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In the past decade, many aspects of the fashion industry have gone digital, including retail and publishing. But one thing that has endured IRL – and has remained crucial to how business is done – is the fashion week, which occurs in multiple cities around the world biannually.
Labels have relied on these spectacles – traditionally separated into spring/summer and fall/winter events (increasingly with resort and pre-fall collections in between) – to debut collections, while buyers and editors use them to order retail ranges and pinpoint trends. It’s become a merry-go-round of sorts: design, showcase, shop, repeat.
But when the pandemic hit earlier this year, the fashion industry – and the concept of the fashion week – radically changed.
In February, as editors and buyers gathered for Milan Fashion Week, the coronavirus was peaking in Wuhan. At Paris Fashion Week later that month, audience numbers dwindled, a number of labels withdrew collections or cancelled shows, and face masks were the trending accessory. By mid-March, as Melbourne Fashion Festival was drawing to a close, local coronavirus cases were growing and the festival was cut short.
The closure of retail stores and cancellation of wholesale orders that followed left many local designers with empty shops and warehouses full of stock. In those first few weeks, Richard Poulson – co-founder of Australian fashion label Morrison and CEO of new shopping platform Showroom-X – teamed up with the Australian Fashion Council to launch We Wear Australian, a campaign to draw attention to brands impacted by the pandemic. During the three-week campaign, local designers offered special deals and discounts to drive traffic to their websites.
Along with the lockdown that led to the closure of bricks-and-mortar, the industry was forced to adapt to social-distancing restrictions and travel bans. It was only in January this year – before the pandemic had spread across the globe – that Vogue Italia opted for an entirely illustrated issue to demonstrate the environmental impact of photoshoots. Who knew just months later most of those trappings – air travel; generators for electricity in remote, glamorous locales; catering for teams of stylists, photographers and models – would be impossible anyway due to a pandemic?
While many cultural events around the world were cancelled, some, including international film festivals (such as MIFF); Tomorrowland; and Melbourne Food & Wine Festival headed online. The fashion industry followed suit.
In June, London Fashion Week was the first of the four fashion capitals to replace physical shows with online programming. Consumers could explore virtual galleries (along with short films, podcasts and playlists), with participation from some of the world’s most esteemed labels, including Burberry and Victoria Beckham. Other designers, including Yves Saint Laurent, Dries Van Noten and Michael Kors, decided to delay presentation until later in the year.
Finnish design house Marimekko presented its pre-spring ’21 collection digitally at Copenhagen Fashion Week in August. “[It] offers the perfect opportunity to launch Marimekko’s 70th anniversary-year celebrations together with our community,” president and CEO Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko said in a statement. “In these unprecedented times, it is important to find new ways to inspire consumers as well as industry professionals, and we are happy to take part in one of the forerunning international fashion events in the world.” The digital presentation was set in the brand’s textile-printing factory in Helsinki, where more than one million metres of fabric are printed every year.
The Australian approach
Closer to home, the Australian Fashion Council joined forces with global B2B virtual-showroom platform Ordre to allow Australian designers to connect directly with buyers. In these virtual showrooms, buyers can review collections; place wholesale orders online; access designers’ virtual showrooms (including Commas, PE Nation and Third Form); and view product information and a range of photos and videos.
Since the pandemic began, many local labels – including Arnsdorf, E Nolan, Obus, White Story, Kloke and The Social Studio – have added face masks to their ranges. Others are using the downtime to make more permanent changes to how they do business.
Sydney-based jewellery designer and sculptor Holly Ryan says she’s used this period to rethink the hyper-seasonal approach to design. (She also opened a new studio and workshop in Sydney.) “That means moving away from a fast-paced fashion calendar and trend cycle to focus instead on a seasonless model,” she tells Broadsheet. “We’ll release new pieces only when they’re ready, and will continue to offer pre-order on more bespoke items, so that we can keep waste to a minimum.”
Aje co-founder Adrian Norris has used the break to ensure the brand’s digital presence is up to scratch. “In May, we [relaunched] our e-commerce platform. [And] in July, we opened a new flagship location in Sydney’s Bondi Junction. Bricks-and-mortar remains an anchor of the Aje personal experience,” he says. The label also opened a store in Parramatta in November.
Not following the seasons
Sisters Cheryl, Vanessa and Gabrielle Manning – founders of Sydney-based womenswear label Manning Cartell – hope their shift towards a seasonless model will be part of a broader trend in the industry.
“Saying ‘no to the fashion calendar’ means that we are able to present you with inspiring pieces that are relevant to the world’s weather patterns. Pieces that you will want to wear,” they said in a statement on Instagram. “At Manning Cartell we have always focused on an ethical approach to doing business, it’s part of our DNA. So now, to build on our ethical foundation, to reduce waste and the speed of fashion, and to make what we present to you more relevant, we will no longer be following the fashion calendar.”
The pandemic forced a reckoning for Melbourne-based womenswear label Kuwaii, which was also caught up in the production grind, with runs slowly increasing every season. The team returned to a smaller, less wasteful production process, incorporating the use of dead-stock fabrics and its own remnant fabrics.
For emerging labels that don’t yet have brand recognition, there are added challenges. Liandra Gaykamangu is a Yolngu woman from north-east Arnhem Land and the founder of swimwear label Liandra Swim, which was set to showcase at this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. The label was also nominated in two categories at the inaugural National Indigenous Fashion Awards, announced on August 5.
“The cancellation of Fashion Week was very disappointing,” Gaykamangu says. “We’re a small label, so it was very exciting when there was an opportunity for Liandra Swim to be a part of such an iconic Australian fashion event.”
Although Covid-19 has caused shipping delays, it’s added depth to the label’s commitment to slow fashion. “Liandra Swim only ever creates a limited number of pieces for any one collection. We aren’t looking to oversaturate the market, and when we sell out, we don’t restock either,” she says. “Instead of your package arriving in three days it’s now taking up to 10 days to arrive. I think the wider community is growing a deeper appreciation on how clothes are actually made and what issues designers are facing.”
French-Australian couture designer Delphine Genin has responded to the pandemic creatively, launching a series of couture embroidery classes online. She studied at the prestigious, Chanel-owned embroidery school Ecole Lesage in Paris, where she mastered the intricate Luneville style (she’s said to be the only designer in Australia to specialise in this particular style). The classes include access to 60 minutes of easy step-by-step videos; 25 hours of individual embroidery work; and a starter kit that includes a technical drawing, printed silk organza, silk and metallic threads, Swarovski crystals and a full embroidery set to complete your design.
Rocky times ahead
But despite the fashion industry’s scaled-back production and embrace of digital business models, the pandemic has proved the final nail in the coffin for many businesses already suffering from mismanagement and financial pressures.
One of Australia’s largest swimwear brands, Seafolly, entered voluntary administration in June, as did Sydney fashion retailer Tuchuzy.
This week, after 17 years, Aussie designer Alice McCall, founder of the eponymous label, appointed administrators. “I have had to make a necessary decision to edit down my business, with the objective of building a more sustainable business model for the future,” she said in a statement.
A couple of weeks ago she told Broadsheet that the pandemic had forced the industry to leverage digital opportunities and tools in order to grow. “I’m focusing on [growing] the consumer database and digital revenue, whether it be through social media, digital-marketing content or the e-commerce platform.” In June, she also offered an exclusive digital pre-order for her resort ’21 collection, and this week launched a collaboration with Cotton On.
And it’s not just designers having an impact on the industry. With Australia’s second-largest airline, Virgin Australia, going into voluntary administration, it has had flow-on effects, leaving Melbourne Fashion Festival without an official sponsor.
So what next
So, will the traditional fashion week still have a place in a post-pandemic world? Paris, New York, London and Milan all resumed physical shows for the spring/summer ’21 season in September, with the majority of audiences watching via livestream. And Australian Fashion Week is set to return for its 25th year in June 2021, with Afterpay sponsoring the event for the first time. The new sponsor has waived fees for participating designers, in a nod to the challenges they’ve faced this year, and the shows will be more consumer-friendly, with tickets available for several select shows and consumer events each night.
For Australian designers and consumers, the flow-on effects of the pandemic (travel bans, local and international lockdowns, and shipping delays) have been a reminder of the importance of being able to manufacture goods locally.
In January, Roy Morgan research found 88 per cent of Australians were more likely to buy products made in Australia. Since the pandemic, more than half of Australians (52 per cent) say they now have an even higher preference for Australian-made products. Monthly applications for the Australian Made logo have increased by 400 per cent since January. Jasmine & Will’s leisurewear range, released in July, is just one collection bearing the logo.
“Our biggest barrier for producing locally is the exorbitant cost to do it. And unfortunately, with sleepwear, there is a barrier to how much people are willing to pay. The cost for us here is about five times the cost of producing overseas. So, to pass that on to the consumer is pretty difficult, which means we eat at our own margin – but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” founder Jasmine Lindsay told Broadsheet in September.
In a recent survey by Australia Post 30 per cent of respondents said they’re making an effort to buy more Australian-made products than they did previously, while 23 per cent of shoppers said they’re more conscious about buying from businesses in their local areas.
The We Wear Australian campaign generated $3 million in revenue for the 140 participating brands. Other similar initiatives have also been established during this time, including Click for Vic, Buy from the Bush (launched as a result of the devastating effects of the bushfires) and Empty Esky (an initiative for Victoria’s regional hospitality industry).
“I hope it has brought about more local awareness for the consumer, and that they will invest in homegrown brands and companies first and foremost,” Aje’s Norris says.
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The U.S. notched 2% growth in the third quarter on stronger consumer activity and a surge in federal government spending, but the report's details and other recent figures suggest the economy is more likely to slow than accelerate in coming months.
The nation's gross domestic product—the broadest measure of goods and services produced by the economy—has expanded for 13 consecutive quarters, covering all but the first months of the current administration. But the pace, such as the second quarter's 1.3% growth rate, has been lackluster.
Consumer spending accounted for most of the 2% increase in third-quarter GDP, as Tomi Kilgore reports on Markets Hub. Photo: Getty Images.
Government spending contributed to growth for the first time in more than two years, led by outlays for defense. Overall federal government spending jumped 9.6%, the Department of Commerce said, compared with a 0.2% fall in the second quarter.
Many economists said the growth in federal spending was a temporary rebound from weak defense spending earlier in the year, noting that these outlays should decline again as planned spending cuts take hold and lawmakers focus on trimming the nation's deficit.
Trouble spots in Friday's report included a drop in exports, which contracted for the first time in more than three years, and weaker business spending. Many businesses are bracing for slower growth. That trend has been reinforced by disappointing earnings and profit warnings amid headwinds from overseas along with concerns about U.S. tax and spending policies.
Economists warn that consumers could dial back spending after the Nov. 6 presidential election, when the spotlight is likely to turn to the "fiscal cliff," a package of spending cuts and tax increases set to begin in January, unless the government acts to avoid it.
"It's hard to look ahead at what's coming and feel confident that this 2% growth rate will continue or even accelerate," said Ellen Zentner, an economist at Nomura Securities.
The report was the last broad snapshot of the economy, save for next Friday's government update on the job market, before a presidential contest that is shaping up to be historically close and hinging on perceptions of the economy.
The White House said the GDP figure confirmed an economy slowly but steadily healing from a severe recession. "While we have more work to do, together with other economic indicators, this report provides further evidence that the economy is moving in the right direction," said Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has made the weak economy a cornerstone of his campaign to unseat President Barack Obama, called the news "discouraging."
"This is what four years of President Obama's policies have produced," Mr. Romney said. "Americans are ready for change—for growth, for jobs, for higher take-home pay."
Orders for long-lasting goods posted the largest gain in more than 21/2 years in September and the number of U.S. workers filing applications for jobless benefits fell last week. Mesirow Financial Chief Economist Diane Swonk discuss the state of the U.S. economy on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images.
The GDP numbers did little to reassure investors, who were rattled this week by softer-than-expected third-quarter earnings from many companies.
Friday's report was the government's initial estimate of growth. Typically, those figures are revised—sometimes considerably—in later months.
Despite the tepid recovery and sluggish labor market, Americans opened their wallets during the third quarter. Consumer spending accounted for most of the increase in GDP. Real personal consumption expenditures climbed 2%, compared with 1.5% in the second quarter.
Nonresidential fixed investment, which includes business spending on buildings and equipment, fell 1.3%, compared with a 3.6% gain in the second quarter.
One business that is pulling back is Torque Transmission, a Fairport Harbor, Ohio, maker of parts for medical equipment such as magnetic resonance imaging machines. The company is spending $20,000 this year on equipment and other capital expenditures, down from the roughly $200,000 spent annually both in 2010 and 2011, said owner John Rampe Sr. That is largely because sales have been uneven. October sales are down 14% from a year ago, after rising earlier in the summer, he said.
What Drives the U.S. Economy
"I was looking forward to buying a new turning machine this last July but because of our situation, we just didn't see any improvement in the business cycle. Let's put that off," Mr. Rampe said. "There's $150,000 that I'm not going to spend."
The Midwest drought also weighed on growth in the third quarter. The Commerce Department said crop insurance helped prop up farm incomes, offsetting about $3.75 billion in July-to-September crop losses related to the dry spell. Crop insurance programs could pay out about $20 billion this year due to the drought, a government economist said Friday, an amount that is almost double 2011 insurance payments.
One relative bright spot in the GDP update was housing. Residential investment rose for the sixth consecutive quarter. After several dismal years, home sales are picking up along with residential construction.
That is lifting sales at Maple River Woodworks, a Coward, S.C., maker of customized cabinets. The company had no customers in the first quarter, but business has picked up in recent months, with 60 to 70 clients placing orders since the spring, said owner Tracy Yarborough.
Mr. Yarborough said workers who moved to the area in recent years for health-care jobs, including doctors, recently started building houses again. "They've been just sitting on money waiting for things to happen," Mr. Yarborough said. "They finally got a little too anxious and ready to move and are taking advantage of super-low mortgage rates."
—Eric Morath contributed to this article.

