TOKYO (Nikkei)--The chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) on Tuesday morning called on senior officials of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry to take part in negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.
Hiromasa Yonekura, head of the nation's most powerful business lobby, met the ministry officials for the first time since the government of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda took office.
Yonekura said that Japan has until November, when an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting is held, to gain TPP membership.
Trade Minister Yukio Edano said he will consider the matter to enable a public consensus to be formed.
Keidanren said the lack of an outlook on the issue of power supply could lead to the hollowing out of Japanese industry.
Edano said that industrial and household use of electricity must be considered as separate entities, pledging that the government will try to avoid any influence on production to any extent.
(The Nikkei September 20, 2011)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Several major Japanese retailers appear to have set record high operating profits in the first half of the fiscal year, beating results before the onset of the global slowdown in 2008, The Nikkei has learned.
Since the quake, people have been eating at home more often, propelling sales of deep-fried foods and prepared meals.
The earnings recovery was driven by the March 11 quake and ensuing power shortage concerns that saw increases in sales of daily goods and energy-saving products.
Seven-Eleven Japan Co. saw same-store sales rise by 8% on the year in the six months through August, with such items as rice balls and boxed lunches selling well after the disaster. The convenience store operator's operating profit is set to hit a record high, surpassing the 96.3 billion yen booked in the first half of fiscal 2008. Since the quake, people have been eating at home more often, propelling sales of deep-fried foods and prepared meals. Sales of products such as batteries and toilet paper also increased.
Convenience store operators Lawson Inc. (2651) and FamilyMart Co. (8028) and supermarket operator Life Corp. (8194) seem to have achieved record operating profits in the first half, too. Shimamura Co. (8227) also appears to have made a record high operating profit. The clothing retailer had projected a fall in profit. Profitable products, such as underwear that makes wearers feel cool, fared well.
A number of retailers are likely to raise their full-year earnings projections, based on upbeat first-half results. Seven-Eleven Japan and Ministop Co. (9946) have already revised upward their operating profit forecasts.
But many retailers are not expected to change earnings projections for the second half because they remain cautious about the effect of the sluggish U.S. and European economies on the domestic market and possible cuts in winter bonuses.
(The Nikkei Sept. 15 evening edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japanese manufacturers of household products, including detergents, lotions and diapers, are strengthening their presence in India in the hope of tapping demand and nurturing sales in that market.
Unicharm Corp. (8113) added a production line for sanitary goods to a disposable diaper plant outside of New Delhi that it launched at the end of last year. Since July, Unicharm has sold sanitary products in major cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai, with plans to offer them in other areas as well.
Pigeon has begun selling baby bottles as well as shampoo and skin care products for infants.
Local production enables Unicharm to avoid tariffs that are slapped on imports, which can raise product prices. The company is keeping retail prices for its sanitary products at around 100 yen, on par with those charged by European and U.S. competitors.
India's population tops 1.2 billion, but its market for sanitary products totals a mere 20 billion yen-plus. Anticipating growth, U.S. manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble have set up operations there. Unicharm aims to grab a 10% share of the market by touting the high quality of its products.
Unicharm is set to increase total overseas investment in fiscal 2011 by 30% on the year to a record 20 billion yen, with aggressive outlays planned for the Indian market.
Baby care goods maker Pigeon Corp. (7956) is also ramping up offerings in India. This month it began selling baby bottles as well as shampoo and skin care products for infants.
Over the next three years, Pigeon aims to quadruple the number of stores offering its products to 7,000, and triple its sales to more than 800 million yen.
Kao Corp. (4452) has dispatched staff to India to develop detergents and other products specifically for the local market. With the Japanese market shrinking, "we will target markets with high growth potential," says President Motoki Ozaki.
Cosmetics and beauty care giant Shiseido Co. (4911) currently sells high-end products through local vendors, but it plans to launch midpriced items to target the growing ranks of middle-income consumers.
