Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Nov 9, 2015 (III)

choi

(6) Overcapacity Is China's New Normal.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/ar ... for-cars-has-slowed

Quote:

In China: "Annual vehicle sales on the mainland surged to 23 million units in 2014 from about 5 million in 2004. * * * Best of all, those new Chinese buyers weren’t as price-sensitive as those in many mature markets, allowing fat profit margins along with the fast growth.  No more. Automakers in China have gone from adding extra factory shifts six years ago to running some plants at half-pace today [this is what the summary means by 'they can build': They can but do not] —even as they continue to spend billions of dollars to bring online even more plants that were started during the good times.

"average plant utilization rate, a measure of profitability and efficiency. The industrywide average plunged from more than 100 percent six years ago (the result of adding work hours or shifts) to about 70 percent today, leaving it below the 80 percent level generally considered healthy. Some local carmakers are averaging about 50 percent utilization, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Growth in demand for cars has slowed, and some manufacturers are selling only half of the vehicles they can build
(b) "Excess capacity is raising the pressure on carmakers to step up margin-destroying discounts to goose sales and keep production lines busy, according to Boston Consulting Group."

goose (vt; etymology: from goose [as a noun], probably from a comparison with the jabbing of a goose's bill): "to prod (a person) playfully in the behind"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goose

(c)
(i) Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co (JAC)  安徽江淮汽车股份有限公司
(ii) "At the time, if consumers didn’t want to wait months to get their Tiguan SUV made by SAIC-VW, they needed to pay 30,000 yuan more, or 15 percent above the sticker price. Today discounts on some Tiguan 途观 models approach 19 percent"

(d) "Tony Yang, a car salesman in Beijing for Haima Automobile Group[:] * * * people don’t recognize our brand"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/ar ... for-cars-has-slowed

Haima Automobile  海马汽车集团股份有限公司（简称海马汽车）
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haima_Automobile
(based in 海口市; founded in 1992 as a joint venture between the Hainan provincial government and Mazda to produce Mazda models for sale in China. In 2006 Mazda's share of the venture was acquired by FAW Group)

choi

(8) Ben Sharples, China Gets Its Own Crude Contract.
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -own-crude-contract

Quote:

By the end of 2015, China, the world’s No. 1 oil importer as of April, may start its own crude futures contract.
The idea is to establish a Chinese rival to the world’s two most traded oil contracts: West Texas Intermediate (WTI), housed on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and Brent Crude Futures, owned by ICE Futures Europe in London [which are, respectively produced in 'US Midwest or Europe’s North Sea, where stored crude is represented by trading in New York and London]. The yuan-based contract will trade on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange

"State oil giant China National Petroleum predicts that this year, for the first time, China will import more than 60 percent of the oil it consumes.

Note:
(a) Summary underneath the title in print: The world’s top oil importer wants traders to flock to yuan-based futures.
(b) Daniel Kurt, Understanding Benchmark Oils: Brent Blend, WTI and Dubai. Investopedia, updated Oct 27, 2015.
http://www.investopedia.com/arti ... d-wti-and-dubai.asp

Read only the first half, up to Figure 1.

choi

(7)  Evan Applegate, Peter Pulikkan and William Foiles, Shale 2.0
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/ar ... -the-u-s-shale-boom
(“Refracking a well drilled only a few years ago can squeeze up to 40 percent more oil out of it. Wells that had been considered tapped out are able to produce more oil than when they were first drilled”)

My comment:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Cheap oil was supposed to cripple US shale drillers, but the industry has become leaner and more efficient . Costs are down, and better technologyis reviving older wells. One big problem: Higher borrowing costs are eating into profits
(b) Americans! Ingenuous.