Category: Trade Partnership

Jan 29

Both Imports and Exports of Stainless Steel Decreased Significantly in Dec Due to Dismal Overseas Trades

According to SMM statistics, China imported 237,100 mt of stainless steel in December 2022, a month-on-month decrease of 18.8% and a year-on-year decline of 12.4%. The amount of stainless steel imported from Indonesia was 189,800 mt, down about 18.2% on the month and down 10.79% from the previous year. The proportion of imports from Indonesia to the total imports fell to about 69%, mainly because a large stainless steel plant in Indonesia was shut down in December. After the Chinese Read Full Details…

Jan 29

85 percent of flour mills shut after India restricted wheat export

The eight-month-long ban on the export of wheat by the Indian government has forced 80-85 percent of flour mills in Nepal to shut down. Flour producers said that the ban has also created a shortage of refined flour and wheat flour in the market. Dinesh Kumar Agrawal, senior vice president of the Nepal Flour Mills Association, said that domestically produced wheat is sufficient to operate a flour mill for five months only. “For the remaining months, producers are dependent on Read Full Details…

Jan 28

Japan Bets Big on Bringing Semiconductor Manufacturing Home

TOKYO—To get back some of the high-tech mojo that made it an economic powerhouse, Japan is launching an ambitious program to bring back cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, a field it ceded to Taiwan, South Korea, and China nearly 20 years ago. But will this new campaign at state-backed industrial policy succeed, and more importantly, is it even the right goal? The new initiatives are part of a broader strategy of greater “economic security” under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration, a need Read Full Details…

Jan 28

Saudi EXIM signs deal with Italian Export Credit Agency to boost trade

The Saudi Export-Import Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Italian Export Credit Agency, also known as SACE, to boost trade between the two countries. The agreement was inked by EXIM Bank CEO Saad bin Abdul Aziz Alkhalb and the head of the Italian agency Alessandra Ricci at SACE’s headquarters in Rome. The MoU aims at creating a framework for mutual reinsurance to enhance the presence of Saudi exports in Italian markets. The deal also opens up possibilities Read Full Details…

Jan 27

The impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area on the continent’s mining sector

As a top producer of numerous critical mineral commodities, Africa is set to benefit from the rapid increase in the rate of global energy transition, with the continent’s mining industry playing a role in sourcing and supplying these critical minerals for use in clean energy initiatives. Exporting these critical minerals as raw materials, however, reduces Africa’s trading position to one of price takers, and the current disruptions in global supply chains are hampering the trade of these commodities in Africa, Read Full Details…

Jan 27

UAE expects digital assets to ‘play a major role’ in international trade

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has indicated an interest in exploring virtual currencies for international trading as it aims to reduce its dependency on the U.S. dollar. UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani Al-Zeyoudi, told Bloomberg that the country would be pivoting to digital assets in 2023 after making significant headway in their regulation over the last few months. Al-Zeyoudi disclosed this at the recently concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos with policymakers and business leaders in Read Full Details…

Jan 27

Government updates on impact of upcoming strikes, ALVS downtime and minister’s Felixstowe visit

The Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT), serving as a key interlocutor between government and industry, continually updates its members and the wider trade community about major developments affecting UK trade. These include updates from the government about upcoming civil service strikes, downtime on the Automatic Licence Verification System (ALVS) and a recent visit to a key port in Suffolk by the environment minister. The first two were communicated by HMRC to the Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC), of Read Full Details…

Jan 27

China EximBank raises credit support to foreign trade industry

The Export-Import Bank of China (China EximBank), which is a state-funded and state-owned policy bank supporting China’s foreign trade, had increased credit support for the foreign trade industry in 2022.Towards the end of 2022, China EximBank’s outstanding loans to the country’s foreign trade industry totalled 2.87 trillion yuan (around $423.92 billion), which was an increase of 470 billion yuan compared to the start of the year, according to local media reports. Outstanding loans in yuan and other currencies that were Read Full Details…

Jan 26

Poland and Hungary Are Testing the Limits of the EU’s Liberalism

Before their illiberal turn, Poland and Hungary were lauded as postcommunist poster children. Both nations have combined moderately redistributive welfare states with attacks on civil liberties — but inflation is putting their growth model to the test. Since 2010, Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, has been at the head of an illiberal turn in the European Union. While Germany initiated a historical sea change — Olaf Scholtz’s famous “Zeitenwende” — and France abandoned its conciliatory approach toward Russia, Read Full Details…

Jan 26

UK links up with Thailand on digital trade

The UK’s Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation (C4DTI) has kicked off a new project to accelerate trade digitalisation in Thailand, as part of wider plans to strengthen and expand trade ties with Asia. Funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, the project will see C4DTI and its legal reform taskforce partner, the Centre for Applied Sustainable Transition Law, provide technical assistance to Thailand’s Electronic Transaction Development Agency (ETDA) to support the removal of legal barriers and the alignment Read Full Details…