(The Nikkei Sept. 17 morning edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Banks based in Japan, the U.S., Europe and Asia are looking to offer electronic trade settlement, with new international rules to be finalized next week.
The new service is expected to improve banks' efficiency by making settlement faster and less costly. It should also lower costs for their clients. Electronic trade settlement will likely be fully in place by 2013.
The Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which handles most international payment transactions, will draw up international standards for electronic trade settlement at its global meeting starting on Monday in Canada. Seventeen major international banks, including the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Korea Exchange Bank, Bank of China Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan of the U.S., Standard Chartered Bank of the U.K. and Kasikorn Bank Public Company Ltd. of Thailand, are set to announce plans to enter the market for electronic trade settlement.
Until now, paper-based letters of credit have been often used to finance trade, which carries high manpower and administrative costs. Electronic transactions are expected to cut settlement times to three days, one-fifth the time required now.
(The Nikkei Sept. 18 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Small and midsize Japanese manufacturers are stepping up efforts to gain a foothold in Southeast Asia, with 350 such firms planning to move into industrial complexes in the region within the next three years.
The wave of interest in the region comes at a time when major carmakers and electronics firms are rushing to shift some production outside Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) has announced plans to build a new plant in Indonesia, while Panasonic Corp. (6752) on Friday said it will move the company's procurement and distribution operations to Singapore.
Major trading houses are putting up industrial complexes with the necessary infrastructure -- electricity, roads, water -- in Southeast Asia to meet demand for production sites among small manufacturers in Japan.
Sojitz Corp. (2768) plans to expand the Greenland International Industrial Center in the suburbs of Jakarta from the current 400 hectares to 1,300 hectares, aiming to make it the largest industrial park in the country. About 60 firms are expected to set up production at the site and will begin moving in next spring. Autoparts makers Futaba Industrial Co. (7241) and Shiroki Corp. (7243) are among the Japanese firms that have said they are setting up shop at the complex.
Toyota Tsusho Corp. (8015) bought 15 hectares at another industrial complex in the suburbs of Jakarta and a dozen Toyota group parts makers are considering starting operations there.
Itochu Corp. (8001) will lease production facilities at an industrial complex in Indonesia by the first half of 2012, while Sumitomo Corp. (8053) will do the same in Vietnam starting next May.
Trading companies have been inundated by calls from such small and midsize firms about the availability of industrial sites in Southeast Asia since the yen began rising further after the March 11 disaster.
(The Nikkei Sept. 18 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Ministry of Land plans to eventually introduce new energy standards for all new homes and buildings that will have to be met from fiscal 2020 in order for construction to be approved, The Nikkei learned Sunday.
As soon as next month, the ministry will begin meetings with people from industry and academia to discuss the new standards, which would be included in a revised energy conservation law slated for as early as 2013. Related ministries would hammer out the specific standards.
Currently, there are energy standards for construction, but they are not mandatory. Adhering to the standards increases the cost of a house by about 10%. Consequently, less than 40% of new home construction meets those standards.
Work on the new regulations, which are targeted at curbing emissions of global warming gases, will begin as early as this year, with consideration given to the use and size of a building, as well as the region in which the building is located.
The rules would put an upper limit on energy consumption for categories like lighting and climate control, seeking household usage levels that are 20-30% lower than a home that does not follow the standards.
The regulations would ask that walls and ceilings be insulated. For buildings that make use of solar energy, that energy will count as lowered consumption.
Builders may be allowed to deduct a portion of their expenses used for materials from their taxable income, while individuals may be granted expanded mortgage tax breaks.
(The Nikkei Sept. 19 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japan will propose creating a common system to monitor cargo traded among the 21 member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC.
Trials are expected to start next month, tracking containers shipped between Japan and China.
Japan expects the system to help cargo owners reduce inventory, shorten delivery times and respond more quickly to emergencies.