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Expect Distribution, winner of the Business Excellence Award at the MT Awards earlier this month, has won a three-year extension to its contract with cleaning products manufacturer Astonish. Expect has handled all logistics and distribution for Astonish (which has a HQ neighbouring Expect’s site in West Yorkshire) over the past six years, moving seven loads per day. Three Expect vehicles will carry liveries of the new Astonish logo to build brand awareness for the cleaning range. Howard Moss, MD at […]
Expect Distribution has signed a three-year warehousing and distribution contract with Lansinoh Laboratories, a supplier of breastfeeding products.
Expect Distribution has begun 2021 as it ended last year, winning two new contracts with pharmaceutical and panelling clients.
Operators are calling for action against a rise in clients demanding extended credit terms, MT has learnt.


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The USA will publish unemployment claims on October 22 at 15:30 MT time. How to trade after the release?
American existing home sales head south for sixth month in a row
In September, American home sales went down by the most for more than two years due to the fact that the housing market kept struggling notwithstanding strength across the broader American economy.
On Friday, the National Association of Realtors told that existing home sales sank by about 3.4% to a seasonally updated annual rate of nearly 5.15 million units in September.
Home sales have been going down for six months. A dearth of properties for sale ramped up prices, thus sidelining a great number of potential homeowners. The South demonstrated the most impressive tumble in sales, while the sink in the West left sales amounted to 12.2% from 2017.
According to some leading market experts, the overall slump had to do with a jump in interest rates.
Besides this, supply has also been affected by soaring building material costs and also land as well as labor shortages. Meanwhile, soaring mortgage rates are anticipated to step down demand.
In September, the Federal Reserve had borrowing costs lifted for the third time in 2018 and it’s widely anticipated to proceed with its rate lifts in December.
Market experts in a recent interview by Reuters had predicted existing home sales sinking to 5.30 million from a previously disclosed 5.34 million. By the way, existing home sales occupy nearly 90% of American home sales.
In September, there were 1.88 million houses on the market, which appears to be a 1.1% leap from 2017.
At September's sales tempo, it would take up to 4.4% to have the current inventory cleared. A supply of 6-7 months is considered to be a rational balance between demand and supply.
As a matter of fact, the median house price surged by 4.2% from 2017 hitting $258,100 in September.
Riskier assets and gold ended last week with huge gains due to the weak US dollar’s performance. Let’s discuss what will drive the markets today.
The Federal Open Market Committee (the department of the Federal Reserve) will publish the meeting minutes on October 7 at 21:00 MT time.
The US Department of Justice thinks 87% a market share is too much for Google alone. The market thinks it's ok.
EU Flash Manufacturing & Services PMI will come out on Friday at 11:00 MT time!
Netflix stock price falls 5% on Tuesday. Why? Read the news.


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Wholesale prices of General Motors vehicles with faulty ignition switches are unscathed by the highly publicized recall of the vehicles, analysts say.
That's because the recalled 1.6 million 2003-07 small cars are valued at about $2,000 to $5,000 each in the wholesale market so there is little room for the prices to fall, says Larry Dixon, an analyst with NADA Used Car Guide.
But Dixon also cautions against reading too much into a big percentage change in older vehicles' prices. After all, a $100 change on a $2,000 car equates to a 5 percent swing. For a $15,000 used car, a 5 percent change would mean a $750 shift.
"They can't fall to zero," he says of the vehicle prices. "If they do fall as a result of the recall, the degree of the fall will be dictated by the amount of media scrutiny. The greater the press firestorm, the more it will negatively affect the prices of those vehicles."
Dixon says he doubts the recalled vehicles' wholesale prices will impact GM vehicles' general residual values because the recalled units are "light-years" from the vehicles the company builds today in terms of quality and technology.
Since the recall was announced in February, wholesale auction prices of the recalled vehicles have held up better than those of their peers.


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Apr 14, 2015
American Apparel’s latest model is a three-toed sloth and it’s definitely a furry big change from your usual fashion campaign.
“Meet Buttercup,” the advert reads above a shot of Buttercup poised seductively on a table. “Buttercup is a 23-year-old three-fingered Bradypus sloth from Costa Rica. She was brought to the Arroyo family as an orphaned infant by local children and was the catalyst to their founding the Sloth Sanctuary… Her favourite pastimes include sunbathing and eating hibiscus blooms.”
Its new CEO, Paula Schneider, said that a more covered-up approach was part of a bigger advertising plan. “It doesn’t have to be overtly sexual,” Schneider told Business of Fashion. “There’s a way to tell our story where it’s not offensive. It is an edgy brand. And it will continue to be an edgy brand.”


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WebsiteBiz Promotes Ron Hassay to Senior Account Manager
Online PR News – 17-July-2012 – Charlotte/NC – WebsiteBiz Promotes Ron Hassay to Senior Account Manager
CHARLOTTE – WebsiteBiz (www.WebsiteBiz.com), a digital marketing agency, is pleased to announce that Ron Hassay has been promoted to Senior Account Manager. The promotion comes shortly after Hassay’s 5th anniversary with the company.
“Ron’s dedication to WebsiteBiz has been a tremendous asset as we provide our clients with unmatched service and results,” says Eric Dudley, President of WebsiteBiz. “I am continually reminded of Ron’s commitment and breadth of knowledge of digital marketing.”
WebsiteBiz is a results-driven digital marketing agency that translates clients’ objectives into successful online strategies that create engagement and drive ROI. The company delivers unmatched results through digital marketing services that include online marketing strategy, paid search marketing, search engine optimization, display advertising, permission-based email marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing, optimization and testing, and web analytics.
Founded in 1997, WebsiteBiz has made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies for four consecutive years and was ranked #52 in the advertising and marketing category. WebsiteBiz was also recently named to the Charlotte Business Journal Fast 50, and is the only exclusive digital marketing agency ranked as one of that publication’s Top 25 Advertising and Marketing Agencies.
Follow WebsiteBiz on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, call 888-901-7434, or visit WebsiteBiz.com for more information.


