamnett.

In a release, SIMA chairman K.V. Srinivasan said cotton prices were 20 per cent higher than in January last year, and yarn prices were 10 per cent lower than in the corresponding period last year. “Textile mills will normally procure their entire cotton requirement during November��€“January. But during this season, the mills are not in a position to buy cotton owing to high prices and lower realisation of yarn prices.” The textile spinning sector had been reeling under recession since the beginning of 2007 owing to the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar and high interest rates. (continue reading…)

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is in talks with its New York rival Nymex about an $11 billion (�‚Â٣.5 billion) deal to create one of the worldâ€�„¢s largest derivatives exchanges.

If successful, the tie-up would represent the next step in a frenzy of consolidation among the big global exchanges, which are struggling to build market share. Under the terms of the proposed deal, CME Group – the Chicago exchange’s parent company – would acquire Nymex by offering its shareholders $36 in cash and 0񰨋 CME shares for each Nymex share. The offer values Nymex shares at roughly $119.22 each, an 11 per cent premium on its closing price on Friday.

In a joint statement yesterday, issued after mounting speculation about a deal, the companies said that they had agreed a 30-day exclusive negotiating period. The statement said that discussions were at an early stage. �¢â‚�œThere can be no assurances that any agreement will be reached or that a transaction will be completed,Ã�€ it said, adding that any deal would be subject to completion of due diligence and the approvals of both boards of directors. (continue reading…)