Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news manufacturing in the US grew less than forecast in March.
Both orders and production cooled, suggesting the US economy lost some momentum at the end of the first quarter as the effects of tighter fiscal policy started kicking in. The data came after the release of construction spending for February showed bigger than expected gains.
In China however, manufacturing activity increased at its fastest pace in 11 months during March, indicating that their economic recovery is continuing. Taiwan and Indonesia also posted gains.
And the threat of official controls saw new home prices in China post their largest rise in more than two years as buyers rushed to buy.
In Europe, Russia announced it won’t bail out people or companies that stand to lose money held at Cyprus’s two largest banks. Those losses could now be 60% in the largest bank for those with more than €100,000 deposited.
In Australia, it has been revealed that one car maker, GM, has received more than $2 bln in subsidies over the past 12 years to keep its operations open in the country. That is 50% more than had been previously estimated. There are three local auto makers in Australia.
The RBA will make its monthly rate decision later today and it is almost certain there will be no change.
Gold is bouncing around the US$1,600/oz level, the US oil price is higher, and the Dow has started April holding on to the impressive 3.8% gain it posted in March.
The Kiwi dollar starts today marginally higher at 83.8 USc, 80.4 AUc, and the TWI is at 76.9.
18 Comments
"Minster Tony Ryall indicated the Government had offered Rio Tinto "a modest amount of money to try and help bridge that gap in the short to medium term but there's still a very big gap in the long term... We're not interested in subsidising this business in the long term".
The govt had no right to offer RIO a subsidy for any term....stupid politics.
How about some thinking in the Beehive....think about the positives to come from far cheaper power supplies....think about the industry and business that would attract...think!
It seems Rio has turned down the offer; and the government is saying they will not improve it. So either Rio are playing chicken, and perhaps not understanding the mood here, or they are looking to close/sell the plant in any case.
Wolly
I'd suggest you do a little more research before you rant. Its true the Tiwai Pt smelter uses 15% of NZ electricity, Basically the output of Manapouri but there is no other use for this electricity in NZ as we have no distribution network for it.. The Sth island hydro power is shipped north via a HVDC Link whick only extends as far south as Benmore, so if Tiwai Pt closes, then Manapouri gets mothballed or runs at a fraction of its capacity
Aluminium Smelter SOE anyone?
Aluminium Smelter SOE anyone?
All true Neven911, but they are not in the business of SOE's are they....in fact if you go online to China's version of Trade Me....Chumps going Cheap,( I think that's it) you will find Ryall and co seeking expressions of interest.
"Rant"...when have I ever ranted....jeez ....Distribution networks can be built ...right!...and currently the power is transmitted to the smelter..right!......So all the power would remain available down there for other business ventures that might be prepared to pay more for the power than RIO, yet still get cheap power....but you have not thought about that have you neven911
New business for Southland that would create new jobs...likely far more than the smelter...and the profits of the companies would be taxed...which is better than having RIO play the accounting game and avoid the tax on the profits on the alloy....right!
Too right it would Wooly, problem being new business for Southland would and should need more support than they are likely to get from these clowns, as it appears if it doesn't have a cow in the picture, it must be a financial hub......anything outside that and "building" "re-building" they figure is best left to China to send us.
I think it might be a real innovative move on the part of NZ Administrations to build the infrastructure prior to inviting the immigrants, than to become overrun with them hoping to tax and repair infrastructure shortcomings.....adhock.
This should be the model for any real business growth in Southland ....as it should have been in the Land of Jams and Confusion Auckland has become.
Wolly,
Fair enough you don't rant, your general methodology is the "factless snipe", (stone/stoneage sort of stuff). Yes transimssion lines can be built, yes other industries use electricity but can you state anything other than the obvious? Like what industry could you establish in southland in what timeframe that would consume 15% of NZ electricity production or the cost and time to built the distribution network?
This clearly has exposed a glaring fault in this market driven mania, one consumer and one provider does not a market make and electricy is for all intents and purposes is a monopolistic service, and we have an Alectricity Authority to prove it
"factless"....wow....and ranting too...How about we bottle the electricity neven911...and export it...or maybe use the power to develop a manufacturing centre in Southland...it is the closest to the aussie market.
"How about we bottle the electricity", umm thats what an ali smelter does, there is a reason they ship bauxite into NZ, we don't have any. What are you proposing we manufacture? Takes more than an excess of electrons to build things
You miss the target by a country mile neven911.....there is a big difference between "we" and "they"......I suggest you do some research to discover how RIO ensures its fat profits turn up in the lowest tax locations....the tax paid in NZ is a piddle puddle...