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UK: New Look buying and merchandising director exits
New Look buying and merchandising director Philip Walker has left the value fashion retailer after less than a year in the post, according to sources close to the company.
Walker, who joined the business as group sourcing and menswear director in October 2011, has held the role of buying and merchandise director for nine months.
New Look declined to comment when contacted by just-style today (13 February).
The fashion retailer earlier this week recorded a double-digit hike in third-quarter earnings to GBP135.7m (USS$222.8m), driven by strong online growth and higher Christmas sales.
Canadean's "New Look Retail Group Limited: Retailing - Company Profile & SWOT Analysis" contains in depth information and data about the company and its operations. The profile contains a company over...
More than 200 companies have now signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh following the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka, which killed more than 1,100 people in ...
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Delta Sport continues to focus on expanding its network of retail outlets. Footwear and fashion accessories remain the company’s main product lines. During 2012/2013, the company introduced the famous...
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BEGIN ARTICLE PREVIEW:
Xbox Series X & S
(Zane Pickett made substantial contributions to this review.)
It has been seven years since the last major generational upgrade to the Xbox series when Microsoft released the Xbox One. Once dubbed ‘Project Scarlett’ more than two years ago, the time has come for some of the hottest electronics to be released in the U.S. starting today and just in time for the holidays. Earnings for video games have skyrocketed since the beginning of the pandemic in all aspects. Creativity in games is flourishing at an intense rate, while the future of gaming has never looked brighter, all the while bringing players closer to decade-old titles and streamers that they have grown to love with new standards with a strong force in graphical power and processing speed that make previous and leading titles look incredible. The next-generation console from Microsoft has finally arrived, the Xbox Series X.
We are getting not just one but two new consoles. The all-digital version Xbox Series S and then the top-of-the-line Xbox Series X. Zane Pickett, who has written about many games for Moor Insights & Strategy and I spent the past week testing the Xbox Series X, provided by …
END ARTICLE PREVIEW


text: Polymer producer PolyOne Corp. (NYSE: POL) has reported lower second-quarter earnings than a year ago as its results were hurt by special items and tax adjustments in the latest second quarter. PolyOne said net income in the quarter fell 60%, to $3.5 million, or four cents a share, from $8.8 million, or nine cents a share, in the second quarter of 2008. Included in the results for the second quarter of 2009 are special items totaling $3.1 million mainly related to previously announced restructuring actions and tax adjustments totaling $5.3 million. PolyOne said the tax adjustments relate to a foreign tax audit assessment which the company intends to appeal and a valuation allowance adjustment related to deferred tax assets. PolyOne said on a comparable basis, before special items and tax items, the company had net income of $11.9 million, or 13 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2009, versus net income of $11.6 million, or 12 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2008. Sales at PolyOne tumbled 34%, to $496.5 million from $748.1 million. The company blamed continued weak global demand for the decline.


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But most Chinese New Year holidaymakers left before travel restrictions
The latest data from ForwardKeys, which analyses global aviation capacity, flight searches and over 17 million flight booking transactions a day, reveals that the outbreak of infection in China from the coronavirus has caused a substantial setback in flight bookings for the Chinese New Year period, 10th January – 6th February 2020.
The Chinese New Year holiday season typically begins a fortnight before Golden Week; and travel reaches its peak just before Golden Week starts.
This year, outbound travel reached a new peak and the season was on course to break all records. However, on the week of 20th January, travel restrictions were introduced; and the last batch of Chinese holidaymakers were forced to stay at home. By 26th January a slew of cancellations had changed the picture dramatically. Although the vast majority had left before the travel restrictions took effect, the prospect of a record-breaking year was gone.
Up to 19th January, outbound travel bookings from China (excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan, where political unrest has impacted travel) were 7.3% ahead, benchmarked against the equivalent period in 2019; a week later, as of 26th January, when Wuhan airport was closed and the Chinese government stopped outbound tour groups from travelling, bookings for the Chinese holiday period were 6.8% behind.
The dramatic slowdown has affected travel to all parts of the world. Asia Pacific, the region which attracts over 75% of Chinese New Year travellers, has been worst hit. As of 19th January, bookings were 1.3% behind where they were at the equivalent moment in 2019; a week later, they were 15.1% behind.
The deterioration seen for other global regions has been similar, but a little less severe. As of 19th January, bookings to the Americas were 14.3% behind, to Africa and the Middle East were 0.7% behind and to Europe were 10.5% ahead. A week later, bookings to the Americas were 22.5% behind, to Africa and the Middle East were 9.9% behind and to Europe were 0.5% ahead.
China as a destination has also been severely affected by the Coronavirus crisis. Up to 19th January, inbound bookings for the Chinese New Year period were 4.5% ahead of where they were at the equivalent point last year.
A week later, they were 7.2% behind. The weakest origin market has been the Americas, where bookings fell from 0.4% ahead to 13.4% behind. Asia Pacific, China’s largest source market, with a 65% share of visitors, has fallen from 6.0% ahead to 6.2% behind. A healthy growth in bookings from Africa & the Middle East has stalled from 10.9% ahead to 3.9% ahead and bookings from Europe have fallen from 1.0% ahead to 7.1% behind.
Olivier Ponti, VP Insights, ForwardKeys, commented: “Our sympathies are with the people of Wuhan, who are hemmed in, mourning loved ones. It’s a ghastly situation. The economic impact is bad too. China is now the world’s biggest and highest-spending outbound travel market, so the presence of Chinese visitors is eagerly anticipated by the tourism industry globally. The economic impact could have been worse if the coronavirus outbreak had struck a couple of weeks earlier. Fortunately, most Chinese holidaymakers managed to get away in time and as of now, we don’t see the collapse in travel to China spreading to other countries in the region. However, with the crisis evolving rapidly from day to day and a growing number of airlines cancelling flights to China, close monitoring is needed.”


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The domestic creative industry lost as much as 90 percent of revenues in 2020, exacerbated by the closure of ABS-CBN that affected the total media landscape.
In a presentation at the virtual Creative Futures 2021, Paolo Mercado, president of the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines, said the film (cinema based): performing arts, concerts and live events; heritage sites and museums, folk arts and crafts, suffered the most with 85-90 percent revenue loss during the pandemic year versus 2019.
TV and Radio was down 50 percent; traditional advertising (TV, radio, print, outdoor) lost their revenues by 30 to 50 percent while the software, animation and game development by 20 to 30 percent.
Even digital marketing, advertising, web and graphic design were also down by 20 to 30 percent.
“Creative industries suffered very heavy losses because a lot of the behavioral restrictions, and the safety protocols, really affected the way people consume creative work. So, cinemas were closed theaters were closed concerts were not possible. Crafts and folk arts could not be sold and museums had lost its visitors for things like media they should have. They should have grown but there were other extraneous things like the closure of ABS CBN, which also affected the total media landscape,” said Mercado.
According to Mercado one emerging as a potential for the Philippines is the online creative freelancing, with about 1.3 to 1.5 million Filipinos already on online international online platform. These Filipinos, he said, are contributing freelancing work, majority of which was actually creative work, such as web design, like multimedia content editing.
He said this kind of work is poised to become the next wave. In fact, he said creative outsourcing is a growing outsourcing sector in the Philippines.
Aside from the 1.5 million online freelancers, Mercado said there are also 2 to 3 million freelancers or project based work for international firms.
Before the pandemic, the Philippines is leading among its peers in terms of creative exports and services among Asian countries.
Meantime, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the local creative industries numbered 305,070 establishments or 30.5 percent of total establishments in the country last year, many of which were affected by the series of community quarantine lockdowns applied against the pandemic.
While some continued full on- site operations, others applied alternative work arrangements or even stopped operations.
During the stricter lockdown of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) last year, about 38 percent of total establishments had to stop operating. This went down to 4 percent as the economy was reopening during the GCQ in the third and fourth quarter.
Although the surge in COVID cases last March and April required us to temporarily escalate the community quarantine to ECQ and then down to modified ECQ and now GCQ in NCR Plus Areas. “This showed that the government’s efforts to reopen have to be gradual and calibrated in order to prevent any surge while bringing back jobs for the people,” Lopez said.
Before the pandemic, the industries provided 4.8 million jobs to our people, or 11.3 percent of total employment as of 2019.
In that same year, he said total creative exports amounted to $6.8 billion or 6 percent of total exports, while industry investments amounted to P281 million of total approved investments from investment promotions agencies (IPAs).
In 2017, the industries’ value added amounted to P383 billion or 7.12 percent of the national total.
In fact, in 2018, the Philippines ranked 1st in ASEAN for creative services exports and 5th in total creative exports. Within that same year, our total creative exports amounted to $4.1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Overall, the country is in a strong position in terms of our Creative Industries as evidenced by our performance in the 2020 Global Innovation Index (or GII). The Philippines ranked 57th in creative outputs and we are at a competitive position in terms of our creative good exports at 10th place,” he said.
He expressed confidence the country’s Creative Industries can help drive country’s economic growth in the post-pandemic future.
“The creative industry sector can also very well be the next service industry-winner, next to the BPO sector,” he said adding “Not only can it serve as one of the engines for our country’s growth, it can assist with our recovery from the challenges brought about by the pandemic.”
Globally, the Creative Economy. Has been cited as one of the most rapidly growing sectors and contributing 3 percent to the global GDP,. The Cultural and Creative Industries (or CCIs) generate $2.250 billion annually and the Culture Sector employs 30 million people worldwide, according to UNESCO.
The pandemic, however, caused the closure or cancellation of many museums, festivals, live music events, theatres, cinemas, and other activities last year. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (or OECD), CCIs were among the most affected by the crisis, with jobs at risk ranging from 0.8 percent to 5.5 percent across OECD regions.
Fortunately, he said, the Creative Industries were able to adapt and even develop greenshoots. Thanks to being at the forefront of technological adoption like digitalization. They found new ways to reach their audience in music, film, sports, and graphic design through online content platforms. Even online gaming has expanded exponentially during this crisis.
Given the impact of the pandemic on this sector, it was actually appropriate that 2021 was declared as the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development at the 74th UN General Assembly in 2019.
“The pandemic has shown us how essential creativity is to our well-being as we found solace and resilience in films, series, music, and dance,” he said.
With that in mind, he said, the Creative Economy Roadmap submitted by the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP) envisions the Philippines in becoming the top Creative Economy in ASEAN by 2030 in terms of size and value of our Creative Industries. It also sees our country becoming number one in terms of competitiveness and attractiveness of our creative talent and content in international markets.
To help us realize this goal, Cong. Christopher “Toff” de Venecia spearheaded the Philippine Creative Industries Act, which was filed by the Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Bloc (ACCIB). This bill aims to provide an enabling policy and governance framework to shape the country’s Creative Industries.
The Department of Trade and Industry is also doing its part to support you under the Integrated Industry Development Program for the Creative Industries, which provides a strategic direction for the industry’s development.


