LONDON | Those who were in need of arguments to claim the British-mainly nature of the economic troubles of the island are in awkward luck. The manufacturing industry saw a sharp decline in activity in May, according to the latest purchase manufacturing index release. The headline index fell back to 45.9 from the 49.7 consensus figure and from 50.2 in April, the second-largest drop in the 20-year history of the…
LONDON | The euro area continued to run a small trade surplus up to March. This is encouraging on account of stronger import prices, led by energy, in the first quarter of the year. But a closer look into the volumes suggests that import volumes are weakening. Estimates from Barclays Capital analysts put the declining at around 1% in January to March 2012 from the same period in 2011, after a…
By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | In brief, Germany would lose out in competitiveness with the rest of the world, were it to accept a monetary expansion policy. Germany is a big exports country, not just to the euro zone but to the outside, too. Check the graph as a proof. Foreign manufacturing orders from the rest of the world, in fact, are growing up quickly while demand from the…
BEIJING | The question on whether China’s economy is expanding or contracting is like answering whether the glass is half full or half empty. The positive official reading signals that there’s no need to worry. With its PMI index calculated after a sample of more than 800 big (and state-owned) companies, PMI is on the rise and above the 50% for the fifth consecutive month. Conversely, HSBC’s reading doesn’t seem to…
By Luis Alcaide, in Madrid | In 2011 Spanish exports of goods recorded the highest point after a period of intense growth since 2008. An increase of 16.8% in 2010 has been followed by a positive rate of 15.4% in the last year. The value of exports in 2011 reached the figure of €214.5 billions, which represents a share of 20% of Spain GDP. This share is equivalent to that…
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2012 Report highlights dystopia as one of the major three risk cases. The concept is used to describe a scenario where literally “life is full of hardship and devoid of hope.” This is an ideal far away from the motto behind the Chinese Dream so insistently emphasised by the state’s propagandistic apparatus: prosperity will be achieved thanks to a society that works in unison…
China suppliers are boosting overseas shipments to emerging markets amid slowing orders from the EU as the region tackles its debt crisis. This is according to a survey of 581 exporters by Global Sources. In the months ahead, 42 pc of survey respondents expect to strengthen their footholds in South and Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Craig Pepples, Global Sources’ President of Corporate Affairs, said: “China suppliers are already taking proactive measures to…