Because more than 80% of businesses, including manufacturers, use shipping services, cargo is sometimes difficult to locate. And with goods passing from trucking firms, to customs clearing agents, to warehouse operators and shippers -- each of which have separate systems -- cargo owners must contact them by phone or e-mail to get updates.
Japan will propose that APEC members link these systems and enable cargo owners to check status over the Internet. A smart tag will be attached to each container so that information is updated when goods pass through factories, warehouses and other facilities.
According to estimates, Japan's electronics firms would be able to reduce 59 billion yen worth of inventory. And shipments between Japan and China, which now take about one week on average to arrive at retailers, would be received 1.1 days sooner.
And in the event of a disaster disrupting the supply chain, the system would give cargo owners the flexibility to change routes.
Trials will wrap up by year's end. After analyzing the results, Japan intends to have guidelines for the new system adopted at an APEC meeting to be held in Russia next year.
The U.S. is said to have a keen interest in Japan's proposal, contending that it would strengthen security and help safeguard against terrorism.
(The Nikkei Sept. 20 morning edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sixteen Asia-Pacific countries are set to agree to rely less on oil, mostly imported from the Middle East, and make greater use of renewable energy sources.
Japan is to present the proposal Tuesday at a meeting of energy ministers in Brunei. Participants will comprise the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, a group collectively known as ASEAN plus six.
Japan is slated to revise its own energy policy next year in the wake of the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. ASEAN-plus-six members will discuss primary energy supply and output in light of the Japanese situation, with an aim of coming up with the region's best mix of sources for around 2035.
Coal accounted for 49% of the region's primary energy supply in 2009, with 25% coming from oil, 9% from natural gas, 3% from nuclear power, and 14% from renewables. The region produced 38% of its own oil, compared with 106% for coal and 85% for natural gas. ASEAN-plus-six members are expected to agree to lower oil's share while boosting that for natural gas, which does not emit as much greenhouse gases when burned, and to step up development of renewable energy.
Japan is certain to reduce nuclear power from 15% of its primary energy in 2009, and many other countries, including Thailand, are taking a cautious stance. But with such nations as China and Vietnam building reactors of their own, nuclear energy as a percentage of the region's total is largely expected to rise.
The region's primary energy consumption in 2035 is seen up about 110% from the 2008 level, compared with a 60% gain worldwide. The ministers are expected to issue a joint statement on energy cooperation. The best mix of sources is to be announced by the 16 participants in the East Asia Summit slated for the autumn of 2012.
(The Nikkei Sept. 20 morning edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Listed companies are quickly tapping their vast cash holdings for such purposes as dividend payments and overseas acquisitions that take advantage of the strong yen.
The 2,277 nonfinancial companies that have fiscal years ending March 31 are paying out 2.04 trillion yen in interim dividends, a 7% increase on the year and about 80% of the record level in 2008. Of the 289 companies increasing the payouts, 117 will actually see profits decline. Overall, the companies will experience a 26% drop in net profits due to the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake.
Honda Motor Co. (7267) expects a 88% drop in first-half net profit, but because it believes that there has been no change in its growth path, it will raise its interim dividend payout from 24 yen per share last year to 30 yen.
Seiko Epson Corp. (6724) expects to be in the red for the first half but still projects a 66% profit increase for the full term. Consequently, it will hike both interim and year-end payouts by 3 yen a share.
Total year-end dividend distributions are expected to reach just over 2.58 trillion yen, greater than the amount last year.
Share buybacks totaled 1.31 trillion yen in January through August, a 9% increase on the year, according to I-N Information Systems Ltd. In August, Canon Inc. (7751) put in place plans to buy up to 50 billion yen of its shares, while Asahi Glass Co. (5201) did so for 10 billion yen.
Listed firms held a record 65 trillion yen in cash as of March 31. Overseas acquisitions by Japanese companies totaled 424 in January through August, according to Thomson Reuters, up by 86 from last year. The amount spent went up 48% to 3.7 trillion yen.