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Seven in 10 Americans (72%) treat their health as an “investment,” an asset that will gain value over time.
The survey by Paceline of 2,000 U.S. adults also found the average person would spend $827 more on fitness apparel and equipment this year if they knew they would be in the best shape of their life 20 years from now.
“Our research found that 46% of American adults are spending money on wellness apps or platforms, but many may still see their pursuit of fitness as very separate from their finances,” says Joel Lieginger, founder and CEO, of Paceline in a news release. “At Paceline, we want everyone who invests in their physical health to fully realize its financial value as well, which is why – through our app and credit card – you get rewarded no matter where, when, or how you workout.”
Nutrition, including healthy groceries, topped the list of recent health-related spending, (48%) followed by health and wellness tech, such as apps and fitness wearables (45%).
Among millennials, more than two in five recently invested in their financial wellness (45%) and wellness experiences (41%), including wellness-focused travel. Meanwhile, investing in personal growth, including a career adviser or life coach, was most popular among Gen Z respondents (46%).
The pandemic also shifted how different generations are spending their time and money on health and wellness. Compared to boomers, more millennials plan to increase spending on their financial health in the next year (39% vs. 23%). Gen Zers are ramping up spending on recovery services, such as massages, physical therapy, and acupuncture, with 44% placing this on their radar for the next year compared to 36% before 2019.
Lieginger continued, “Recovery is such an important part of health and wellness; we believe it’s a category people should be rewarded for, and it’s one that we’re seeing cardmembers increasingly spend and get cash back in. 27% of our Gen Z and Millennial cardmembers have made purchases on recovery services, including spa visits, within the last 6 months.”
Survey results showed the average person expects to see results in about three months to feel that their investment in fitness equipment, health tech, or groceries has paid for itself.
While seeing physical results (48%) and earning financial rewards (39%) top the list as incentives to invest in their health and wellness, people would invest more in their health if…
- It increased their earning potential – by 31%
- It decreased their hospital bills – by 31%
- It increased its social media following – by 30%
- It spiced up their love life – 26%
Results also revealed how different generations define preventive health, as part of their overall health and wellness. Boomers were more likely than other age groups to connect preventive health with check-ups (82%), while millennials linked the term with health or life insurance (57%), and Gen Z defined it as taking care of one’s mental or emotional health (68%). Other ways Gen Z defined preventive health include fitness (67%) and nutrition (54%).
Among all respondents, more than two-thirds (67%) believe it’s cheaper to pay for health and wellness products or services today than to have hospital bills in the future.
“That younger generations are expanding how they think about preventive health is a powerful signal of change to come, because today’s healthcare is – in many ways – sick care,” Lieginger concluded. “We built Paceline to get people moving and proactively keep people healthy. Science shows incentivizing good health behaviors improves health outcomes, which is good for individuals and good for the world.”
The full survey results can be viewed here. This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 general population Americans was commissioned by Paceline between Aug. 11 and Aug. 18, 2022. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).


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Shashi Tharoor Moves Sports Bill To Regulate Online Gaming And Prevention Of Fraud
17 JAN 2019
The likes of PUBG, PUBG Mobile, DOTA 2 and more could soon be regulated in India.
Indian politician, Shashi Tharoor who is currently serving as Mem...Read more
Mumbai: Senior Congress leader and a member of parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, introduced a private member’s bill in the Lok Sab... Read more
Fantasy sports platform Dream11 vaulted into the big league of local mobile gaming startups in September when it raised $100 million in a Series D rou... Read more
New Delhi, Delhi, India (NewsVoir) 26 September, 2018---
Poker Dangal, a unit of Xeta Networks Pvt. Ltd. has acquired XLN Media's flagship online gam... Read more
Chennai: Circa 2018 could be end up being a jackpot year for sports and gaming space, as more investors and gamers chase these online destinations.
T... Read more
Page 1 of 1012...10...»Last »


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Mumbai: Novartis Pharma AG will acquire 49% stake in Chiron Behring Vaccines Pvt Ltd. for $22.3 million from Aventis Pharma Ltd., Aventis informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday. Chiron Behring is a joint venture of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc. and Aventis Pharma. Novartis and Aventis are currently fighting a couple of cases on the largest selling rabies vaccine brand, Rabipur, after the brand went to Novartis in 2009. Rabipur was the largest selling rabies vaccine brand in India sold by Aventis for the last one decade. With this transaction, this dispute will be mutually settled. Another case is also pending between these two companies as Aventis was planning to sell its own rabies vaccine brand Verorab in India which Novartis argued that as they were partners in one rabies vaccine company, it may create conflict of interest.
Rabipur, the top selling rabies vaccine, with an almost 60% vaccine share was contributing atleast 10% to Aventis Pharma’s total revenue till it went to Novartis.
Aventis further added that it will provide certain utilities and services to the Ankleshwar plant of Chiron Behring for a three year period from the date of closing.


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Facebook has added another acquisition to its arsenal with social bookmarking firm Spool.
In a blog post, the Spool team said its technology makes it easier to consume content on a mobile device. "We firmly believe that solving these problems will be increasingly important as the world accesses the Internet primarily through mobile devices," the company said.
"The Spool team has deep expertise in mobile software development and a passion for making content easy to consume. We're excited for the team to join and accelerate their vision at Facebook," a Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement.
News of the Facebook purchase came shortly after Spool announced in a separate blog post that it would shut down "to pursue our vision in a new way."
Spool has since sent its users an email with their bookmarks attached. Those links can be downloaded to a computer or loaded directly in to a browser's bookmarks folders. The company suggested that those who want to use another bookmark synchronization service try Pocket or Delicious.
"We are extremely excited to accelerate our vision and help Facebook's users connect and share with the people in their lives," Spool concluded.
Spool launched in private beta in Sept. 2011 after debuting at TechCrunch Disrupt. "Spool is an easy way to save articles, image galleries, and videos to get back to later," the company said at the time. "Just click on the Spool add-on in your browser and the page you're on will show up on your phone."
By January, it had raised $1 million in funding from 15 investors.
Mobile will likely be a major focus at Facebook in the years ahead. In February IPO filings, Facebook said it had 425 million mobile users, but was not yet making any money from them. Shortly after, Facebook announced plans for ads in mobile newsfeeds. But in an amended S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook said it had 488 million mobile users in March but was still not generating any meaningful revenue from those interactions.
Last month there were reports that Facebook was working on location-based mobile advertising.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.


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ETGBS discusses power of world’s most valuable resource and how to deal with data regulation
A draft of the policy is being deliberated upon within the commerce and industry ministry.
Intermediary liability, government surveillance, digital taxation and data governance and sovereignty will dominate the debate on tech policy making in India in the run-up to the general elections this year
The demand for data localisation stems from Indian government concerns about security of its citizen data outside India or delayed access to it when requested from foreign soil.
Those familiar with the details told ET that the proposal includes an amendment to the Aadhaar Act to recognise the virtual token that is used to prevent sharing of the actual Aadhaar number.
Held in New Delhi, the aim of the session was to drive the conversation on how businesses can make decisions about personal data more thoughtfully.
VFS Global, an international visa outsourcing and administration company, will spend about 3 million euros on migrating data of Indians from the UK and Germany if the Indian government mandates data localisation in the country
"The notion of regulation of data is certainly a trend. Most people in the industry feel that it would be useful to coordinate among countries or regions of the world, so that we don’t have 100 standards" said Thomas J Manning, CEO of Dun & Bradstreet.
MVISION portfolio provides single point of visibility and control across cloud services, delivering seamless data protection and accelerating detection and blocking of threats
India expects to finalise the draft and introduce the Bill in Parliament during the winter session.
Speaking of the merits of Aadhaar, RS Sharma said that while unique identification is necessary, it is not sufficient. “Any identification system which is not digital will not work.”
This will ensure that regulators such as the RBI, which has already mandated that payments data should be stored exclusively in the country, do not fall foul of the overarching law once it comes into force.
On data localisation, Mozilla recommend that the broad requirement to store a copy of all personal data in India should be removed.
If we cut through all the noise and uneducated opinions floating out there, the Aadhaar judgment can broadly be summarised in the these points
The draft Personal Data Protection Bill was uploaded on the Ministry of Electronics and IT's website on August 16 for feedback from the public.
Private companies cannot insist on linking Aadhaar for their services, allowing only government agencies to do as a basis for welfare schemes.
Editor's Picks ›
- Myntra debuts Blink Play to expand its range of wearable devices
- Amazon plans 100 mall kiosks across India in a major offline push
- IT budgets of BFSI sector under pressure: EY leader
- This startup aims to crowdsource clean money for election campaigns
- View: The need for 'crucial conversations' is here and now
- Mindtree’s Natarajan can continue as chairman after L&T control: Naik
- InnAccel launches portable neo-natal respiratory support system, made in India
- Blockchain startup New Street Technologies raises $2 million
- UniPropitia to acquire 51% stake in Infibeam's Dubai subsidiary for $25M
- Bhavish Aggarwal's new investor grouping distances Ola further from SoftBank as merger with Uber goes off the table


