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Polity
Article by: Shannon de Ryhove Published: 18 Jun 2008
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| Daily podcast – June 18, 2008 | |
| This podcast is brought to you by Mitsubishi Fuso - you can rely on us.Wednesday, June eighteen, 2008. From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon O'Donnell. Making headlines today: The Bureau for Economic Research said it's most recent survey of the manufacturing sector revealed a gloomy industry, with further deterioration in business conditions, while the manufacturing business confidence index sank to a seven-and-a-half year low of 37 index points during the second quarter. "The manufacturing sector seems to be suffering under deteriorating business conditions in both the local and global economies, as rising price pressures, and, domestically, the interest rate increases, impacted demand. The performance of the sector is further constrained by other factors such as the shortage of skilled labour, which hamper the competitiveness of local manufacturers," said BER economist Christelle Grobler. The bureau reported that support from the domestic market fell away, with the majority of respondents reporting declines in domestic sales and order volumes. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday reported that trade conditions remained depressed in May, and that the prospects for an improvement appeared uncertain. The monthly Trade Activity Index declined a further two points to 43 points in May, while the Trade Expectations Index hit an all-time low of 46 points. The Trade Activity Index sub-index on current sales volumes which, after a level of 55 points in February, declined substantially to 44 points in March, recovered slightly to 46 in April, but fell back to 44 points in May. The new orders sub-index dipped to 40 in May, from 42 in April. While commodity prices were expected to remain strong in 2008, professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said on Tuesday that it was expecting prices to taper off slightly, and that some companies would come under pressure if they did not watch input and operational costs. During its review of the global mining trends between January and December 2007, PricewaterhouseCoopers found that market capitalisation, among the Top 40 companies, had grown by 54%, with the diversified mining companies, as well as iron-ore and coal mining companies remaining strong. Meanwhile, the firm said its research showed that CEOs of mining companies, were now younger than before. The average CEO was now an average of 50 years old with only two years in office compared with the traditional average of 56 years old with six years in office. PricewaterhouseCoopers African mining leader Hugh Cameron: (audio clip) Also making headlines: Omnia reports 30% jump in headline earnings Volkswagen South Africa wins 12-billion rand component export contract Tiger Brands to list Adcock Ingram by end September Platinum sector looking ripe for consolidation, says Mvela's Wellsted Wesizwe to use generators as power contingency plan at flagship platinum project And, Platinum Australia wins South African prospecting right In political news: Zimbabwe court asked to free opposition official ANC warns against inflammatory remarks by Youth League president Julius Malema Controversial public service bill tabled at Parliament And, Thabo Mbeki to meet with Robert Mugabe reports Zimbabwe state media That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories, visit engineeringnews.co.za, miningweekly.com and polity.org.za |
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