(The Nikkei Sept. 19 edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Since the March 11 disaster, firms that deliver bottled water to homes have seen sales rise 20-40% on the year.
These companies provide free water services and regularly replace large bottles of water, with 500ml costing 60-80 yen -- cheaper than bottled water sold at stores.
Nac Co. (9788), has provided CreCla brand bottled water since 2002. The company says its number of contracts for home water delivery surged by 100,000 on the year to 400,000 in the April-June period. It sold 1.47 million bottles (one bottle contains about 12l of water) in June -- a 45% jump on the year. It also sold a record high 1.41 million bottles in August, and expects its total sales this fiscal year to rise 31% on the year to 14.5 million bottles.
Mitsuuroko Co. (8131), a fuel trader, has seen sales of bottled water increasing 25-30% on the year every month since March.
Radishbo-ya Co. (3146), a company that delivers organic vegetables to homes, says its sales volume for the six months after the March 11 earthquake was up 79% from the six months before the disaster. The company began to deliver bottled water to people other than its members last year.
Relo Holdings Inc. (8876), a welfare outsourcing service provider, saw its sales in August increase eightfold from January, when it entered the water-delivery business.
The Japan Bottled Water Association expects the home water-delivery market for individual and corporate customers will rise 30% on the year to 90 billion yen in 2011.
(The Nikkei Sept. 20 evening edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Major Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturers are shifting the focus of their development efforts to cancer treatments as demand looks to increase.
The market for medications to treat such lifestyle diseases as diabetes and high blood pressure is shrinking as developed countries strive to cut health care spending and generic drugs become more widely used.
Consequently, drugmakers are concentrating investment in cancer drug development. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (4502), Astellas Pharma Inc. (4503), Daiichi Sankyo Co. (4568) and Eisai Co. (4523) are conducting clinical trials in Japan and elsewhere on 48 cancer drug candidates, according to their April-June disclosures. This marks a sharp rise from the 12 they had in the pipeline as of the year ended March 2007.
In recent years, the firms have stepped up mergers and acquisitions as part of efforts to strengthen development of cancer treatments. Japanese pharmaceutical companies have developed about half of the cancer drug candidates in their own research facilities while obtaining the rest through corporate buyouts or licensing arrangements.
Takeda acquired American start-up Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2008, obtaining a leukemia treatment and other drug candidates now under development in Japan, the U.S. and Europe.
Medications for diabetes and high blood pressure constitute roughly 40% of Takeda's sales. It aims to lift cancer drugs' share from just 10% or so at present to around 20% in fiscal 2013.
Astellas obtained a kidney cancer treatment and other drugs through its acquisition of U.S.-based OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. Daiichi Sankyo and Eisai also got cancer drug candidates by acquiring German biotechnology firm U3 Pharma AG and U.S. concern MGI Pharma Inc., respectively.
Of the cancer drug candidates, those in the latter stages of development are expected to be ready for the market in as early as two to three years.
Demand for cancer-fighting drugs is ballooning. The global market is expected to reach 78.2 billion dollars in 2015, up 42% from 2010, according to U.S. research firm IMS Health Inc.
(The Nikkei Sept. 20 morning edition)
TOKYO (Nikkei)--A recovery in the number of foreign visitors to Japan has been slow, as the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and a strong yen weigh on travel plans.
Retailers are trying to lure back Chinese tourists. Hotels and travel agents continue to see big drops in reservations compared to a year ago. At Swissotel Nankai Osaka, where nearly half of hotel guests are from abroad, the number of foreign visitors tumbled by 80% on the year in April. The hotel actively wooed visitors from Asia, holding the decline to 60% for July and August. "September and beyond are likely to show 50% falls," says a hotel official.
Likewise, foreign guest reservations this month are down nearly 40% at the Royal Park Hotel Shiodome Tower in Tokyo.
