FMCG SUPPLIER NEWS

China's manufacturing activity continued to contract in February as export orders weakened, HSBC said Wednesday, in a further sign that the eurozone crisis and US weakness are hurting demand. read more

• Sales up 15%, headline earnings up 21,1% , underpinned by increase in cash generated from operations • Strong volume growth indicative of market share gains  read more

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has brought forward its ban on all disposable plastic products, except on those made from oxo-biodegradable plastic, by one year. read more

Despite the prevailing highly competitive economic and trading environment, JSE listed transport logistics and mobility group Super Group (SPG) posted a 63% increase in headline earnings to R244 million for the six months ended December 2011. read more

Johannesburg - Logistics group Transnet will borrow R100bn over the next seven years to pay for a R300bn infrastructure programme, its chief executive said on Monday. read more

Cape Town - South Africa plans to invest R2bn to build an ethanol plant and help a nascent biofuels sector that could reduce the country’s reliance on imported fuel, an industry player said on Monday. read more

Woolworths Holdings (WHL) on Thursday reported a 35.9% rise in diluted headline earning per share to 131.3 cents for the 26 weeks ended December 2011 from 96.6 cents previously. read more

Tiger Brands, in trading update on Feb 14, 2012, advised that, despite difficult trading conditions, headline earnings per share were expected to show satisfactory growth for the year ending 30 September 2012 as compared to the 2011 reported earnings.  read more

Agribusiness firm Senwes, along with an international partner, Bunge, on Friday announced plans to investigate the viability of an oilseed crushing plant — a move that would create an alternative higher value market for farmers. read more

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is on a crusade and he expects to make no friends as he targets liquor advertising, tougher smoking laws and noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.  read more

The Chinese consumer may not qualify for the description “big spender”. But the traditionally thrifty Chinese may spend more than was previously thought on the things that keep households ticking over every day. read more

Vevey - Nestlé echoed the cautious 2012 tone of other global food manufacturers on Thursday after reporting forecast-beating sales growth in the last three months of last year. read more

The latest data release from Statistics South Africa shows growth in wholesale trade sales remained robust during December 2011.  read more

Johannesburg - Whether Walmart ultimately succeeds in buying a controlling share of major South African chain Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] could affect whether other Americans come to do business on the continent, a US Chamber of Commerce official said Thursday.  read more

Proview International Holdings Ltd. (334), which claims ownership of the iPad trademark in China, asked retailers to stop selling Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s tablet computer as the dispute between the two companies intensified.  read more

Woolworths Holdings on Thursday reported a 35.9% rise in diluted headline earning per share to 131.3 cents for the 26 weeks ended December 2011 from 96.6 cents previously. read more

Kellogg Co. (K) agreed to acquire Procter & Gamble Co.’s Pringles potato chip business for about $2.7 billion in cash to triple its global snacks sales after a deal with Diamond Foods Inc. (DMND) fell through. read more

Nestle SA (NESN), the world’s biggest food company, reported 2011 sales growth that beat analysts’ estimates and forecast higher 2012 earnings as it introduces products such as the Nescafe Alegria coffee maker. read more

New Sony chief executive officer has warned that cost-cutting is a priority in the company’s TV business and supply chain as the company counts the cost of a fourth consecutive annual loss. read more

Brussels - Heineken, the world’s third-largest brewer, has launched a €500m cost savings plan, and forecast revenue growth in emerging markets would mitigate higher barley costs this year.  read more

Johannesburg - The Ports Regulator of SA on Tuesday rejected the National Ports Authority's (NPA's) application for an average 18.06% increase in tariffs for the 2012/2013 tariff year. read more

Ocean carriers are floating plans to increase import trans-Pacific freight rates by $800 per 40-foot container. read more

World oil prices inched upwards on Tuesday in a subdued market after Moody's warned it could downgrade ratings on three top-rated eurozone members amid continued international tensions read more

Rainbow Chicken (RBW) advised on Tuesday that it expects its Earnings Per Share and Headline Earnings Per Share for the 6 month period ended 31 December 2011 to be between 21% and 26% higher than that of the 6 month period ended 30 September 2010.  read more

Despite some “wobbles” the South African economy will remain strong and the macroeconomic trends that are evident indicate significant upside potential in terms of per capita consumption, which will benefit beer consumption. read more