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E-cigarette retailer, Juul, was recently sued by an ex-senior vice president for retaliation because he raised concern over Juul’s decision to sell contaminated pods to the public, according to the lawsuit.
The allegations stem from a March 12, 2019, executive team meeting during which it was revealed that some batches of mint e-liquid were found to be contaminated. The contamination affected the equivalent of 1 million pods, which were shipped to retailers and sold to customers. The lawsuit also contends that Juul rejected calls for the issuance of a product recall or a public health and safety notice to consumers. When contacted about the lawsuit, Juul’s spokesperson acknowledged the “manufacturing issue” had taken place
Juul is currently fighting off a firestorm from government agencies, public health advocates and clinicians, who blame the e-cigarette giant for addicting millions of teens to nicotine. Additionally, a nationwide lung injury outbreak, now standing at 1,604 cases and 34 deaths, is being investigated by public health agencies.
If you or someone you know has been injured as the result of an e-cigarette, contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling 713-231-9360 or toll free at 1‑800-594-4884.


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"Social media is one of the main differences this year," said Ken Muche, public relations manager for Verizon. "We're more active in that space, tweeting about registration." Verizon also plans to use YouTube to post videos of last year's winner to build buzz.
The campaign, he added, honors the Hispanic culture of celebrating a teenager's 15th birthday with a huge celebration and party, called a Quinceañera or Quince. Registration for the contest runs from August 2 to 29, and is specifically for teens in the Los Angeles; San Jose, CA; Salt Lake City; and Seattle areas.
Verizon will launch a Twitter account specifically for the campaign, @MyFabulous15, on August 2, where it will encourage Hispanic teens to register for the contest and discuss tips and advice for hosting Quinceañera parties. The company will also host party planner Celia Barrios, who specializes in Quinceañeras, for a Twitter party to answer questions and provide tips.
This year's outreach also includes Quince Expo events at Verizon stores in cities in the participating areas, featuring a meet-and-greet with British singer Jay Sean, who is part of the winning party package. Additionally, the Expos will include runway shows displaying the latest Quince fashions and vendors such as florists and limousine services on hand talk to interested consumers about planning a party.
The company is working with RL PR, its Hispanic PR AOR for the Southern California region, and is pitching local media around the Expo events.
The goal of the PR is "to raise awareness of the program, provide a culturally relevant experience, and be a part of the community," Muche said. "This seemed like a fun way to be involved and leverage our technology, because people can participate via text message."


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The heads of U.S. membership associations are worried the lackluster economy will cause both a drop in membership dues and in other forms of revenue, a new survey says.
In a March survey, the vast majority of the 1,100 associations contacted said they believe the recession will hurt their organizations, says the report from ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership.
Two in three expect revenue generated through membership dues will decline next year, as will revenue generated from other sources.
Association heads expect membership-related revenue to drop 13.4 percent next year, while overall revenue is expected to decline by 15.7 percent.
Event revenue and charitable giving are expected to take the biggest hit, the report says.
A follow-up study is planned for this June, with results available in August.


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Transplants: More Evidence of Processing’s Resurgence in U.S.
While reshoring continues, another trend is emerging: Global processors setting up shop in America.
It was the fall of 2013. I was attending the Global Plastics Summit in Chicago, a yearly event cosponsored by the Society of the Plastics Industry and IHS, an international “thought leader” in the area of plastics, chemicals and other industries.
The topic was shale gas, more specifically the opportunity that abundant, inexpensive feedstock materials would present to plastics processors in the U.S. Greg Jozwiak, North America commercial v.p. for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, was one of the speakers that day. Looking into his crystal ball, and referring to PE packaging in particular, he said, “Core growth (due to shale gas) could boost growth by 2.5%, reshoring 1%, substitution (of non-plastics packaging) by 0.75% and export of finished goods another 0.25%. That’s 4.5% of growth, representing 770,000 metric tons/yr.” Perhaps even more intriguing to me, Jozwiak added that Dow customers outside of the U.S. were looking at establishing a manufacturing footprint in America to tap into this potential.
My first thought was “Wow.” Then I wondered, “Maybe a bit optimistic?” And as the next speaker was being introduced, I concluded my thought process with, “I guess we’ll find out.”
In late April of this year, I found out.
I was part of a group of plastics journalists from around the world invited by CORE PA Global to visit a group of companies in Pennsylvania. CORE PA is the center of a state government move to increase the visibility of a 53-county footprint to international and domestic investors and reshoring prospects.
Most of the companies we visited were long established in the region, like sheet processor Sekisui, custom molder and foam processor Ralph S. Alberts Co. Inc., rotomolder Playworld, and compounding equipment supplier Technical Process & Engineering. We also heard presentations during meal breaks from the likes of PS foam profile processor Highwood, and custom molders Viking Plastics and CJ Industries. Central Pennsylvania has been a prime location for processors for decades, so hearing about the rich histories these companies have in that region was not all that surprising.
What I found even more curious was the arrival of two new transplants to the area: Greiner Packaging Corp., an Austrian packaging powerhouse; and Fuling Plastics USA, a division of Taizhou Fuling Plastics Co. Ltd. of China that makes straws and cutlery for fast-foods. You can read the full report on these companies in the Close-Up article here.
I’m not saying the Dow executive nailed his prediction and that these companies selected central Pennsylvania to set up operations because of shale gas. That would be misleading. But certainly low energy was a factor, as was proximity to a broad customer base and easy access to transportation services. Not to mention the proximity of Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, from which Greiner has already recruited a new employee.
I think you need to look at these developments more broadly. In fact, on. p. 10 of this issue you’ll see yet another “transplant” story on the plans Raumedic of Germany has to build a $27.1 million plant in Mills River, N.C., where it will mold and extrude medical parts.
Manufacturing is returning to the U.S. In plastics, many existing operations are expanding (see On-Site article here), and we get reports of new ones coming on stream regularly. This a pretty good time to be in the business of melting pellet
Weld or knit lines are perhaps the most common and difficult injection molding defect to eliminate.
What it means. Why it's important.
First find out if they are the result of trapped gas or a vacuum void. Then follow these steps to get rid of them.


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Currency fluctuations involving both sterling and the New Zealand dollar have combined to bring pressure on wool prices over the past 12 months, according to Northern Ireland’s Wool Board representative Ian Buchanan.
“The last year has seen the $New Zealand devalued by 18%,” he added. “During the same period Sterling was quite strong. New Zealand is one of our biggest competitors on international wool markets and, as a consequence, the combination of both currency movements served to bring pressure on prices achieved at the board’s monthly auctions in Bradford.
“The end result of all this will be smaller balance payment for 2015 than might have been the case, had these currency issues not impacted on the market in such a significant manner.
“The new wool season got underway on May 1st. Producers will receive their advance for 2016 and the balance payment for last year directly after they deliver their 2016 clip to the board’s depot at Muckamore in Co Antrim.”
Buchanan confirmed that the board achieved an almost total clearance of last year’s UK wool output.
“Demand remains strong for finer wools,” he added.
“But the real impact of last year’s price downturn was felt specifically where carpet wools are concerned. In light of this the board is about to launch a new marketing campaign, highlighting the benefit of woollen carpets.”
Buchanan also confirmed that international wool production is due to remain static over the next 12 months.
“This is good news for local sheep producers, looking ahead,” he stressed.
“The recent weakening of Sterling should also help to boost prices over the coming months. But the reality remains that wool is an internationally traded commodity with prices wholly dependent on supply and demand.
“The Wool Board continues to play a vital role in delivering the best possible returns for local sheep producers,” he added.


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November 18, 2015 |
KOLKATA| NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries plans to set up India's largest distribution network for 4G devices and has sealed exclusive distribution deals with LG, Lenovo , Micromax and Intex for the sale of VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) handsets ahead of Jio's December launch. Samsung has not joined the Reliance platform for its VoLTE handsets because it doesn't want to annoy its existing distributors who have helped the...
November 24, 2008 |
MERRILL Lynch retains 'buy' rating on Reliance Industries RESEARCH: MERRILL LYNCH RATING: BUY CMP: Rs 1,127 MERRILL Lynch has retained it 'buy' rating on Reliance Industries (RIL). Its refining margin has consistently been higher than the benchmark Singapore complex refining margin. Analyses suggests RIL's superior refining margin is due to its ability to refine heavier crude than...
October 12, 2010 |
Devang Visaria, Chief Strategist, devangvisaria.com, in a chat with ET Now talks about Reliance Industries. What are your recommendations to clients? We also like Reliance Industries in the large cap segment and from these levels, there is a strong chance that this will make a 52-week high in this month itself. With a Rs 30-40 stop loss from these levels, if you are a positional trader, you can accumulate Reliance Industries.
November 16, 2015 |
NEW DELHI: The former chief operating officer of the Indian Premier League, Sundar Raman , is set to join Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries to head the group's sports arm as its chief executive. He will also drive the integration of the group's sports content with its new Jio platform. Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecommunications unit of Reliance Industries, is expected to launch high-speed 4-G Internet data and digital services over the coming months. "He...
December 13, 2011 |
Vijay Bhambwani, Author, CEO, BSPLindia.com , talks to ET Now on various stocks. You are recommending a buy on Petronet LNG at 154, a buy on BPCL at 542 and a buy on Reliance Industries aside of Petronet the other two have been reasonably soft, these are intraday calls that you are giving? Reliance Industries you buy in the spot at 730, stop loss 725, expecting to book profits at 738 or close of the day...


