Foreign Minister Murray McCully travels to New York tomorrow for UN Security Council meetings.
“This will be my final visit to New York during our two years on the United Nations Security Council,” Mr McCully says.
“We are focused on working right up to the last day and while in New York I will participate in the quarterly Open Debate on the Middle East, which will include a briefing from outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and a Ministerial-level debate on Non-Proliferation hosted by the new Foreign Minister of Spain.
“I will also meet with incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the head of UN Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous.
“While New Zealand’s tenure on the Council is drawing to a close, many of the issues we have championed during our term will continue to be a focus for our foreign policy effort in the coming years.
“This visit is about ensuring that New Zealand is well positioned to continue pushing for top-level UN reform and other issues that matter to small states as we transition off the Security Council,” Mr McCully says.
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) -- Affiliates of Doosan Group, a machinery and construction equipment conglomerate, saw their credit ratings downgraded by local rating appraisers due to lingering concerns over their financial health despite the market debut of a key affiliate, industry sources said Friday.
Doosan Bobcat Inc., a unit of the country's leading construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore, raised some 900 billion won (US$773 million) through the IPO last month, the second-largest IPO deal after Samsung BioLogics Co.'s 2.2 trillion-won market debut early this month.
Originally, Doosan Bobcat, a leading player in the small construction machinery sector in the United States, had sought to raise as much as 2.45 trillion won but cut its IPO deal due to lukewarm responses from investors.
Doosan Infracore and Doosan Engine Co. own a majority stake in Doosan Bobcat. In particular, Doosan Infracore holds 59 percent in Doosan Bobcat.
Korea Investors Service Inc., a rating agency, cut its rating on Doosan Infracore to "BBB-" from "BBB," citing the company's burden of paying off heavy debts amid weaker-than-expected cash flow from Doosan Bobcat's market listing.
"Some 240 billion won worth of liquidity has been funneled into Doosan Infracore, which is smaller than expected," the rating agency said. "The company is still saddled with a heavy debt payment burden, and its liquidity level is heavily dependent on Doosan Bobcat's stock price."
The IPO was part of Doosan Group's efforts to improve its financial status. The power-to-construction equipment conglomerate has raised trillions of won by selling assets in recent years to survive a prolonged slump in the construction industry.
KIS Ratings also lowered its rating outlook for Doosan Corp. and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. to "negative" from "review for rating downgrade."
NICE Investors Service Inc. also lowered its rating outlook for key affiliates, such as Doosan and Doosan Infracore, citing the lack of much improvement in their financial health following Doosan Bobcat's IPO.
"After the Doosan Bobcat's IPO, what is important for now is how to reduce the financial burden held by Doosan Infracore and Doosan Engine," said Park Se-young, an analyst at NICE Investors Service. "We need to closely monitor each affiliate's business performance."
As of end-June, Doosan Infracore's debt stood around 2.3 trillion won, with about 1.5 trillion-won debt maturing within one year.
Some analysts raised the possibility that Doosan Infracore may take out loans with its stake in Doosan Bobcat as collateral.
Hit by a protracted slump in the construction sector, Doosan Infracore logged a loss of 859 billion won last year, with its operating income dropping 94 percent on-year to 27.4 billion won.
A new tug designed specifically for Port Taranaki’s needs will be built and on the water in 2018.
A contract with Turkish tug-building company Sanmar Shipyards was signed late last month after months of investigation by Port Taranaki staff.
“We had a number of proposals from shipyards on specifications we had developed,” said Port Taranaki marine engineering supervisor Grant Squire. “We shortlisted three in China, Singapore and Turkey and made yard visits of each. This solution is a standard design with limited modification to meet our operating needs.”
The tug will replace the Kupe, which at 45 years is the oldest of Port Taranaki’s three tugs and was bought second hand from the Wellington port company, CentrePort. The Kupe will be put up for sale and released after the new tug is in operation.