A major Chinese national holiday beginning in early October usually spurs an influx of travelers to Japan, but reservations at travel companies and hotels have lagged. Reservations handled by Nippon Travel Agency Co. and Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. (9726) for Chinese travel to Japan are believed down 40-50% on the year.
Business travel just about recovered from the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but visits for leisure have been slower to turn around, say industry officials. The prolonged crisis at Fukushima along with the yen's sharp surge are believed to be factors discouraging visits from abroad.
Retailers and others who normally benefit from foreign visitors are doing what they can to lure them back. Department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. (3099) has joined forces with several high-end hotels in Tokyo to attract overseas tourists. Under the arrangement, the hotels will refer their foreign guests to the Mitsukoshi Ginza store, where they will be aided by staff who speak Chinese and other languages.
(The Nikkei Sept. 17 morning edition)
Houseplants now come in planters shaped like books, loaves of bread
NAOMI NISHIOKA
A company based in the city of Niigata known more for helping to send things down the drain is now trying to help make things green. Call it a trend. Meiwa Industries Ltd. and certain other companies are beginning to market some unconventional planters - shaped like milk cartons, eggs, even pop-up books. This month, the plumbing outfit has rolled out a miniature-houseplant brand: green supermarket. The brand has two products. One, green story, is a planter that looks like a pop-up book. A sponge, tiny seeds, a short story and illustrations come inside. Once the seeds are put on the sponge and watered, they will germinate and a plant will grow. The other product, green dish, which looks like a milk carton, holds broccoli or mustard seeds. Water them, and they turn into a bed of sprouts.
"We want people to enjoy greenery in a more casual way," said Takeshi Sekine, Meiwa Industries vice president. He said the original idea was to produce something that would provide "nutrition for the mind."
Edible plants
"Advances in digital technology have made our lives easier," Sekine said. "But on the other hand, there are a lot of people who feel spent. I think greenery soothes people's minds. And soothing the mind is the easiest way to make people feel replenished."
The pop-up book and milk carton are the brainstorms of designer trio color. "Every previous work by color has a story or scenario," Sekine said. "That's what we were looking for."
Another idea behind the products was to come up with houseplants that could be sold somewhere other than at nurseries and in home-improvement stores' gardening sections. The partners also:
- wanted to price the products cheap enough so that female consumers would want to splurge, buying some for themselves and as gifts;
- wanted to produce houseplants that would not look like plants.
- ruled out making a regular planter pot because doing so would have dragged them into a price war. The unique planters are available at interior stores and flower shops. Meiwa Industries is targeting 200 million yen ($2.5 million) in green supermarket sales for the first year.
In a similar project, Tokyo design house 100% Inc. has joined hands with camping gear manufacturer Snow Peak Inc. of Niigata Prefecture to launch Earth, an earthy pot that looks as though it has been uprooted from the planet of the same name.
"Recently, an increasing number of consumers have been enjoying home gardening," designer Yasumasa Imaizumi said. "We designed the product so that consumers could start enjoying gardening right after buying it."
The two companies decided to work together because "we agreed to produce something that can infuse everyday life with the essence of nature, so that users can enjoy an outdoor feeling indoors," Imaizumi said.
Usually, soil cannot be seen through its planter. But Earth allows users to feel the earth. The pot is sold at Snow Peak's direct-run shops and other interior stores.
There is also Seishin Togei Co.'s sodateru tamago egg-shaped planter, which has sold more than 3 million units at home and abroad since it hit the market in 2006. The porcelain planter looks like a real egg but has seeds and potting soil inside. Users crack the top, water the thing, then grow herbs and flowers.
"People of late have been highly aware of food safety," a salesman from the Aichi Prefecture-based horticulture company said. "Home vegetable gardening is now in vogue. And products that allow people to grow edible plants at home are getting attention."
Naomi Nishioka is a freelance writer contributing to The Nikkei Marketing Journal.
(The Nikkei Weekly September 12, 2011)
The Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th