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Curaleaf and TerrAscend Go After Feds
Multistate operators Curaleaf, and TerrAscend are teaming up with other MSO's to hire a dream team law firm to challenge Federal cannabis laws on their constitutionality. That includes the 280E clause that blocks all cannabis companies from taking routine and legal business expense deductions because of their classification as Marijuana Related Businesses. FOX News controversial news anchor Laura Ingraham tries to make a case that cannabis users are connected to the string of mass shootings in the US. Christopher Smith from the American Cannabis Report, and Debra Borchardt from the Green Market Report team up at the CWCB expo in New York City for their reports this week. Plus state by state cannabis reports from Coast to Coast anchored by Alaina Pinto.
June 3, 2022


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Simba Telecom, one of the leading telecommunications companies in the country, has recently dropped some exciting hints about their upcoming plans. According to their post on Facebook, Simba Telecom is set to launch their highly anticipated 2.5 Gbps fibre broadband plan in the summer of 2023, coinciding with the release of the Barbie movie.
The news has generated a lot of buzz and excitement among customers and industry experts alike, as the 2.5 Gbps fibre broadband plan promises to be a game-changer in the world of internet connectivity. With lightning-fast download and upload speeds, this plan will enable users to stream high-definition videos, play online games, and work from home with ease.
Simba Telecom has previously hinted a 2.5 Gbps plan at S$20/mth with a one year contract. It is not confirmed if other price plans will be available. Many are looking forward to a digital home line with 6 series number thrown in as part of the package while others are hopeful to get a package with a 2.5 Gbps capable WIFI 6 router.
In conclusion, Simba Telecom’s announcement of their plans to launch the 2.5 Gbps fibre broadband plan in the summer of 2023, coinciding with the release of the Barbie movie. The countdown has begun, and we eagerly await the launch of this exciting new plan.


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360 Vodka Releases ‘Glazed Donut’ Flavor for National Donut Day
National Donut Day today is a day to indulge, and 360 Vodka knows just how to do that — with booze. The eco-friendly vodka brand released the first-ever “Glazed Donut” vodka flavor just in time for the sweet-filled holiday.
360 Vodka is known for its 12 original flavors, including its Double Chocolate flavor. So it’s no surprise that the brand has gone for the sweet. “Confectionery flavors are one of the hottest trends in mixology and we’re thrilled to introduce this innovative and quintessentially American flavor to our collection of eco-friendly flavored vodkas,” Vic Morrison, VP of marketing for 360 Vodka, said
Full Article @ TDM


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The reason? According to NPD's Russ Crupnick, Amazon's "dual-pronged approach" of selling both digital music and physical CDs -- something iTunes can't do.
The iTunes store accounted for a leading 28% of all music that U.S. consumers bought in the quarter. But while iTunes' share of the digital-download market hasn't grown appreciably over the past year, AmazonMP3 notched a 4-percentage-point gain.
Does iTunes have a potential threat on its hands? Can Amazon hope to gain in the long term from sales of CDs, which are increasingly losing their relevance? Let us know what you think in the comments box below.
Fool online editor Adrian Rush still kicks it old-school with CDs and LPs. He owns no shares of the companies mentioned here. Amazon and Apple are Motley Fool Stock Advisor picks. Wal-Mart is a Motley Fool Inside Value recommendation. The Fool's disclosure policy goes to 11.


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Greg Hammond, regional technical services and applications manager at Gabriel-Chemie UK is presenting an educational seminar entitled Laser Marking and Polymer Selection in the morning of day two of the PDM Summit. Helping to pass on some of Gabriel-Chemie’
Laser marking will also feature prominently on the Gabriel-Chemie stand (number P23) at PDM, where the company will be demonstrating its Laser Additive Range, marking a VDI swatch that shows designers different surface textures. Gabriel-Chemie is working together with Gemini Prototyping Ltd which has provided the mould for the part along with Trumpf Limited which will be providing the table top laser marker. During the show visitors will be able to see different shapes, colours and textures of moulded plastic parts marked with a VDI mould reference number and their own company name on request.
“Laser marking is proving increasingly popular for plastic parts in applications as diverse as medical devices where security is key, to cosmetics where innovation and visual appeal are paramount,” says Philip Watkins, Managing Director of Gabriel-Chemie UK. “We offer a wide range of laser marking additives for polymers and it remains essential to choose the right polymer and additive to achieve the required results.”
As well as sharing its expertise in laser marking, members of the Gabriel-Chemie UK team will be available throughout PDM12 to offer advice on additives for improving aesthetic and performance properties in applications as diverse as cosmetics packaging, agriculture and construction products, food packing, consumer goods and sports equipment.


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E3 2020 might be officially canceled, but that doesn’t mean all the companies slated to appear are taking their balls and going home. Well, they might be staying home, but they aren’t going to be sulking in the corner.
Just hours after the ESA delivered the news, Microsoft was quick with a response. Phil Spencer took to Twitter to announce plans for an Xbox Digital Event. Spencer said they didn’t have all the details ironed out, but he would be telling people about the company’s E3 2020 replacement plans in the “coming weeks.”
Next, it was Ubisoft’s turn to make sure its supporters knew it wasn’t going to be taking the next few months off. As is the case with Microsoft, the company expected to show off trailers and announce games. The company also announced on Twitter it would be having some sort of “digital experience” to fill in the gaps.
An update regarding E3 2020. pic.twitter.com/cThkDIkfVm
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 11, 2020
In what has been a steady trickle of announcements, Devolver Digital was – somewhat surprisingly – next in line to announce they are planning their own digital event to replace whatever they had in the works for E3 2020. The exact wording of their post should raise a few eyebrows, simply because of Devolver’s history at E3. The company said it’s planning a Devolver Direct/ Press conference “and possibly more.”
The week of E3 has always been a big part of what we do and are genuinely bummed about the cancelation of the event itself.
Lots to juggle but right now we plan on having a livestream Devolver Direct / press conference and possibly more. pic.twitter.com/nGDAEsIzUs
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) March 11, 2020
Of all the companies that “attend” E3, Devolver has most often made their inclusion a part of a bigger joke about how violent most of the games they develop and publish are. The “more” in this statement could be anything. It’s bound to be theatrical.
While these three E3 2020 attendees are the first to come forward with stated plans for some kind of attendance, they will almost certainly not be the only ones. Meanwhile, companies like Sony already drew praise for skipping a convention many felt was no longer necessary. Now they get to sit back and watch the video game world scramble to figure out its next steps.


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Hero Honda-IPL deal now for five years
Hero Honda have extended their association with the Indian Premier League (IPL) to five years.
The company, which had initially agreed to co-sponsor the Twenty20 tournament for three years have now decided to do so for five at a cost of $22.5 million, according to an announcement made by Hero Honda MD Pawan Munjal.
The title sponsors are DLF. Eight teams of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mohali, Jaipur and Bangalore will compete from April 18 in the IPL, which will see 59 Twenty20 matches.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India sold the eight franchises for $723 million while Sony Max and World Sport Group (WSG) secured the telecast rights for $1.026 billion.


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Eminem reclaimed his throne at the top of the album heap last week — besting rival rapper Nelly in an ongoing chart-derby — while Arista records enjoyed a banner outing with a strong debut and an even stronger returning performer.
Slim Shady’s latest opus, “The Eminem Show” (Shady/Interscope), jumped into No. 1 despite a 3% sales decline from last week to 172,000. Eminem’s third full-length release has sold more than 5.2 million copies in the U.S. to date.
Former chart-topper Nelly slipped to No. 2 with “Nellyville” (Universal), as sales ebbed 11% to slightly more than 162,000. Fans need not despair for Nelly, however: The record is already nearing triple-platinum status with 2.9 million copies sold.
As the two hip-hop megastars battled it out at the top, teen rocker Avril Lavigne continued her slow but steady ascendancy, reaching a personal best of third place in the latest session with “Let Go” (Arista). Thanks to some well-targeted marketing, album has sold 1.3 million units so far, with 129,000 of them coming in this week alone.
Clipse finishes fourth
Just behind Lavigne was another Arista act — rap duo Clipse. Fueled by the popularity of radio single “Grindin’,” the Virginia-based brothers Gene and Terrence Thornton (aka Malice and Pusha T) debuted at fourth with “Lord Willin’,” selling 122,000 discs.
Jazzy singer-songwriter Norah Jones gained another three places to 10 with her critically acclaimed debut “Come Away With Me” (Blue Note). A strong word of mouth backing has propelled Jones gradually up the rankings over the past few months, and she is poised to break into platinum status with 966,000 sold to date.
Bowing just a notch below Jones was Gotham radio personality-turned-rapper Angie Martinez. The Hot 97 jock, who has collaborated with hip-hop luminaries like Redman and Mary J. Blige, sold nearly 62,000 copies of her second studio effort, “Animal House” (Elektra).
Other estimable debuts for the session included country “Something Worth Leaving Behind” (MCA Nashville) from Lee Ann Womack at 16, “Tropical Storm” (Virgin) from Beenie Man at 18, “Revolucion De Amor” (Warner) from Mexican rockers Mana at 22, and “Completely” (Arista) from country stars Diamond Rio at 23.
Smith clocks big gains
The biggest gains of the week were made by Christian artist Michael J. Smith. Singer/songwriter’s latest LP “Worship” (Provident/Zomba) leaped 50 places to 55 in the latest frame, almost doubling sales to nearly 21,000 units. Album, which has been on the charts for nearly a year, got a big bump from the recent release of a live DVD recorded in Alberta, Canada, label reps said.
Next week’s charts will almost certainly belong to superstar country trio the Dixie Chicks. After settling a long-running legal fight with their label, Sony Music, the Chicks are coming back strong with “Home,” their first album to be released on their Sony joint-venture label Open Wide.
Track the latest tunes at variety.com/tunetracker


