[10 Nov] Upscale Car Makers See Sign of Hope

Soaring demand in China, Brazil and India helped the world's three largest luxury-car makers eke out small global sales gains last month, the latest sign that a recovery in the premium segment is gaining traction.
BMW AG's core brand recorded its first year-over-year sales increase of 2009, with a 0.4% rise last month world-wide to 95,859 vehicles. But for the first 10 month of the year BMW, the world's largest premium auto maker by sales, posted a 15% drop to 873,318 cars.
Demand for cars contracted sharply at the end of last year as credit markets dried up and consumer confidence waned. As a result, comparative monthly sales figures from 2008 will be easier for many car makers to surpass in coming months.
BMW's China sales jumped 81% in October to 9,558 cars. Sales rose 56% in India to 343 cars and more than doubled in Brazil to 838. By the end of last month, BMW had surpassed sales for all of last year in the three countries.
Those three markets plus Russia will be crucial for industry growth in coming years, and makers are pushing hard to increase their presence in these so-called BRIC countries.
Thanks mainly to its strong presence in China, Audi AG, the premium division of Volkswagen AG, achieved a 0.4% global sales increase last month to 82,750 cars. But sales for the year through October period fell 6.7% from a year earlier to 787,900.
Audi expects to significantly exceed its initial target of 130,000 sales in China this year and predicts the country will trump its home turf of Germany as its largest market in 2012 or 2013. Its annual sales in China are expected to soar to 250,000 cars by then as Audi increases local production and expands its dealership network.
Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi's executive-board member responsible for sales and marketing, said the company forecasts Russian sales at about 30,000 cars in 2015, up from 16,000 this year.
Russia had appeared on track to surpass Germany as Europe's largest car market, but demand collapsed when the financial crisis hit. Russia's economy is recovering far more slowly than those of other BRIC nations.
Mr. Schwarzenbauer said he expects the overall Indian market to exceed three million vehicles in 2015 from roughly 1.3 million a year now. Audi's sales in India are on track to come in at 1,650 cars this year and to rise to more than 2,000 next year, Mr. Schwarzenbauer said. He said the number of potential luxury-car buyers in India is growing, but road-quality problems still present obstacles.
In Brazil, Mr. Schwarzenbauer estimates Audi's sales at 2,300 cars this year. Sales could reach 5,000 in 2013, two years earlier than initially expected.
Daimler AG on Friday reported a 7.2% rise in October sales for its core Mercedes-Benz brand to 88,400 cars. Its sales in China rose 78% to 6,600 vehicles.
China has become the biggest market for the flagship Mercedes S-Class sedan. Mercedes-Benz's global sales fell 14% for the year through October to 826,000 cars.
Auto sales in China continued to boom in October, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Monday.
China sales rose almost 73% from a year earlier to 1.23 million vehicles, the trade group said, though that was slower than September's 78% rise and August's 82%. Sales have been boosted by government-stimulus measures.

(Source: irco.biz)

[10 Nov] Toyota Doesn't Expect Domestic Sales Rise in 2010

Toyota Motor Corp. Monday told a gathering of its auto dealers it expects domestic new car sales to total around 2.75 million vehicles in 2010, in line with the expected total for this year, the Asahi Shimbun reported Tuesday.

In spite of a recent recovery in sales due to government measures to encourage auto purchases, the Japanese auto maker doesn't expect a major improvement in sales next year considering the uncertain economic outlook, the newspaper said, without citing sources.

(Source: irco.co)