South African maize futures ended sharply firmer on Monday on supply concerns. read more

Bunge, a leading supplier of agricultural commodities including grains and soyabeans, has said that it expects market conditions to remain challenging over the year ahead.  read more

The South African government is slapping additional duties of 6%-63% on Brazilian exporters of chicken into the Southern African Customs Union market — but insists this will not push up prices. read more

Johannesburg - Around 80 000 new jobs were created in January, according to the Adcorp Employment Index released on Monday. read more

Companies looking to trade within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) need deep pockets, plenty of patience and excellent organising skills to keep track of all the required paperwork. read more

Valentine's Day on Tuesday will make sure that this week the focus is on the consumer, as online retailers are likely to say how well this year's sales were compared with last year, while the official data will show how much consumers spent last year with the retail sales due on Wednesday, while the following day the Bureau of Market Research will release its fourth quarter 2011 Consumer Financial Vulnerability Index. read more

South African customers may soon be buying cellphones and airtime from Kodak Express stores as the company chooses to opt out of the digital camera market and move into more lucrative revenue streams, it said on Friday. read more

The South African sugar industry’s greatest challenges are lack of access to sufficient water and growing the expertise of its small farmers, says the Coca-Cola Company’s water and sustainable agriculture director, Denise Knight.  read more

Nokia no longer resembles a man standing on the edge of a burning oil platform with the sea as his only option for survival, according to CEO Stephen Elop. read more

The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) scrambled this week to repair its damaged relationship with a Dutch-based shipping company – Universal Africa Lines (UAL) – which was poised to invest hundreds of millions of rand into transforming a section of the Saldanha Bay harbour and emerging industrial development zone (IDZ) into an oil and gas servicing hub. read more

Cape Town – Transnet’s new expanded capex programme will be funded entirely from the company's balance sheet. read more

Johannesburg/Lusaka - A tight grain supply outlook after several bumper harvests is set to fan food price pressures in southern Africa, fuelling salary demands and threatening to knock the region's fragile economies out of kilter. read more

Spar, Shoprite and Pick n Pay have shrugged off an indigenisation broadside from the Zimbabwean government, which was reported to have issued a directive yesterday that licences for foreign-based chains not be renewed to facilitate localisation of the businesses. read more

Europe’s largest private-label consumer goods company has reported a huge increase in its supplier engagement, helping it to stabilise input costs across the group. read more

Manufacturing production volume grew by 4.1% quarter on quarter (q/q) on a seasonally adjusted annualised basis after contracting in the prior two quarters.  read more

SABMiller , the world’s second-largest brewer by volume, said it would spend $80m on a new brewery at its Ugandan subsidiary, Nile Breweries, to meet growing local demand. read more

A UK trade mission is hoping to convince South Africans to once again serve up British beef on their plates, after a 15-year ban on its products was lifted at the end of last year.  read more

Haus Rabenhorst is a leading producer of the highest quality natural fruit and vegetable juices in Germany, with a history that goes back over 200 years. The product range, which comprises the finest quality un-diluted juices, covers more than 70 different fruit and vegetables. read more

The board of wine and spirits group KWV will consider publishing the details of the valuations of its valuable heritage assets with its interim results, which are due out later this month. read more

Tesco is expanding the trial of its virtual stores in South Korea by installing them at a further 20 bus stops in the country. read more

Owens-Illinois, the world’s largest glass container manufacturer, has announced plans to create an integrated supply chain operation and a new technology group that better aligns the company’s engineering and R&D divisions.  read more

Coca-Cola Co., the world’s largest soft-drink maker, reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as teas and juices boosted sales in Asia.  read more

SA’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in more than two years in the final quarter of last year, with manufacturing playing a key role in job creation, official data showed yesterday. read more

Johannesburg - The terms and conditions signed by motorists when registering for e-tags to use on toll roads are not in line with the Consumer Protection Act, the Star newspaper reported on Monday. read more

The retail environment in SA will see big changes within the next year or so, experts say. The cellphone will be at the centre of the revolution.  read more

SPAR and Shoprite are some of the giant retail outlets that source vegetables from farmers affiliated to the Swaziland National Agricultural Union (SNAU). read more

