スウエーデンの面白いものたち


by nyfiken
カレンダー
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JAPAN BUSINESS INFLUENCE AFTER 11MARCH

Electronics

Japan is a breadbasket for the global gadget business, where many of the key ingredients for hot electronics are produced. Yet the biggest producers of videogame consoles, televisions and other devices remain uncertain how the recent earthquake there will eventually ripple through to consumers.

Electronics makers haven't yet cut production estimates because of the quake. But even companies that say they've experienced no disruptions from the disaster are careful to add the words "so far" to their assessments.

Nintendo Co., for example, is preparing for the U.S. introduction on March 27 of its Nintendo 3DS hand-held game player. The company says no one from the company was injured by the disaster and its facilities in Japan weren't damaged. "Business operations, including future product shipments, have not been significantly affected so far," Nintendo said.

Other hot devices, like Apple's iPad 2, depend on parts from Japan that are likely to be in short supply. The iPad 2 contains five components sourced from Japan, including flash memory chips from Toshiba and an electronic compass from AKM Semiconductor Inc., according to an analysis of the product by IHS iSuppli, though the firm says Apple could find some of the parts from manufacturers outside the country. Apple declined to say whether it has seen any impact from the situation in Japan. Apple's online store is showing a shipment delay of four to five weeks for the device.

Sony Corp. said operations at nine of its 25 plants in Japan, which manufacture products such as batteries, chips and home audio equipment, had been temporarily or partially suspended because of quake damage or power issues. Three have resumed some operations, but Sony is temporarily suspending operations at six other sites because of parts and component shortages. It aims to restart those operations as early as April 1. Sony doesn't expect overseas TV and PlayStation 3 shipments to be affected because they are manufactured outside of Japan.

Other factories that weren't directly affected by the disaster have suffered because of planned power outages and infrastructure issues. Sharp Corp. said its television assembly plant in Tochigi began resuming operations on March 15, but the hours have been shortened.

—Nick Wingfield and Yukari Kane

Autos
For more than two decades, Japan and its auto makers have been ascendant, grabbing share from their U.S. and European rivals, setting standards for quality and racking up huge profits.

Japan Parts Shortage Hits Auto Makers Driver's Seat: Analysts Say Auto Parts Shortages Will Hit U.S. Soon Toyota Plans for North American Production Cutbacks Toyota, Honda Delay Plant Restarts Nissan to Resume Production in Japan After the earthquake, however, Japan will find its position in the auto challenged. For the rest of this year, and possibly beyond, Japanese auto makers will have to focus their energies and resources on rebuilding at home, giving U.S., Korean and European rivals an opening to zoom ahead elsewhere, especially in emerging markets including China and India.

In the U.S., the playing field already has shifted, putting Japan's biggest auto makers on the defensive. Toyota Motor Corp., after its quality troubles last year, is losing share, mostly to Hyundai Motor Co. But Ford Motor Co. and General Motors also are reinvigorated. Together, they earned more than $10 billion last year.

The quake is causing difficulties for U.S. and European auto makers that depend on some critical, mostly electronic, parts made in Japan. But the impact should be short-term because the auto industry and its suppliers have significant regional operations. A great majority of the cars sold in North American are made there. The same is true of Europe, China, South America and other markets.

As a result, the quake's ripple effects will be muted outside Japan, and most auto makers will be able to get back to business as usual fairly quickly while Japan reels.

The quake is also a threat to the Japanese auto industry's greatest strength—exports. In 2010, 4.9 million new vehicles were sold in Japan, but Japanese auto makers produced and shipped nine million vehicles to markets around the world. No other auto-producing nation is so dependent on exports. With many plants are idled, that export business is up for grabs, at least temporarily.

Down the road, as more auto plants are built in low-cost labor markets, Japan's exports will come under more pressure. Its auto makers will have to consider whether they can continue to export from high-cost plants at home. The answer might be found Thailand, where Nissan Motor Co. preparing to do what was once unthinkable: export small cars to Japan.

—Neal E. Boudette

Steel

In 2010, Japan surpassed China to become the world's biggest steel exporter. Despite the drop expected in Japanese steel production as a result of the earthquake, the world's steel market is unlikely to see extended volatility in prices and supply.

Exports

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The reason: Mills in the U.S., Europe, Asia and elsewhere, still feeling the effects of the global recession, are under-utilized. Major mills in 64 countries are operating at about 82% capacity, according the World Steel Association.

Those plants are ramping up production. Shipbuilders in the Asia region, which have relied on Japanese steel makers, have asked South Korea's Posco, the world's third-largest steelmaker by output, to make more steel used in ship construction as a hedge against potential disruptions. And steel makers in China and Taiwan say their mills could supply those relying on Japanese producers.