[09 Nov] Global Rubber Supply Likely Tight for 2 Years

 Tightness in global natural rubber supply may continue for the next two years as demand is recovering and production is unlikely to show any significant increase, analysts and government officials said.
Officials from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and India all reported a decline in output this year due to adverse weather, including prolonged dryness, heavy rains and floods.
And the global industry is at a low point in the rubber production cycle, as there was a large-scale replanting during 2005-2009 and these trees will begin to produce starting only from 2012.
Government and industry officials from Asia and around the world have gathered in Ho Chi Minh City for a six-day meeting organized by the Association of the Natural Rubber Producing Countries, or ANRPC, to chart a course for the next year.
Feedback from member countries indicates production is likely to be at least 6% lower this year, ANRPC senior economist Jom Jacob said. Natural rubber production was around 9.9 million metric tons in 2008.
In 2010 and 2011, production may hover between 9.0 million and 9.5 million tons, ANRPC Secretary General Djoko Damardjati said.
Around 500,000 hectares were planted with rubber trees worldwide in 2005 and 2006, he said. This is likely to boost output by 348,000 tons in 2012 and another 438,000 tons in 2013.
However, there are concerns that newly planted area may not be as high as estimated because Thai officials have said they will likely to revise numbers for new rubber planting since 2002 sharply lower.
This year in Thailand, production is likely to fall to a multiyear low between 2.0 million and 2.5 million tons due to heavy rains, Department of Agriculture Director-General Somchai Charnnarongkul said.
Ageing rubber trees, which yield less, are also weighing on global production.
India's rubber re-planting program is running way behind schedule and 70,000 hectares need to be replanted immediately to improve yield, said Toms Joseph, an economist with the country's state-run Rubber Board.
Most of the trees on that 70,000 hectares are between 28 and 29 years old, yielding less than half of the national average output. Only 9,000 hectares were replanted in 2008, he said.
Trees on close to 38% of India's rubber acreage of 662,000 hectares is above 22 years old, Joseph said.
While production remains low, demand--hit earlier by the global economic recession--is on the path to recovery.
Demand in India and China is quite strong, said Hidde Smit, secretary general of the International Rubber Study Group.
Global natural rubber consumption, which is projected 5.2% lower this year, may rise 1.6% in 2010 and another 4.9% in 2011, he said.
Demand for automobiles and tires is increasing China's rubber needs, said Mo YeYong, associate professor at the Danzhou-based Rubber Research Institute.
Automobiles in use rose 19% on the year in 2008 and are likely to increase by 23% this year, he said. Automobile sales have increased at an average annual rate of 21% during this decade.

 (Source: irco.biz)

[09 Nov] Malaysia January-August Commodities Exports Down 25% on Year

Malaysia's exports of commodities and commodity-based products declined 25% from a year earlier to an estimated MYR58.2 billion ($17.1 billion) during the January-August period, government data showed.
Data from Malaysia's Department of Statistics include exports of palm oil, palm oil-based products, wood-based products, natural rubber, rubber-based products, cocoa beans, tobacco and pepper.
Around 40.3% of the earnings came from shipments of palm oil and palm-based products.
Palm oil exports in the period were estimated at 10.7 million metric tons, up around 2.3% from 10.4 million in the first eight months of last year.
State-linked Malaysian Palm Oil Board earlier estimated August palm oil exports at 1.32 million tons.
Total exports of palm oil and palm-based products including palm kernel oil, palm kernel cake and oleochemicals were estimated at 15.3 million tons during January-August, up 3.4% compared with the same period a year earlier. Value of the exports were estimated to have dropped by 28% to MYR32.7 million tons, as palm oil prices are sharply below last year's rise in prices.
To-date, CPO prices on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives have been trading mostly in a MYR1,700-MYR2,800/ton range while palm oil prices surged last year, rising to a record high of MYR4,486 on March 4, 2008.
Earlier this week, Malaysia's Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard G. Dompok projected that palm oil export earnings would decline by 25% this year from MYR65.2 billion in 2008.
Natural rubber exports during the January-August period were estimated at 438,300 tons, down 35% from 669,990 tons a year earlier.
In value terms, exports were estimated at MYR2.5 billion, down 57.5% from a year earlier.
Exports of rubber and rubber-based products during January-August period were worth an estimated MYR10.3 billion, down 28% from a year earlier.
Export data for commodities exclude figures for petroleum and petroleum-based products.
In value terms, exports of commodities and commodities-based products accounted for a 16.8% share of total merchandise exports in the January-August period, a tad lower from 17.2% a year earlier.