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In May, income growth was moderate but spending was flat largely on a dip in auto sales with gasoline appearing to also weigh down. Inflation news is mixed. Personal income in May rose 0.3 percent, matching the gain the month before. The latest figure came in lower than analysts' expectation for a 0.4 percent advance. Wages & salaries increased a modest 0.2 percent, following a rise of 0.4 percent in April. This component was softened by no change in the government subcomponent.
Personal spending weakened in May, posting at no change, following a 0.3 percent boost the prior month. The median market forecast called for no change. By components, durables dropped 1.5 percent after no change in April. Nondurables dipped 0.3 percent, following a 0.2 percent rise the month before. Services gained 0.2 percent, following a 0.1 percent slip in April. Within PCEs, the drop in durables likely was related to shortages of autos dependent upon Japanese parts. The nondurables dip probably was due in large part to a decline in gasoline prices.
On the inflation front, the headline PCE price index eased to a 0.2 percent rise from 0.3 percent in April. However, the core rate edged up to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent in April. The consensus projected a 0.2 percent rise for the core for the latest month.
On a year-ago basis, headline PCE inflation rose to 2.5 percent from 2.2 percent in April. Core PCE price inflation firmed to 1.2 percent on a year-ago basis from 1.1 percent in April.
Year on year, personal income growth for May printed at 4.2 percent, compared to 4.4 percent the month before. PCEs growth rose a year-ago 4.7 percent, down from 4.8 percent the prior month.
Today's personal income report adds to the "soft patch" scenario. Income is still growing but not at a strong enough pace for the latest month. And spending is flat. However, there are arguments that the softness is transitory. Improvement in employment would boost income. An easing of supply disruptions in the auto sector will likely lead a rise in durables spending. However, nondurables will likely be weighed down by additional near-term declines in gasoline prices.
Market Consensus before announcement
Personal income in April posted a 0.4 percent gain equaling the pace in March. Importantly, the key wages & salaries component increased 0.4 percent, following a boost of 0.3 percent in March. Spending looked healthy at face value but inflation was the underlying factor for the most part. Personal consumption expenditures expanded at a 0.4 percent pace in April after increasing 0.5 percent the month before. The headline PCE price index posted a 0.3 percent gain, down marginally from 0.4 percent in March but still strong. However, the core rate firmed to 0.2 percent from 0.1 percent in March. Looking ahead, the private wages & salaries component of personal income should be moderately strong as private aggregate weekly earnings gained 0.4 percent in May. Personal spending-at least the goods portion-will likely be negative as unit new motor vehicle sales fell 10.4 percent in May while retail sales excluding autos rose only 0.3 percent. PCE inflation should ease at the headline level as the CPI slowed to 0.2 percent from 0.4 percent in April. Core PCE likely will firm as the core CPI rose 0.3 percent in May, compared to 0.2 percent the month before.


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D2C innerwear, loungewear & activewear brand Freecultr raises $5 million led by Sixth Sense Ventures
D2C clothing brand startup Freecultr raised $5 million in Series A led by Sixth Sense Ventures, plans to deploy the funds primarily for team expansion, specialised consumer outreach, brand building, product and category expansion.
Founded in 2011 by Sandeep Singh, Rajesh Narkar, Harish Bahl and Sujal Shah, Freecultr sells premium innerwear, loungewear and activewear through its own website as well as through third-party ecommerce retailers.
“Our growth over the last two years has shown that there is a huge consumer appetite for premium, technologically advanced and sustainable intimate wear. With this investment, we are now ready to invest deeper in our product development and marketing to capture a bigger share of this growing market,” said Harshit Vij, a cofounder at Freecultr.
“Freecultr’s unique focus on using cutting-edge fabric blends for sustainable yet comfortable Intimate wear has resonated well with our customers. We are thrilled with the confidence Sixth Sense Ventures and our other investors have placed in our brand’s story and are looking forward to building the most innovative comfort wear apparel brand from India,” said Shrey Luthra, cofounder at Freecultr.


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The Thai central bank is working with three payment service providers in a pilot scheme to test its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to a local media report. The limited rollout will involve selected staff at the Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and 2C2P (Thailand), and merchants located around their respective headquarters.
Testing is expected to take place from June to August, and at Krungsri the pilot scheme has reportedly already gotten underway. The bank carried out an education program targeting both staff and merchants in the locality of its headquarters, before inviting staff and around 100 merchants to take part.
Staff members wishing to participate have to install a mobile banking app and add money, which they then convert to digital baht. Payment for goods and services is made by scanning a QR code at participating retailers.
Krungsri eventually hopes to enroll 2,000 staff members into the project. Krungsri Innovate managing director Sam Tanskul considers the early results to be a success, but stressed the need to differentiate the service from existing payment options:
“The bank educated both merchants and staff about retail CBDC before launching the pilot project, and the testing has run smoothly. […] The adoption of digital baht should benefit the country's digital economy in the long term. The bank needs to determine a strategy to differentiate retail CBDC from PromptPay service.”
PromptPay is the real-time interbank payment system in Thailand, and underpins the majority of current payment processes. While the uptake of a digital baht could ease peak period congestion in the PromptPay service, many will need a bigger incentive than that to make the change.
Siam Commercial Bank has also launched its staff CBDC wallet project. Across the three institutions taking part, the central bank expects around 10,000 participants to get involved.
The Bank of Thailand claims that a CBDC will improve the efficiency and convenience of payments while lowering costs, so discounts passing on these cost savings to CBDC-using customers may spring up. There is also the potential for CBDC to be used for state welfare payments, so a hybrid carrot/stick approach could emerge.


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My fellow San Franciscans have been in-your-face Apple zealots for decades. But industry analysts NPD now claim shockingly that we’ve become the norm. NPD analysts are going around saying that nine out of ten dollars spent in the U.S. on computers costing $1,000 or more go to Apple. NPD doesn’t have an official report, but the company was quoted by Betanews reporter Joe Wilcox. The 91 percent figure is not only insanely high, it’s a 50 percent leap from NPD’s claim in the first quarter 2008 that Apple’s revenue market share was 66 percent.
Is this true? How is it possible? NPD vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker says it’s simple: “The average price of a non-netbook Windows PC is under $600. It’s hard to see what functionality you could add to a Windows notebook to make it worth $1,200 to $1,500 to someone.”
So what is Apple giving people for an extra thousand or two thousand dollars? “Apple is giving them Apple,” Baker said. “They’re the only ones willing to sell computers at that price level. They’re like Mercedes that way. In tech, we tend to think performance is most important, but most people want functionality. Yet there are lots of people who want to say, ‘I want to be cool and drive around in a fancy car.’ An Apple computer makes you cool, it makes other people jealous.”
I have to agree. I carried Matt Marshall’s old Fujitsu laptop into last week’s MobileBeat 2009 conference, and people actually asked why I didn’t have a PowerBook. The Fujitsu seemed wrong under my arm, they said.
I’m still skeptical about the 91 percent figure. If true, it says more about the lack of high-end sales for Windows notebooks. Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunters” TV ads used $1,000 as the cutoff point for a new laptop. It’s hard to believe only 10% of notebook/desktop spending is going toward HP, Dell, Lenovo and the rest. Are you an analyst with a contrary opinion? Email me at email@example.com.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


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| Aug 7, 2014
| 9:55 AM
Former Ebony magazine editor Amy DuBois Barnett is joining ESPN as executive editor for an upcoming website about African-American sports and culture, the network announced Thursday.
Barnett will manage editorial operations and will report to Jason...
| Jul 31, 2014
| 5:05 AM
DETROIT "Is this the line for the groupies?"
Amanda Knief asked the question with a laugh, but liberal fervor for Sen. Elizabeth Warren runs deep, as evidenced by the fans who'd gathered some 90 minutes before the Massachusetts Democrat took the stage in...
| Jul 2, 2014
| 10:59 AM
CarPlay, Apple's vehicle in-dash entertainment system, will be supported by nine more automakers, the tech giant has announced.
Audi, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Mazda, Ram, Abarth and Alfa Romeo will include CarPlay on future vehicle models, the...
| Jul 28, 2014
| 1:02 PM
The following items were taken from police reports:
Two Oak Park residents were robbed at gunpoint of cash, an iPhone and a flip phone, all valued at $500, in the 800 block of Mapleton Avenue at 9:10 p.m. July 16.
Two 21-year-old Chicago...
| Jun 23, 2014
| 5:00 AM
Nielsen is out with a list of 14 breakthrough innovation products, based on products introduced in 2012 that continued to do well in their second year in the market.
“There is not a clear recipe for success,” said Rob Wengel, senior vice...
| Jul 30, 2014
| 8:40 AM
RICHMOND — The government's star witness against Bob and Maureen McDonnell took the stand Wednesday, detailing a lavish shopping afternoon with the former first lady and telling a jury that he wrote checks for the couple because he needed the...
| Aug 4, 2014
| 5:11 PM
RICHMOND -- A close friend and longtime political ally of former Gov. Bob McDonnell sketched a troubling portrait of the governor’s wife Monday, laying a crazed rant and a “train wreck” conversation at the former first lady’s feet....
| Aug 3, 2014
Back-to-school shopping isn't just an end-of-summer activity anymore.
Deals on classroom supplies, clothes and electronics started before Fourth of July picnics and close to 40 percent of consumers have already made back-to-school purchases, according...
| Aug 6, 2014
Roger Brooks travels 350 days per year and spends most of them trying to create a place where you want to be. Brooks, 61, a tourism consultant, has worked with more than 1,000 destinations in 45 states and places abroad since the early 1980s. This is an...
| Jul 17, 2014
| 7:45 AM
If you want to score points at Kimpton Hotels, keep your smartphone handy. Guests who sign up for the boutique hotel brand's revamped loyalty program called Kimpton Karma Rewards can score points for putting up posts on Twitter or Facebook about their...
| Jun 30, 2014
| 10:30 AM
HONG KONG - China's Huayi Brothers Media is to sell a 49% stake in its technology subsidiary Huayi Brothers (Tianjin) to private investors.
The sale to Beijing Huaxin Virtual Equity Investment Partnership will raise RMB539 million ($87 million).