Kellogg Company has committed itself to an on-going supply chain investment programme in 2012, despite publishing financial results showing that the initiative contributed to a fall in profits for its last financial year. read more

Japan’s biggest makers of phones, televisions and chips say they’ll lose about $17 billion this year, about three-quarters of what Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will spend on research to lengthen the lead over its competitors. read more

Cape Town – The Safmarine shipping line is in an industry that often sees the first signs of a struggling economy in the form of less freight being transported. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa is selling 30% more agricultural goods abroad than it imported in 2010, a study revealed on Wednesday.  read more

Nestlé SA brought its manufacturing facility count in SA to 10 with the launch of a new coffee creamer factory yesterday. read more

The US could be set to see a shortage of critical rare earth minerals, according to a recent US Department of Energy (DoE) report, as supplies come under increasing strain. read more

Unilever (UNA), the world’s second-largest consumer-goods maker, reported the weakest volume growth in almost three years as higher prices deterred consumers, and said it expects “gloomy” economic conditions to persist this year.  read more

Cocoa farmgate prices ticked up in Ivory Coast's main growing regions last week as the price of beans at ports rose and farmers said they were starting to see a shortage of beans up-country.  read more

The outlook for manufacturing has unexpectedly leapt into positive territory. Data out yesterday showed the seasonally adjusted Kagiso purchasing managers index (PMI) rebounded strongly to 53.2 last month from 49.4 in December. This is the highest level since June last year and above the 2011 average of 52.1. read more

SABMiller has signed a definitive transaction agreement with Turkish conglomerate Anadolu Group and its beverage division Anadolu Efes to form a strategic alliance for Turkey, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Central Asia and the Middle East. read more

Despite only being asked to remove the "Good Old-Fashioned" slogan from its range of soft drinks, Woolworths has decided to remove the entire product range from its shelves, CEO Ian Moir said yesterday. read more

In a rare case of consumer empathy, retailer Pick n Pay has reportedly boycotted some of its suppliers who did not agree “to drop their prices so that customers can benefit”. read more

Orange juice tumbled from a four- year high, capping the biggest drop in two years, after ICE Futures U.S. boosted the amount of cash that traders must deposit for speculative positions by 95 percent. read more

The Safmarine shipping line – whose ships are a familiar sight entering and leaving Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth harbours – no longer has a separate corporate structure from the Danish Maersk line, whose owners, the AP Moller-Maersk group, bought it from Safren and Old Mutual in 1999. read more

Johannesburg - Consumer goods distributor Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] advised on Tuesday that headline earnings per share (Heps) would be between 10%-18% higher, or 402.4 cents to 431.6c, for the six months to 25 December 2011. Excluding forex, earnings would be between 5% lower to 3% higher, or in a range of 374.4c to 405.9c per share. read more

Washington - Global food prices are set to decline further in 2012 as a weaker world economy dampens consumer demand while food supplies rise, the World Bank said on Tuesday, warning that a possible rise in oil prices could reverse the trend. read more

Johannesburg - Retailer Lewis Group [JSE:LEW] on Friday said merchandise sales for the quarter ended December 31 2011 increased by 5.5% off a high comparative base of 13% last year.  read more

A record 291 products had to be recalled in the UK last year - a 27% increase on 2010. Supply chain issues were highlighted by headline recall cases in 2011, including batches of a Loyd Grossman korma sauce, Beko freezers from Turkey and Pfizer's hormone replacement drugs. read more

South African maize futures reversed earlier gains to finish the session weaker on Monday, as market players liquidated their positions on March contracts to focus on July contracts in an otherwise quite market, according to a local dealer.  read more

The independent members of the KWV board have told KWV shareholders that the R8.50 a share offer from Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) is not fair. read more

SA’s largest diversified credit retailer, TFG (The Foschini Group), has bought its longstanding clothing manufacturing supplier, Prestige Clothing, to improve its competitive advantage in a move that has sent positive ripples through the local clothing sector. read more

Pick n Pay has announced that it is currently experiencing a shortage of some products. read more

Investors searching for insights into Kraft Foods Inc.’s (KFT) strategy once it splits in two this year may want to consider a 100-year-old Brazilian chocolate brand called Lacta.  read more