 (Source: irco.biz)

[09 Nov] Apollo Tyres Executive Says Will Soon Raise Tire Prices

 India's Apollo Tyres Ltd. will shortly raise product prices to offset rising raw material costs despite expectation of lower demand in the October-December quarter, a senior executive said Sunday.
"We will go for another price revision soon," Neeraj Kanwar, Apollo's managing director told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit. "The input costs, especially rubber, have been rising. We are trying to absorb most of these costs but rubber prices have shot up to 120 rupee per kilogram now."
Apollo raised tire prices between 2.5% and 3% in October because of higher prices of natural rubber, one of the key raw materials for producing tires.
Kanwar said tire demand in the current quarter will lag that of the July-September quarter.
"The demand in the (fiscal) third-quarter is usually low due to the onset of winters. But nonetheless, we have seen very robust demand in the first two quarters and expect overall sales to grow in double-digits in the fiscal year (through March 31)," Kanwar said.
Apollo will start production at a new tire factory in the port city of Chennai by Dec. 1, he said. The company is investing INR20 billion to build the new factory.
Kanwar said the factory will have a peak production capacity of up to 6,000 truck and bus radial tires, as well as 8,000 passenger car radials, per day.
"The plant should touch its peak capacity by the middle of next year," Kanwar said.
He said also Apollo will launch its brand of tires in Europe via its Dutch unit Vredestein Banden B.V. Apollo acquired the Dutch firm in 2008 for an undisclosed amount.
"The acquisition gives us a footprint in Europe and we plan to introduce our brand of tires through the Dutch company by early 2010," Kanwar said.
He said also Apollo will export tires to Europe from India.

(Source: irco.biz)

[09 Nov] China's Passenger Vehicle Sales Continue to Grow in October

China's auto market continued its robust growth in October, with monthly passenger vehicle sales jumped nearly 80 percent year on year to 923,154 units, China Daily reported on Saturday.
But on a month-to-month comparison, passenger vehicle sales in October dropped 8.1 percent from the previous month, according to figures released by China Passenger Car Association.
In the first 10 months, sales of cars, sports-utility vehicles, minivans and multi-purpose vehicles surged nearly 52.4 percent over the same period last year to nearly 8.08 million units.
"We expect full-year auto sales to touch 13.5 million with a year-on-year growth rate of 44 percent. That in turn, would make China the world's largest auto market for the whole year," said Rao Da, head of China Passenger Car Association.
In the first nine months, China's vehicle sales jumped 34 percent year on year to 9.66 million units. In breakdown, sales of passenger vehicles surged 42 percent to 7.24 million units while sales of commercial vehicles rose 15.6 percent to 2.42 million units.

(Source: irco.biz)

[07 Nov] Asia Rubber Futures Settle Up; Supply Expected Tight For 2 Years

Asian rubber futures settled higher Friday on supply concerns as heavy rains lashed Thailand and it was forecast that tight availability will continue for another two years.

Physical prices of USS3 grade raw material in the central markets of Thailand moved toward THB75 a kilogram again due to strong demand from rubber factories.

Tocom's benchmark April RSS3 contract settled Y2.6 higher at Y230.4/kg.

Prices were close to unchanged during the night session and the April contract ended at Y230.2/kg. Night session prices aren't included in intraday trading.

This year in Thailand, production is likely to fall to a multiyear low between 2 million and 2.5 million tons due to heavy rains, Department of Agriculture Director-General Somchai Charnnarongkul said earlier this week during a conference in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thailand's natural rubber production totaled 3 million tons in 2008.

Government and industry officials from Asia and around the world have gathered in Ho Chi Minh City for a six-day meeting organized by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries, or ANRPC, to chart a course for the next year.

Officials from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and India all have reported a decline in output this year due to adverse weather, including prolonged dryness, heavy rains and floods.

The global industry is at a low point in the rubber production cycle, as there was a large-scale replanting during 2005-2009 and these trees will begin to produce rubber only from 2012.

Feedback from member countries indicates total production is likely to be at least 6% lower this year, said ANRPC senior economist Jom Jacob. Natural rubber production was around 9.9 million metric tons in 2008.

In 2010 and 2011, production may hover between 9 million and 9.5 million tons, ANRPC Secretary General Djoko Damardjati said.

The benchmark January contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange settled CNY105 higher at CNY19,070/ton. China is the world's largest consumer of rubber by volume.

China's rubber stocks have almost trebled in the last four and a half months and continue to rise. As of Thursday, they were estimated at 120,697 tons in warehouses tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

On the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand, the benchmark June RSS3 contract settled THB0.75 higher at THB80.65/kg.

Asian physical rubber prices were higher due to the movement of trucks getting affected in Thailand due to heavy rains. Demand is quite good, particularly in Europe, the U.S. and Japan, said an exporter in Singapore.

(Source: irco.biz)