“The Kupe has served us well but the design is now obsolete and the vessel was getting quite old,” Mr Squire said.
The new 25m in-harbour tractor tug will be the first build of a new line of tugs by Sanmar Shipyards, and based on a design by leading tug designer Robert Allan, of Canada. The state-of-the-art tug will include Caterpillar engines, Rolls-Royce propellers, and an electric towing winch by DMT. It will boast three two-berth cabins and will be operated by three people.
“A tractor tug has the propellers at the front,” said Mr Squire. “It allows for better handling for the type of rugged conditions we have on the west coast.”
The tug has a maximum bollard pull in excess of 65 tonnes, which is now the industry norm as larger vessels dominate. Port Taranaki’s other tugs, the Tuakana and Rupe, have a bollard pull of 40 tonnes and 29 tonnes respectively.
Mr Squire, who led the project, was impressed with the quality of Sanmar’s work – the company has built more than 170 tugs in 40 years of operation – and said their quality management and health and safety standards stood out.
Port Taranaki chief executive Guy Roper said the company was looking forward to having a new tug with greater power and state-of-the-art equipment join the fleet.
“A number of staff have worked very hard investigating the best design and manufacturer for the tug we require. We are very pleased with the result and are looking forward to having the tug on the water. It is a significant investment with a project budget of $12m.”
The new tug is expected to be completed by February 2018 and in operation at Port Taranaki in May 2018. Mr Squire will make regular visits to Turkey to oversee the build. The tug has a lifespan of 25-30 years.
A name for the tug will be decided closer to the time of its completion.
| A port Taranaki release | Dec 08, 2016 |
A new-concept welding facility opened by BOC at its Rocklea site in Brisbane is set to be an exciting new hub for product applications and testing, research and development, and training.
The facility will primarily be used to demonstrate the latest in welding, cutting and heating technology and automation and contains the latest generation digital welding equipment, GMAW and GTAW arc projectors and a Kawasaki RA 10L robot equipped with a Servo Robot PowerCam laser vision camera and EWM alpha Q 352 welding package (built by BOC’s automation partner Robot Technologies-Systems Australia).
BOC Technical Manager Peter Kuebler explains the investment will benefit both customers and BOC’s technical specialists across the nation, with the hope that it will contribute to advancements in the metal fabrication industry.
“Productivity is really important as cost pressures increase in our global economy. To assist with this, BOC and RTA have developed world leading robotic applications in Australia and are now starting to see more businesses use automation as an essential vehicle to remain competitive,” Kuebler said.
Smaller customers are upgrading to digital welding machines capable of sophisticated arc characteristics and utilising innovative shielding gas mixtures.”
| Continue to full article at Manufacturers' Monthly | Dec 12, 2016 |
Kawerau's drive to develop an inland container terminal serving the Eastern Bay of Plenty is gaining traction, with a decision expected early next year on whether or not to go ahead.
A research study being carried out by Rotorua's Scion forestry research institute will be completed by year end, with a stakeholders meeting scheduled for January in order to make a decision.
"The research project is coming to an end and the indicative results to date are very promising," said Glenn Sutton, economic development manager at Kawerau District Council, who has been a key proponent of the terminal.
"I'm passionate about this, but we have to wait until we have the science in our hands to back it up."
If the project gets the green light, it would see a container terminal developed on a five-to-eight hectare site, with a possible throughput that could be as high as 15,000 40-foot equivalent units annually, and a dedicated daily container trainload, he said.
| Continue to full article | Dec 10, 2016 |
Australian respiratory technology company Rhinomed has entered into a distribution and supply agreement with The Linde Group and its Australian subsidiary BOC Limited.
BOC will manage logistics and distribute Rhinomed’s breathing technologies, Mute and Turbine, in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Rhinomed will ship product directly from its Hong Kong warehouse to BOC’s logistics centre in Sydney. Under the arrangement, BOC will fulfill and supply all of Rhinomed’s existing contracts within Australia—covering the existing 700 pharmacies currently stocking the product.
