Konica Minolta withdraws from camera, film business

Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. said it would withdraw from the camera and color film businesses, marking the end to one of the best known brands in the photography world. As part of the surprise move, Konica Minolta said it would sell a portion of its digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera assets to Sony Corp. for an undisclosed sum and cease production of compact cameras by March. It would also stop production of minilabs by March. The company said it would stop making photographic film and color paper by March 2007, pulling out of a market shrinking more than 20% a year due to the spread of digital cameras, which don't use film to store images.

Konica Minolta, created in August 2003 through the merger of Konica Corp. and Minolta Co., has a long history in the camera and film markets, producing Japan's first photographic paper in 1903 and the country's first color film in 1940. Konica Minolta said it would continue to produce digital SLR camera bodies and lenses for Sony based on its Maxxum/Dynax mount system and owners of those lenses will be able to use them on new digital SLR models to be developed by Sony. But the Konica Minolta brand will disappear, ending a legacy that started when a predecessor of Konica introduced its first camera in 1903. The first Minolta brand camera came in 1933, followed by Konica in 1948.

channelnewsasia.com :

Japan's Konica Minolta, one of the world's leading photographic equipment manufacturers, said it would stop making all cameras because the market had become too competitive. The announcement comes less than a week after Nikon unveiled plans to stop selling most of its film cameras to focus on hot-selling digital models.

The company plans to slash 3,700 jobs or about 11 percent of its global workforce by 2007 under a restructuring package that will also see part of its business making high-end digital cameras sold off to Sony.

(2006-01-19 23:59:59 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Singapore and Qatar reaffirm commitment to further economic cooperation

channelnewsasia.com :

Singapore and Qatar have reaffirmed their commitment to further economic and bilateral cooperation. When Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew met with the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Khalifa al-Thani, both leaders discussed a range of issues, which included how Singapore could be a part of Qatar's economic development. Qatar is keen to have Singapore as a partner in its economic development as it aims to become the economic hub in the region. Qatar wants to learn from Singapore's own developmental experience and know-how.

In 2004 Qatar was Singapore's 22nd largest trading partner, with S$3.6 billion worth of trade, a jump of 40% over the previous year. Singapore and Qatar have already completed negotiations on their Free Trade Agreement last year. And now Singapore is looking forward to formalising the agreement by signing the Singapore-Qatar FTA.

Minister Mentor Lee's visit is an important one - to keep up the momentum of contacts at the political level and to explore what more can be done to push for more economic cooperation. Both leaders also discussed and exchanged views on regional and international developments. They recognised that the world is changing and there's a need to keep up and adjust to the evolving global environment.

- Hmm, "economic and bilateral cooperation". Anything to do with Qatar's natural gas reserves?

(2006-01-19 15:49:50 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Cloudy with a chance of chaos

energybulletin.net -> money.cnn.com :

A disturbing consensus is emerging among the scientists who study global warming: Climate change may bring more violent swings than they ever thought, and it may set in sooner. John Browne, the CEO of BP, has been jolting audiences with a list of proposed solutions that hint at the vastness of the challenge. To stabilize CO2 levels at double the pre-industrial level, carbon emissions would have to be reduced by 7 gigatons a year. Eliminating just one gigaton, argues Browne, would mean building 700 nuclear stations to replace fossil-fuel-burning power plants, or increasing the use of solar power by a factor of 700, or stopping all deforestation and doubling present efforts at reforestation. There's just one catch: Even change on this vast scale might not stop global warming.

Just 40 years ago the consensus was that climate shifted smoothly and over many centuries. Since the early 1990s, however, scientists have been coming to see climate change as less like a dial and more like an on-off switch. The transition from, say, warm to cold is far more abrupt - taking decades, not centuries - and far more chaotic than previously supposed. A flickering climate would affect every part of the planet, and in so doing reduce the resiliency of the global community. Property values in most places would plummet as buyers disappeared and costs of insurance and maintenance soared.

As climate change starts inflicting losses, insurers will pull back, shifting financial risk to businesses, homeowners, banks - and finally to taxpayers. Andrew Dlugolecki, a risk analyst at the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research, recently estimated that the chances of the industry getting wiped out by weather-related catastrophes will rise from 1 in 100 worldwide today to 9 in 100 by 2050. To insure against that degree of risk, a carrier would have to charge annual rates as high as 12% of insured value - most businesses and individuals start self-insuring (industry-speak for dropping their coverage and taking their chances) when premiums reach 3% of value.

As businesses begin to recognize the dangers of climate change, markets will help economies adjust, pricing the risks and shifting resources. Yet markets have blind spots: They typically underprice long-term or novel risks. In the case of climate change, where large-scale actions must be taken lest change hit with full force, a purely market-based response would be too little, too late. To address the risks, governments need to get involved.

(2006-01-19 14:21:25 SGT) [Env] Permalink

COEs drop below $10000, all categories

channelnewsasia.com :

Certificate Of Entitlement prices for all car categories have fallen below the S$10,000 mark for the first time. COE prices for small cars saw the biggest drop in the second open bidding exercise, falling S$2,593 to S$8,009. It is also the lowest compared to the other car categories. The COE for big cars is now S$9,603, down S$1,999, while in the COE for the Open Category fell S$1,900 to S$9,801.

Gerard Ee, the president of the Automobile Association of Singapore says the COE price dip is a big surprise. Mr Ee said he had expected prices to go up to between S$15,000 and S$20,000.

(2006-01-19 13:30:06 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Buffett: U.S. trade deficit is a threat

peakoil.com -> newsday.com :

The U.S. trade deficit is a bigger threat to the domestic economy than either the federal budget deficit or consumer debt and could lead to "political turmoil," billionaire investor Warren Buffett warned. "Right now, the rest of the world owns $3 trillion more of us than we own of them," Buffett told business students and faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The U.S. trade deficit for the first 11 months of 2005 totaled $661.8 billion, surpassing the previous annual record of $617.6 billion set in 2004. Economists say when December figures are included, the final deficit for 2005 will top $710 billion. Buffett said he expects it to top $700 billion this year.

Fifteen years ago, the U.S. had no trade deficit with China, he said. "Now it's $200 billion. If we don't change the course, the rest of the world could own $15 trillion of us. That's pretty substantial. That's equal to the value of all American stock," Buffett said.

(2006-01-19 13:23:29 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

OPEC output down 250 kbpd in Dec 2005 : Platts

peakoil.com -> freeserve.advfn.com :

OPEC crude production fell by 250,000 b/d in December 2005 to average 29.8-mil b/d over the month as Iraq's output and export difficulties intensified and pipeline sabotage shut in some Nigerian production, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials shows. A 50,000 b/d decline in Saudi production also contributed to the decline from November's 30.05-mil b/d.

It was the first time the group's output had fallen below 30-mil b/d since last spring. OPEC production was last below the 30-mil b/d level in April last year when it averaged 29.96-mil b/d.

(2006-01-19 13:09:32 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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