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Is a Rand devaluation warranted?
- 12 May 2010 11:14
- by Tatenda Zingoni
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Recent pronouncements by labour (Confederation of South African Trade Unions - COSATU) and some parts of business for the adjustment of the R/$ exchange rate to a rate of 9 or 10.5 have to be taken with caution. Though their arguments are somewhat warranted i.e. that the rand is overvalued (currently trading at around 7.5), stipulating a particular...
Economic Impact: Cutting Costs? What you don't see.. may hurt you!
- 10 May 2010 08:14
- by Donald Savant
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Most companies are feeling the effects of the economic downturn. The mantra echoed around the world, "Cash is King," triggered companies to activate cost cutting measures of all kinds; budget cuts, re-organization, down-sizing, et. al. And now that there is a little uptick within certain markets, companies watch with bated breath to see if they mad...
Sasol to increase local footprint in Polyethylene: Investment justified?
- 23 Apr 2010 03:27
- by Naasir Roomanay
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The recent announcement by Sasol Limited that it will be expanding ethylene production is the result of high demand from the local market. Imports of polyethylene, the main product manufactured from ethylene, reached approximately R2.0 billion in 2008, indicative of the high local demand. Polyethylene is used in the manufacture of plastic bags, pla...
If Social Media is supposed to be cheaper, why the growing budgets?
- 21 Apr 2010 17:33
- by Donald Savant
- 1 comment
Take a look at a small collection of headlines from a recent Google search on “social media spending;”…Social Media Marketing Spend to Hit $3.1 Billion by 2014… Social Media Spending to Hit $757M in 2010… Marketers Increase Social Media Spending, ROI Not a Concern... B2B Marketers: 490% Increase in Social Media Spend by 2014?... Social media spend...
10 Tips for Navigating the Social Media Landscape
- 12 Apr 2010 04:46
- by Marcus Westling
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You would be forgiven for feeling at least some anxiety when it comes to determining the most appropriate social media strategy for your organization. It’s difficult enough navigating through the seemingly endless landscape of possible channels, but now we’re supposed to know when and what to submit, post, tweet, upload, link, buzz, digg, up vote,...
You are what you hand out
- 06 Apr 2010 17:08
- by Jannette Whippy
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Everyone is familiar with the saying "Don’t judge a book by its cover" but I can honestly say that I ALWAYS judge a book by its cover (even after I've been proven wrong, I still do it). First impressions are everything. Take this book cover for example (see Figure 1):Figure 1: The 1994 cover art for "Arabian Jazz" by Diana Abu JaberI would have nev...
Highly Sensitive Magnetic Sensors Have Opportunities in New Applications
- 19 Mar 2010 16:31
- by Peter Adrian
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Magnetic sensors detect the presence, strength or direction of a magnetic field that is generated from a source (which could be the Earth’s magnetic field, permanent magnet, electric current, etc.). Magnetic sensors often detect other parameters based on changes or disturbances in magnetic fields, such as, for example, rotational speed, position, p...
The key to South Africa's industrial policy is increased competitiveness
- 11 Mar 2010 03:39
- by Laura Peinke
- 0 comments (Add comment)
The 2010 Budget speech saw government commit to financially support an industry-specific policy for the first time. This was expressed in the allocation given to the Industrial Policy Action Plan, or IPAP2. Previously, government has been reluctant to invest in specific projects and preferred to allocate funds to government departments for them to ...
Globalisation - What Does it Mean for the Chemical Industry?
- 09 Mar 2010 11:34
- by Brian Balmer
- 0 comments (Add comment)
During our most recent Analyst Briefing, the Chemicals & Materials research team discussed the role that Globalisation as a megatrend is playing in the development of our industry. It is undoubtedly a complex issue, encompassing many individual factors. The first thing that may come to mind is the idea that the world is becoming "a smaller place" -...
Do Industrial Development Zones (IDZs) have sufficient ability to support the Industrial Policy Action Plan and create jobs?
- 23 Feb 2010 06:53
- by Laura Peinke
- 0 comments (Add comment)
Export Processing Zones/ Industrial Development Zones (IDZs) have traditionally been regarded as the most effective way to boost manufacturing capacity of a country, and attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Successful examples can be found in India, China and Mauritius. In India alone, IDZs have contributed to over 100% manufacturing and export...
South Africa's Budget Speech 2010 focuses financial support for the 2010/11 IPAP
- 18 Feb 2010 01:36
- by Laura Peinke
- 0 comments (Add comment)
On Wednesday (17th Feb), the National Budget was presented to Parliament in Cape Town. In a much anticipated address, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced that government had set aside R3.6 billion for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to partially support the 2010/11 Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP). Although there were hints th...
Growth Strategy for Chemical companies in Sub Saharan Africa - do companies need to look beyond South Africa now?
- 17 Feb 2010 08:36
- by Mani James
- 0 comments (Add comment)
South Africa has always been regarded as the powerhouse of the Sub Saharan African region. The reason for this being , South Africa is among the top 25 chemical producing countries in the world. It contributes significantly to the global chemicals industry. The South African chemicals industry contributes to approximately 4.5% to the GDP and about...
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