BOC brings an extensive and experienced sales force to support the growing uptake of Rhinomed’s products in the region. Mute complements BOC’s current sleep equipment offering, which includes CPAP masks and supplies and in-home sleep studies.
Colin Smith, head of healthcare, BOC Limited says in a release, “BOC is proud to partner with Rhinomed as their distributor for Mute and Turbine across Australia and New Zealand. As a leader in the Australian and New Zealand sleep markets, BOC has been providing quality sleep therapy to patients in Australia for more than ten years.”
BOC Limited is part of The Linde Group, a global gas, healthcare, and engineering company, operating in over 70 countries with an annual turnover of more than €17 billion. BOC provides pharmaceutical and medical products and services across hospitals, clinics, intermediate care centers, aged care facilities, GPs, emergency centers, convenience stores, service stations, and patients’ homes. The Linde Group operates in the United States through its subsidiary Lincare. Lincare provides services and equipment, operating from approximately 1,000 locations in 48 states and Canada.
“The relationship with The Linde Group and its subsidiary BOC further cements Rhinomed’s strategy of positioning Mute as the front-line solution for millions of people as they enter the sleep solutions market. This agreement will deliver significant scale to Mute’s presence in the Australian and New Zealand sleep market,” says RhInomed CEO Michael Johnson.
Mute is a nasal stent designed to hold open and individually dilate the nasal airway, alleviating the effect of nasal obstruction, to improve nasal breathing and reduce snoring. It is currently available in leading pharmacy and sleep clinics in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Australia, as well as via online platforms.
| A Linde Group release | Dec 9, 2016 |
Day one of the Dream Team means coping with problems before they become bigger problems and in politics this means people which is what the word politics actually means.
Top priority is hardly surprisingly Mrs Judith Collins MP, minister of police.
The new team knows that Mrs Collins must be kept in the tent and also kept busy, very busy.
Mrs Collins demonstrated her determination of purpose when she reached for the top job and did so without any support from the National government’s king-makers, people such as Murray McCully MP or of enforcers such as Steven Joyce MP, the new minister of finance.
She compounded this by mooting that she was the one, the match maker, within the National government to bring into the fold permanent stormy petrel Winston Peters MP of New Zealand First Party.
She might just as well have offered her colleagues a cup of tractor sump oil.
Mrs Collins is the National Government MP who most equates to Margaret Thatcher, also a tax lawyer.
So as today draws on and the coronation caucus smiles however insincere, along with the sound of clinking glasses recede into the evening the new premier Bill English MP and his deputy Paula Bennett MP will crystalise their thoughts on Mrs Collins.
They will do so in concert with solving another problem..
It is one to which long running National governments have found themselves in the quite recent past to be prone.
This is of the seemingly spontaneous but in fact carefully orchestrated advent of a middle class revolt.
It is currently a low-level threat in the form of a peoples’ party currently being nurtured by pop-economist Gareth Morgan.
Mr Morgan’s movement centres on the need for an asset tax .
This it is claimed is required to cope with the problem of the well-off sidestepping paying tax.
Voiders and evaders alike slide past it by a process of expensing blended with the advantages presented by the much storied absence of a capital gains tax..
Enter now the solution to be seen to be at least facing the problem.
It is Mrs Judith Collins MP.
But now with a new title.
That of revenue minister..
Now to the other rebel Mr Simon Bridges MP, minister of transport.
He is a good-looking boyish chap.
He is of a definable National Party type which is known and categorised as being too clever by half.
The new leadership duo by nature are conciliatory. They will be tempted by inclination to overlook his premature and youthful power grab..
Then as the evening wears on and the Beehive cat has been put out, they will remind themselves of the first rule of being in power.
It is that once you have power then you must use it.
As the sun begins to set they will remind themselves of the second rule.
You must also be seen to be using it.