Industry analysts are predicting Japan production could fall as much as 20%, or 24 million metric tons on an annual basis, within the next three months. Nippon Steel Corp. and JFE Steel Corp., Japan's two largest steelmakers, said blast furnaces temporarily closed by the earthquake are back in operation. But energy remains the big issue facing all of Japan's steel mills. Steel plants, especially electric-arc furnaces that melt recycled steel to make new product, consume huge amounts of electricity and have been affected by shortages as the nuclear crisis leaves a hole in the power grid.

Rio Tinto, the world's second-biggest supplier of seaborne iron ore, doesn't expect lower iron-ore sales, even though Japan, the world's second-largest buyer of the ore, may cut purchases in the short term. Other steel mills are likely to take up the slack, according to Sam Walsh, head of Rio Tinto's Australian-based iron-ore operations. And in the long term, he expects significant, steel-intensive rebuilding in Japan.

—Robert Guy Matthews

Manufacturing

The earthquake aftermath is likely to create at least minor problems around the world for equipment makers and buyers. But long term, some big industrial companies say massive rebuilding in Japan could lead to growth.

Caterpillar Warns of Supply Problems From Quake Japan-based companies, including Komatsu Ltd., Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. and Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., are the world's dominant makers of excavators and export them world-wide.

Some U.S. dealers have been warned that deliveries of excavators from Japan, at least in the short term, could take 60 or so more days longer than usual. James McCullough, chief executive of CNH Construction, said it isn't yet clear how serious the problem will become but that his company is looking at possible alternative suppliers.

At a trade show in Las Vegas this week, officials of Komatsu, Japan's biggest maker of construction equipment, said most plants in Japan were operating and others were preparing to resume operations. But Hisashi Shinozuka, president of Komatsu's U.S. unit, said 10% to 15% of Komatsu's 300 or so suppliers in Japan have earthquake-related problems that put production in doubt, at least temporarily. "We think we're okay for a while" with existing supplies, Mr. Shinozuka said. If certain key suppliers are out of action for three or four months, there may be a big impact, he said.

Caterpillar Inc. makes excavators, loaders and tractors in Japan and exports many of these to China and elsewhere in Asia. It says it hasn't had any significant disruption to its supply chain in Japan or elsewhere so far.

Caterpillar officials say rebuilding will spur demand for construction and power-generation equipment and may also help the company's sales of mining equipment if the disaster means less nuclear-power generation. Still, the disaster may help Japan emerge from years of economic stagnation, Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar's CEO, said at a trade show in Las Vegas this week. "This could be a triggering event for Japan," he said.

Deere & Co. relies on Hitachi to supply major components for Deere-branded excavators. Deere has said it expects delivery delays for some construction excavators. Three of Hitachi's plants in Japan have resumed production, but two others remain idle with no timetable for restarting them.

—James R. Hagerty

Food

Fears of radiation contamination in Japan's food supply is crimping food exports from the country, even though scientists say the risk is almost nil for its biggest food export—seafood.

Japan is highly dependent on food imports and so the country exports relatively small amounts. According to the Japan External Trade Organization, Japan exported $3.27 billion of food around the world in 2009, with $1.47 billion, or about 45%, of that coming from seafood or its processed forms.

Many nations have put up stop signs against Japanese food imports. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned dairy products as well as some fruits and vegetables from affected areas in Japan. The agency also said it will test all food and feed shipments, including seafood, from the affected area for radiation contamination.

Radiation will dissolve in seawater and poses little risk to marine life or commercial seafood fisheries, scientists say.

Singapore has suspended imports of dairy products, fruits and vegetables, seafood and meat from the four prefectures determined to be at contamination risk. Australia also has halted food imports from those areas. South Korea and Thailand, meanwhile, are expanding testing of Japanese foods.

In the U.S., seafood, snack foods and processed fruits and vegetables are the most common food imports from Japan, which make up less than 4% of the food imported to the U.S. from all sources. In 2010, Japan seafood exports to the U.S. totaled $246.3 million, a small fraction of $14.73 billion in globally produced seafood that the U.S. imported last year. The biggest category of Japanese seafood imports into the U.S. comprised mollusks, squid and octopus, totaling $85 million. Tuna accounted for a mere $4.3 million.

Many popular Japanese foods are actually produced overseas. Nissin and Maruchan ramen noodles and Kikkoman soy sauce, are made in several locations in the U.S. for distribution there.

Kobe, the home of Japan's famed and pricey Kobe beef, meanwhile, is more than 400 miles southwest of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant and is considered out of the way of radiation leaks.


(THE WALLSTREET JOURNAL)
by nyfiken | 2011-04-08 09:56