Singapore-bound Wine Advocate embraces an Asian market that has come of age The Wall Street Journal reports that wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr. will be ending the print version of his newsletter, the Wine Advocate and stepping down as editor-in-chief. Stepping up to...
Diversifying against Downside Risk
Western Digital aims to get some hard disk drive production out of Thailand A new report from IHS iSuppli finds the global hard disk drive (HDD) industry fully recovered a year after flooding halted production in Thailand. Not only are HDD shipments forecast to reach...
Counting Flood’s Toll on Thai Trade
No December shipments of HDDs to US from top exporters Comparison of US waterborne import data from November 2010 with November 2011 indicates a 6.3% drop in trade volumes from Thailand – providing a partial measure of the damage done by the flooding of the country’s...
Hi-Tech Brought Low by Rising Water
Flooding in Thailand creates global shortages in auto parts, hard disk drives The worst flooding in Thailand since 1942 has left a huge part of the country under water, putting the Thai people, who have already sustained more than 500 casualties, at risk for water-...
A Cassava by Any Other Name
Yuca, manioc, tapioca … it’s still one versatile tuber Cassava (manihot esculenta) is getting a lot of attention as a pro-poor biofuel that could be a comer in the international ethanol market. But the tropical plant’s starchy root has myriad uses and figures...
Pro-Poor Biofuel
Side-stepping the food-or-fuel choice by cultivating cassava It seemed like a good idea at the time: Reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and start weaning the gasoline-dependent by phasing in (with a mix of subsidies and mandates) the use of ethanol as motor fuel. The...
Plastic Bag Tug of War
First-ever countervailing duty to be imposed on Vietnam The Department of Commerce has issued final determinations of anti-dumping duties to be imposed on plastic grocery bags made in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Polyethylene retail carrier bags — or PRCBs — have...