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KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its report on Tuesday highlighted opportunities and challenges for Pakistan in ongoing tensions between the US and China, which have contributed to big swings in key commodity prices and has added uncertainty to the global trade dynamics.
The SBP in its first quarter report on State of Pakistan’s Economy, said that together, the US and China accounted for 21.8 percent of global exports and 23.5 percent of worldwide imports in 2017.
Bilateral trade between these two amounted to US$ 584.8 billion in 2017, accounting for 3.3 percent of global trade in the year.
Since July 2018, additional tariffs have been imposed on US$ 360.0 billion of goods traded between the US and China, which account for 61.6 percent of the bilateral trade between the two countries last year.
China has been hit harder as US$ 260.0 billion of its exports are now attracting higher tariffs in the US; against this, US$ 100.0 billion of American exports to China are affected by the retaliatory tariffs.
These tariffs are in addition to across-the-board tariffs on iron and steel products that the US had put in place in May 2018.
For Pakistan, the imposition of these cross-tariffs offers some interesting opportunities as well as challenges.
On a positive note, key food items, such as rice, seafood and soybean (both seeds and oil), have come in the crosshairs, which offer an opportunity for Pakistan to reduce its trade deficit.
On the other hand, the volatility in iron and steel prices in recent months after the imposition of tariffs by the US presents a challenge from Pakistan’s perspective.
Impact on Pakistan’s exports
Among the thousands of items on which additional tariffs have been imposed by the two countries, three product categories stand out from Pakistan’s exports standpoint: seafood, rice and cotton (raw cotton, fabric and yarn).
Specifically, American seafood exports to China are now much costlier as a result of the tariffs, as are Chinese exports of rice and cotton items to the US.
Seafood: China is a major global importer of seafood items, and imported 16.3 percent of its overall seafood imports from the US in 2017 (worth US$ 1.3 billion).
It mainly imports lobsters, oysters, flatfish and sardines, all of which are now attracting additional tariffs, and all of which are also exported by Pakistan.
Pakistan’s global exports of these specific products amounted to US$ 338.9 million in FY18 and constituted 75.1 percent of the country’s overall seafood exports in FY18.
As the US’ seafood exports to China have now become much costlier, Pakistani exporters might increase their presence in the Chinese market.
Impact on Pakistan’s Imports
Though Pakistan can benefit from the diverging trend in soybean prices, its iron and steel imports may come under strain from the trade tensions.
Soybean: China is the world’s largest importer of soybean, and the US is the second-largest producer and exporter of the commodity, after Brazil.
Importantly, soybean is the US’ single largest export item to China, and the country accounted for 56.9 percent of the US’ soybean exports in 2017 and 9.4 percent of the US’ total exports to China.
Given these dynamics, soybean was among the first items targeted by China when the first round of retaliatory tariffs went into effect in July 2018.
China then shifted its demand for soybeans to Brazil and Argentina.
As a result, soybean export prices of Brazil and Argentina have spiked, whereas those of the US have plunged since the tariffs went into effect.
This presents an opportunity for edible oil mills in Pakistan to reduce their imports of soybean oil and seed in value terms by diverting their purchases to the US, where the prices are falling.
Encouragingly, there are indications that this switch is already taking place. Brazil’s share in Pakistan’s overall soybean imports (both seeds and oil) fell to 49.5 percent in FY18 from 58.4 percent in FY17, whereas the US’ share rose to 45.4 percent from 32.1 percent.
Further enhancing soybean imports from the US will yield more FX savings for Pakistan, assuming that the US prices stay depressed in the wake of a record-high projected inventory level for 2018-19.
This dynamic also helped Pakistan’s soybean oil imports in Q1-FY19, when the unit value imports were 20.3 percent lower as compared to Q1-FY18.
Iron and steel: Iron and steel prices have been volatile ever since they came under the crosshairs of US tariffs. These tariffs were applied in two phases.
In the first phase in May 2018, the US imposed additional tariffs across the board on roughly 44.0 percent of the iron and steel products that it imported.
These tariffs particularly affected the US’ neighbors and allies (specifically Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Japan), instead of China.
However, some of these countries were later exempted from the tariffs after they agreed to export quotas.
While China is the largest exporter of overall iron and steel products to the US, its share in the specific products attracting the additional tariffs was minimal.
In September 2018, with anti-trade measures in full swing, the US targeted the bulk (49.1 percent) of the iron and steel products that it imported from China (and which were not part of the earlier across the board tariffs), and imposed additional tariffs on them.
For these specific products, China was the single largest exporter to the US, with a market share of 27.0 percent in Jan-Sep 2018.
Steel prices in China also present a complicated picture. Prices were falling during the first half of 2018, as uncertainty loomed about the extent of the protectionist measures that would be adopted by the US.
Further downward pressure came from a cooling off in China’s economy this year, which has impacted its demand for steel.
However, Chinese steel prices have been rising since August 2018, partly as a result of an expected drop in steel production in the winter months as the country tries to limit the harmful emissions and control smog.
All of this uncertainty has created challenges for Pakistan, as the unit value of the country’s iron and steel imports (both scrap and finished products) has been rising, though with significant fluctuations.
Even though Pakistan imports most of its steel from China, the unit value of its steel imports have not dipped.
Nonetheless, a slowdown in broader economic activity as the country tries to stabilize its economy, has already stalled the demand for imported iron and steel products. In Q1-FY19, quantum imports of these items have already dropped 10.1 percent on YoY basis.
Copyright © PkRevenue.com 2019


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Waitrose’s total sales excluding petrol were up 5.7% in the week to May 25 at £117.12m.
Mark Williamson, the commercial director of the upmarket grocery chain, said: “Many parts of the country finally enjoyed some long-awaited sunshine at the weekend. But with the weather still significantly cooler than the roasting temperatures last year, we saw a real mix of trends.”
Customer shopping patterns were diverse: many people took the opportunity to enjoy some summery foods, with sales of new potatoes up by 25%, packs of fresh fish up by 18%, and snack salads up by 75%.
But in contrast, there were strong sales of cold weather foods – with soup sales up 40% for example, and home baking ingredients up 23%.


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BOSTON - David Ortiz may still be riding high after being inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame last weekend and it appears he'd like to keep it that way.
Cannabis company Rev Brands announced Wednesday that they're teaming up with Ortiz for a new line of products called "Papi Cannabis."
"Once I embraced the flow of the flower everything changed," Ortiz said in a statement. "Cannabis has helped me relax, sleep better, manage stress and heal physically after a lifetime of playing ball, and I look forward to sharing Papi Cannabis and my personal journey to help people understand its benefits."
The first product in the line is called "Sweet Sluggers." That will include some of what Rev Brands calls Big Papi's "favorite strains," which have colorful names such as "Black Mamba #7," "Lava Cake #7," "Motorbreath #15," and "Bootylicious #4."
They will be sold at recreational dispensaries in Massachusetts. Rev Brands says it plans to release other Ortiz products later this summer.
Ortiz, who won three World Series with Boston, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, on Sunday. On Tuesday night, he wasby the Red Sox at Fenway Park.


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AceShowbiz - Ryan Reynolds is now the owner of a gin company. The "Deadpool" star announced on his Twitter account, "In the long and in no way disastrous marriage of showbiz and alcohol, so happy to announce I'm the proud owner of a gin company... @AviationGin."
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 21, 2018
Aviation American Gin confirmed the news via its official Twitter account. "We're excited to announce our new boss, @vancityreynolds. Actor, producer, professional good-looking person," it stated.
Ryan's amity of this brand of berry-derived liquor started from the first sip and he had been since looking for a way to get involved in the company. He said in a statement, "About a year ago, I tried Aviation for the first time. Since that day, I've spent my time finding some way to infiltrate the company. I did this for one simple reason: It's the best damn gin on the planet. Period."
Besides making financial investment, Reynolds will play an important role as creative director in the day-to-day business. The world's 15th highest-paid actor in 2017 is keen to promote the product, which is produced at House Spirits Distillery in Oregon, to the world. To start his huge role, he has done photo shoot. In one photo, he wore a gray T-shirt which he teamed with undone brown suede jacket and blue jeans. He sat on a one-seated leather armchair, holding a glass filled with gin and lemon slices on his right hand, and Aviation gin bottle on his other hand.
This celebrity investment has been long in run since alcohol companies have found this as a brilliant way to boost their products. Thus, unsurprisingly, Ryan is not the one and the first celebrity who has bought share in alcohol company. Previously, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Diageo teamed up with Ciroc vodka, Drake signed up for Virginia Black Whiskey, Channing Tatum has invested in a vodka, and George Clooney owned Casamigos tequila, which was sold to Diageo for $700 million in June 2017.