Tag Archives: China

Rare earth mountains and Federal supply chain assistance ?

A bloombergbusinessweek article (Oct 31-Nov 6, 2011, pg 85) describes a private company’s attempt to mine rare earths from the Bokan montain in Alaska. The mountain represents the highest purity source of rare earths in the US.  But China represents … Continue reading

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OEMs, Yuan contracts and supplier costs

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Oct 3, 2011) describes China’s attempts to make the Yuan a global currency and its role in supplier contracts. Current rules to buy and sell yuan involve a lot of paperwork, as a result … Continue reading

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Yuan Appreciation, labor flexibility and back to US manufacturing

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 7, 2011) describes decisons a furniture manufacturer and high end earphone to move production back to the US. The reasons – a 30 % yuan appreciation from 2005 to 2011, US union flexibility and … Continue reading

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Airbus and Boeing long term airplane demand forecasts

An article in the New York Times (September 19, 2011)  states that Airbus predicts that a demand for 27,800 airplanes by 2030 with a potential revenue impact of $ 3.5 trillion and an implied air traffic growth rate of 4.8 … Continue reading

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Will China’s inflation impact the USA ?

A report by Hale and Hobijn (http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-25.html) suggests that imports from China account for 2.7 % of US consumer expenditure. Of that 2.7%, over 55 % consists of services in the US, thus imports of China constitute 1.2 % of … Continue reading

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Changing the mix of China’s automobile production

A New York Times article (Sept 4, 2011) describes a shift in emphasis in China from increasing manufacturing volume to higher mileage cars.  Car sales increased by 5 % in 2011 compared to a 33 % increase in 2010. Officials … Continue reading

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A new report on Apple’s China Supply Chain and associated pollution

A recent report (http://www.ipe.org.cn/Upload/Report-IT-V-Apple-II.pdf, published August 31, 2011) questions whether decisions made by Apple’s suppliers continue to have a negative environmental impact.  The report identifies suppliers who release hazardous chemicals into the river or environment, the speed of ramp up … Continue reading

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China rare earth exports policy and new plant location

A New York Times article (August 24, 2011) describes the impact of China’s policy to limit exports of rare earth metals on new plant location decisions by Showa Denko of Japan and Intematix of the United States. Showa produces alloys … Continue reading

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Greenpeace’s Dirty Laundry report and Puma’s Commitment

A Greenpeace report ‘Dirty Laundry” (http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/Dirty-Laundry/) describes results from water samples from the Yangtze and the Pearl river deltas. Their analysis suggests significant levels of chemical contamination that are potentially hazardous and can impact fish populations too.  The report urges … Continue reading

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Dropping rare earth prices in China and supply chain impact

The Wall Street Journal (July 6, 2011) reports that rare earth metal prices in China dropped by as much as 7.2 %, a remarkable change from a short few months when China’s cut in exports created worries of global shortages … Continue reading

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