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China chemicals starve Indian pharma
Neil Heathcote, BBC Online
At the Bakul factory outside of Mumbai, they are busy making the ingredients for a range of medicines, including theophylene to help combat asthma.

But over the past couple of months, the cost of the chemicals they need has rocketed.

Suddenly, raw materials are in short supply.

"Prices are going up for what is available, but quite a lot of is not available at all,"

says Yogin Majmudar, Bakul's managing director.

"We've had to pay more than double, just to keep our plant going."

Chinese effect

Mr Majmudar points to China as the root cause of the problem.

Over the past decade, many chemicals factories in India have closed down, as they were unable to compete with imports from China.

But during the Olympics, Mr Majmudar says factories around Beijing have been shut in an effort to cut pollution.

That has led to a shortage of raw materials, which has pushed up prices everywhere.

"It's not that all the materials used to come from China," he says.

"But because China has stopped, there's pressure on materials coming from Taiwan, Korea, Europe. And everyone's taking a little bit advantage and jacking up their prices."
(11 August 2008)

Transport costs could alter world trade
David J. Lynch, USA TODAY
On the high seas, giant vessels stuffed with furniture, toys and electronics are slowing down in a bid to conserve fuel.

Customers are pulling packages from costly air shipments and sending them by ship instead.

And some are beginning to wonder what an era of persistently high oil prices will mean for the multinational corporations that have come to rely on globe-girdling supply chains.
(12 August 2008)

Exports account for one-third of China’s emissions
Ben Block, Worldchanging
As Chinese manufacturers feed a growing global appetite for cheap goods, these exports account for a rising share of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, a new study reveals.

Exports are now responsible for one-third of China's emissions, according to a study that will appear in the journal Energy Policy. The researchers describe their analysis as the most systematic study of the subject to date.

In 2005, the most recent year for which data are available, China emitted an estimated 1.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent during production of its exports. This is a steady increase from the estimated 230 million tons from exports in 1987, which represented 12 percent of the country's net emissions, the study said.
(12 August 2008)