All grades of unleaded petrol will increase by 34 cents a litre next Wednesday, February 1, the Department of Energy said on Friday.  read more

Expected higher agricultural product prices this season could bring about some relief for food producers, the Agriculture Business Chamber said last week.  read more

Cape Town – About R92m of clothing workers' retirement money that was lent to the liquidated Canyon Springs company is apparently irrecoverable.  read more

Sugar prices are likely to remain volatile into 2013 according to the International Sugar Organisation (ISO) as global output matches demand.  read more

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi has taken over a coconut-water company, acquired a dairy in Russia and spent millions on a philanthropic marketing campaign. Her next big investment has a more familiar name: Pepsi-Cola. read more

Pharmapack Europe is an unmissable gathering of the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare product professionals, bringing together 260 exhibitors and over 2,800 key decision-makers from 54 countries on 15-16 February 2012 at the Grande Halle de la Villette, PARIS (FRANCE). read more

Japan’s consumer prices fell for a third month as an export slump and the stronger yen weighed on the nation’s economic rebound from the record March earthquake.  read more

Johannesburg - Steinhoff International Holdings [JSE:SHF], Africa’s biggest furniture maker, aims to increase its stake in JD Group [JSE:JDG] through a share swap deal to gain control of the South African retailer.  read more

New York - Apple shares soared on Wednesday following blockbuster quarterly earnings and the California gadget-maker briefly surged past ExxonMobil to become the largest US company in terms of market value.  read more

Johannesburg - South African farmers have planted 11% more acreage this season compared to last year because of higher prices while wheat output is seen higher than previously expected, a government agency said on Tuesday. read more

Nestlé has announced that it is developing ‘frustration-free’ packaging for some of its products to ensure consumers of all ages can use them without difficulty. read more

Liquor group Distell (DST) advised on Monday that earnings per share and headline earnings per share for the six months ended 31 December 2011 are likely to be between 20% and 25% higher than the corresponding reporting period of the previous year. read more

New York - The Eastman Kodak Company replaced its chief restructuring officer on Monday, just a handful of days after it filed for bankruptcy protection. read more

Traditional stereotypes about wine in South Africa are fading as a new generation of black wine connoisseurs and producers enters the wine scene. read more

A government-backed plan to export a record corn surplus may leave South African silos drained of the country’s staple food by the end of April.  read more

Avery Dennison RFID, a business of Avery Dennison (NYSE: AVY), and Xtreme RFID, a Cascade Engineering company, have collaborated to create the highly-durable, RFID-based Xtreme Metal Tag. To create the tag, Avery Dennison RFID’s AD-843 is encased in plastic via a custom injection molding process developed by Xtreme RFID. The finished Xtreme Metal Tag is 5.75L x 2.4W x 0.31H inches. read more

Moves by local government authorities in China to relax customs procedures will help global retail companies to streamline their supply chains, logistics experts predict.  read more

Consumers in South Africa and other emerging economies continued to be the key drivers and purchasers of consumer electronic goods last year, a study by Accenture has found. read more

Once again, there's no shortage of local economic data this week, but the spotlight is likely to fall on the producer price inflation data for December. read more

Sony Ericsson has announced losses of €207m (£173m) for the fourth quarter of 2011, well below analysts expectations, shortly before it finalises the acquisition by Sony of Ericsson's stake in the business read more

Analytics and business intelligence systems designed to optimise business functions such as supply chain will be the "top-ranked" technology for 2012, market experts predict. read more

Traders are betting that the biggest sugar glut since 2007 will shrink in the next harvest, reversing expectations from six months ago and ending the largest decline in prices in a decade. read more

African economies are set to continue growing faster than many developed economies, while shifting trade patterns towards China and India will continue to gain momentum in 2012. read more

China's manufacturing activity contracted for a third straight month in January as the world's second largest economy slows, boosting the case for further monetary easing, HSBC said Friday.  read more

Demand for consumer technology will continue to grow in 2012 with demand from emerging markets for lower-cost televisions and computers boosting volumes, says Deloitte read more

Johannesburg - Shares in Truworths International [JSE:TRU] fell more than 3% in early trade on Wednesday, after the clothing retailer released a trading update that one fund manager said fell short of estimates.  read more