Cohesion, or at least the external perception of it, is central to the National Party
So it is now that Mr Bridges will find himself confronting a tour on the back benches where his presence will be a highly visible example to anyone else in the National government contemplating breaking the ranks.
The National Party though believes in second chances and thus in redemption.
So as 2017 advances and the general election looms so will the need to attend with still greater intensity to electoral window dressing, of the type that requires a 40 year old mediagenic type such as Mr Bridges.
With his international legal qualifications who better pre-election than Mr Bridges to take over the always troublesomely delicate portfolio of minister of police?
Andrew Little would be mad not to run in Mt Albert
General Cable confirms closure, 170 to lose jobs
Manawatu milk equipment shop to close after three generations
Ex-factory workers take trip down memory lane
Importers more positive than exporters on outlook for the kiwi
NZ dollar falls vs greenback on US confidence survey, reaches 19-month high vs euro
International Construction Conference 'to showcase the future'
Motueka company Coppins wins fifth international award for sea anchor system
All I want for Christmas is something that works
Kiwi software firms eschew 'growth at all costs' for a more sustainable approach
Anadarko gives up Pegasus Basin permit
John Key Fades Away-– a Market Trader Quits his Position at The Top
From hand-crafted boutique brands to high-volume manufacturing and assembly, dedicated U.S. bicycle makers are reshoring bike production to the U.S. A confluence of factors including rising offshore costs, the benefits of a “local for local” business strategy, the growing popularity of bikes in expanding urban areas and patriotism are giving rise to new opportunities for an “old” mode of transportation.
The move of American-made bicycles offshore began with industry leader Schwinn shifting manufacturing to Asia in the 1980s. In an effort to take advantage of low wages, other large bicycle manufacturers like Huffy and Trek soon followed, at least in part. “By 2015 only 2.5 percent of the estimated 12.6 million bikes sold in the U.S. (not including those for children) were made here, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association.” However as offshore wages began to rise, bicycle manufacturers began to rethink their offshore manufacturing and sourcing decisions. Driven by rising offshore costs, the cost savings of automation and innovative processes, and the benefit of “Made in USA” branding, reshoring bike manufacturing and assembly began to make good economic sense.
U.S. Domestic Bike Production
According to the International Bike Organization, the U.S. was in the top five for bicycle production in 1990 at 5.6 million units. As more offshoring occurred, U.S. bike production fell to a low of 200,000 units in 2015 but the trend is looking up. The U.S. is on track to produce over half a million bikes this year.
Continue to full item | Published Dec 8, 2016
Textile Clothing and Footwear (TCF) Council of Fiji has received a grant of $100,000 from the ministry of industry, trade and tourism to develop the manufacturing sector. The aid will help TCF sector to establish more industries especially in the western division to explore new markets, said Shaheen Ali, industry, trade and tourism permanent secretary.
The initiative by the government will help establish service and manufacturing zones that will attract investors, said Ali during the $100,000 grant handover ceremony at the ministry. The trading can improve as the manufacturing zone is also closer to Nadi international airport and international port.
TCF industry is one of the major contributing factors to Fiji’s gross domestic product. Australia and New Zealand are main export markets for Fiji’s TCF industry. The financial assistance will allow TCF Council to promote business in North America, Europe, Pacific Island countries and Asia, Fijian media reports said.
“The readymade infrastructure in Nadi will have manufacturing companies including IT and business process outsourcing operations that will also increase the scope of employment for young graduates,” said Ali. “The same concept is being followed in China, India and Singapore. It will take us some time, planning and investment to implement it.”
The grant has allowed the industry stakeholders to come under one umbrella, said TCF president Kaushik Kumar.
The TCF industry has received a grant of $850,000 in the last eight years from the government under the National Exports Strategy grants, said Ali.
Nearly 7,000 people are employed with the TCF industry with nearly 90 per cent of them being women. (RR)
| Fibre2Fashion | Dec 9, 2016 |
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242