Tag Archives: China

Pipeline flow direction in Canada to accomodate tar sands output growth

A article in the Economist (May 26, 2012) describes the increased oil production from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, estimated to gow to 72 % of Canada’s output by 2020 (from 58 % now). But getting that oil, which … Continue reading

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Making TVs in Detroit ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 23, 2012) describes a decision by Element Electronics to assemble 46 inch flatscreen TVs, to be sold for $ 499 at Target, in a plant in Detroit. The company claims that the … Continue reading

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Will parents pay more for US made baby cribs ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2012) describes a decision by Stanley Furniture to move production of its baby cribs to Robbinsville, NC from China. Four reasons cited are (a) the worries about poor quality products (think … Continue reading

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The logic for making $ 39 hand mixers in the US

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2012) describes a decision by Whirlpool to move production of its hand mixers, that retail for $ 39, back to its plant in Greenville, Ohio. This decision was despite US wages … Continue reading

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Lost opportunity for Pakistan’s textile mills ?

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 30,2012) describes Pakistan’s textile industry as one of the world’s largest,employing 20% of the country’s labor and $14 billion in exports. But in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad, that produces 50% of the output, power … Continue reading

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Dealing with rising prices of “down”

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 8,2012) describes the impact of rising prices of goose down ($12 per pound in 2009 to $28 now) and duck down ($9 to $19). The driver of these price increases range from … Continue reading

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Figuring out if Chinese solar panel manufacturers are dumping in the US

An article in the New York Times (May 16, 2012) describes possible countries whose cost structure could be used to estimate costs in China. In the past, costs in India i.e., labor, material, rent, electricity have been used as a … Continue reading

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Rising palladium prices and drivers

An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 25, 2012) describes rising prices of palladium, a metal used in gasoline car exhausts. It is the sister metal of platinum, used in diesel car exhausts. Rising sales in the US and … Continue reading

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The global garbage supply chain

An essay in the Wall Street Journal (April 18,2012) describes computers as the top export from China to the US, and garbage as America’s greatest export to China. With Americans generating 7 lbs of garbage per person per day, New … Continue reading

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Service constraints abroad and market access impact

An article in the New York Times (April 10,2012) describes restrictions on flight paths for UPS in China, and the consequent service disruption due to bad weather. The lack of route flexibility thus impacts service guarantees offered by UPS. Given … Continue reading

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