Wolly - there are many of us who really appreciate your straight delivery of facts.
At some time in the future - when the 'new-normal' arrives - your warnings will be seen for what the are - the workings of a genius.
Do Not rise to the bait - enjoy this special Marlborough day!
Rain...I want rain Rudderless...not bright sunshine and endless heat....
Tiwai Point is unprofitable because of the unrealistic exchange rate.
They are simple manufacturers. And they get paid in $US.
Down the gurgler just like many other NZ manufacturers.
Note from January 2008 - Subject: Aluminium
Post RIO's 2007 takeover of Canadian Alcan for $40 billion at the cycle high of Aluminium
(a) Energy is the largest single Aluminium smelting input cost - approx 60%
(b) Most aluminium smelters are located near to a low-cost energy source
(c) Most low-cost energy sources are government sanctioned or controlled
(d) That is, they are or were dependent on government guarantees / incentives / subsidies
(e) Energy is at a high in its cost cycle
(f) Energy costs are going to rise further as incentive-contracts expire
(g) Alcan is RIO's poison chalice
Yes It Is the Poison Chalice iconoclast......in fact at the time..
http://www.mining.com/the-worst-mining-deal-ever-rio-tinto-buying-alcan-for-38-1b-37600/
http://au.businessinsider.com/rio-tinto-alcan-deal-writedown-2013-2
As an article this one has loads of facts and a great slant on the matter including , the little deal on emissions trading .
They bought a dog at a bullfight....now everyone has to pay to feed the mutt.
Well we are still keen on the establishment of Cloud Servers
How many countries really have cloud in their name....
Sure there is some cable infrastructure needed.
But: If the cloud were its own country, says Greenpeace, it would rank 5th in the world in electricity consumption.
Southland: Data Centre to Asia.....
A not-so-commonly known fact is that New Zealand’s internet hinges on just one cable (technically two, but they’re part of a loop) — the Southern Cross Cable — and one company that controls that cable. There is nothing else. Even from the outside you can see why this would be bad news; having only one company controlling the entire countries internet means there’s not only no competition, but there’s the potential for everything to go horribly wrong and the country to go dark (something that almost became reality recently).
Pacific Fibre was created to solve this issue, and promised a trans-Pacific cable that would be 12,750 KM in length and would have competed directly with the Southern Cross Cable. The Southern Cross company claimed after the announcement that the cable has more than enough capacity for growth (if you ask them), but it’s unlikely that would actually cover a scenario where everyone in New Zealand received fibre internet to their homes. The government is already underway with these plans and hopes to have 100Mbps internet delivered to 75% of homes by 2019, which is great if that speed includes international traffic, but at this stage would be questionable at best.
http://thenextweb.com/au/2012/11/18/kim-dotcoms-plan-to-give-new-zealan…
Greenpeace’s report evaluates 14 major tech firms and the electricity supply chains in use across more than 80 different data centers that power cloud-based services. Some of the largest data centers are in buildings so big they are visible from space and use as much power as 250,000 European homes. If the cloud were its own country, says Greenpeace, it would rank 5th in the world in electricity consumption.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cloud-computings-subst…
“It’s staggering for most people, even people in the industry, to understand the numbers, the sheer size of these systems,” said Peter Gross, who helped design hundreds of data centers. “A single data center can take more power than a medium-size town.”
Energy efficiency varies widely from company to company. But at the request of The Times, the consulting firm McKinsey & Company analyzed energy use by data centers and found that, on average, they were using only 6 percent to 12 percent of the electricity powering their servers to perform computations. The rest was essentially used to keep servers idling and ready in case of a surge in activity that could slow or crash their operations.
A server is a sort of bulked-up desktop computer, minus a screen and keyboard, that contains chips to process data. The study sampled about 20,000 servers in about 70 large data centers spanning the commercial gamut: drug companies, military contractors, banks, media companies and government agencies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/technology/data-centers-waste-vast-am…
Sort of good point until you consider the fossil fuel costs to get any produce to say auckland.
I'd Be interested in the costs to extend teh grid though.
Anybody know the distance?
regards
spot on Wooly...! modest amount...?, like what..?Tell you what Rio, I'll slip you say, eh, half of Manopouri's output for the foreseeable, a Christmas hamper, and dinner for you and the missus at Malborough at the Grill....and we say no more about it...eh?
I would imagine modest to have found a new degree of acceptability on the sliding scale of nobbled Administrations.
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