. Earth Science News .
TRADE WARS
Wal-Mart confident China goods-sourcing stable despite inflation

by Staff Writers
 Hong Kong (AFP) Sept 3, 2008
 US retail titan Wal-Mart Wednesday said soaring production and commodity costs would not damage its ability to source goods from China, and it even expected an improvement in the product standards.

Vicente Trius, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Asia, said that China had been a stable source of products and would remain so in the coming years.

"The economic downturn or inflation or high production cost has not had an impact specific to our sourcing in China as compared to other countries," he told reporters as he launched the company's regional headquarters in Hong Kong.

"My gut feeling is that the quality of Chinese goods will give a competitive advantage as we go forward," he said.

While other emerging markets might compete on price, China will also be able to compete on quality, he added.

Wal-Mart has built much of its success on being able to source cheap products from China's factories, but growing commodity and wage inflation has put the factories under greater pressure.

Hundreds of factories have been forced to shut down or relocate inland from the southern factory belt in the past two years, business groups have said.

Trius insisted the global economic slowdown had not hurt their retail businesses in the mainland, which saw 16 percent growth over the last 12 months.

"China is an extremely fragmented market. Any retailer there would have less than one percent market share, which I believe offers us a lot of opportunities," he said.

Despite choosing Hong Kong as the regional base ahead of Singapore and Shanghai, Trius said Wal-Mart had no immediate plans to open a store in the southern Chinese city.

"I would say the availability of properties is a challenge here. We are not talking about prices," he said.

Hong Kong's supermarket sector is dominated by two conglomerate-backed players who have managed to fight off any foreign entry, most notably French giant Carrefour.

Community
 Email This Article
 Comment On This Article
Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
 Global Trade News


Memory Foam Mattress Review
SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
 Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


TRADE WARS
US free to 'insist' WTO hear high-tech dispute with EU: official
 Washington (AFP) Aug 29, 2008
 The United States is free to "insist" that the World Trade Organization hear a dispute over high-technology import duties after the European Union blocked its request for WTO arbitration.






DISASTER MANAGEMENT
  • New Orleans regroups after dodging Gustav bullet
  • 15 drown as Indian flood relief boats capsize: officials
  • Hanna floods Haitain city where 3,000 died four years ago
  • Cuba weighs huge Gustav damage, Castro hails evacuations

    • CLIMATE SCIENCE
  • Thawing Permafrost Likely To Boost Global Warming
  • Greenland Ice Sheet Melt Could Cause Rapid Sea Level Rise
  • No rain, no water for hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians
  • Methane gas oozing up from Siberian seabed: Swedish researcher

    • EARTH OBSERVATION
  • Hanna Not Moving Much Near North Of The Caicos Islands
  • Arctic Ice On The Verge Of Another All-Time Low
  • Changing The World, One Student At A Time
  • GOCE To Look At The Earth Surface And Core

    • ENERGY TECH
  • Bush says will release reserve oil if firms ask
  • Taiwan calls for more oil exploration cooperation with China
  • AltaRock Energy And Weyerhaeuser Explore Engineered Geothermal System (EGS)
  • Gazprom Neft Looks To Send Crude To China Via Kazakhstan

    • EPIDEMICS
  • Sharp unveils new anti-bird flu air purifier
  • HIV-positive Swazi women march against royals' shopping binge
  • Matsushita says new DNA technology identifies disease risks
  • Canopus Biopharma Chinese Researcher Team Up To Treat Avian Influenza

    • FLORA AND FAUNA
  • Racing Cane Toads Reveals They Get Cold Feet On Southern Australia Invasion
  • Ancient Mother Spawns New Insight On Reptile Reproduction
  • Study Of Islands Reveals Surprising Extinction Results
  • ESA Criticizes Bush Administration's Overhaul Of The Endangered Species Act

    • FROTH AND BUBBLE
  • EPA completes river cleanup
  • Heavy Metal Linked To Poor Growth And Fertility In Sydney Harbor Crustaceans
  • Greenland Ice Core Reveals History Of Pollution In The Arctic
  • Even in Europe, 20 million people without toilets: forum

    • ABOUT US
  • Chewing gum may reduce stress
  • Scientists rebut finding of 'Hobbit' bones
  • New Book Supports Theory Of Man The Hunted
  • Oetzi The Iceman Dressed Like A Herdsman

    • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement