World Exports Research Articles

The export competitiveness of the tuna industry in Thailand

PurposeThailand dominates world exports of canned tuna with a market share of around 40 percent which is at least four times higher than any other exporter. The aim of this paper is to examine the export competitiveness of the canned tuna export industry in Thailand for 1996‐2006.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a revealed comparative advantage (RCA) approach and calculates RCA indices for both major exporters in the world market and competitors in individual export markets.FindingsThailand has comparative advantages in all major export markets; these have remained stable in the USA, the Middle East, Japan and Canada but have fallen substantially in Australia.Practical implicationsFirst, Thailand urgently needs to consider tuna farming. Second, smaller processing and fishing companies should merge to increase profit margins and market share. Third, Thailand should engage in effective trade negotiations with importers. Fourth, stock management and conservation could be used to support the industry. It is unlikely that current levels of comparative advantage can be maintained because of import tariffs, rules of origin, labour shortages and increasing unskilled labour costs.Social implicationsTuna management and conservation in Thailand could be used to support the sustainability of the industry.Originality/valueBy contrast to Kijboonchoo and Kalayanakupt who find that Thailand's market share declined between 1987‐1998 and revealed comparative advantage fell, these results show that this declining trend has since been arrested.

International Trade and Production Networks: Comparisons of China and Greater China Versus India and South Asia

China and India are two of the most important emerging countries in the world. In 2011, based on market/official exchange rates, China was the largest economy in Asia and India was the third largest. With the ongoing economic global slowdown, both India and China are expected to experience slower growth rates. Nonetheless, compared with the developed economies in North America, Europe and elsewhere, both Asian giants will still expand at relatively healthy growth rates.China overtook Germany as the world’s largest exporter in 2010 (CIA Factbook 2012), with a total of US $2,370 billion manufacturing trade, which was a 26% increase from 1990. A substantial amount of China’s trade consists of trade in parts and components. In 2000, the share of parts and components in China’s exports to the world was 22.2%. By 2010, the comparable share has increased to 28.4%. In contrast, India’s share of parts and components in its exports to the world is 17.5% in 2000. By 2010, the comparable share has actually declined to 12.4%. This contrast partly reflects the fact that India’s participation in world exports of all goods has increased substantially between 2000 and 2010 (from US $42,358 million to US $220,408 million). But the absolute value of India’s exports of parts and components in 2010 amounted to only US $27,433 million. This is significantly smaller than the US $448,300 million of parts and components that China exports to the world in 2010. This is the first comparison we can obtain in trade and production network between China and India. China’s export of parts and components in 2010 is almost 15 times that of India.

TRENDS IN PRODUCTION AND TRADE OF TROPICAL FRUITS IN ASEAN COUNTRIES

The major tropical fruit producing countries in the ASEAN region are the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. During the period 1996-2005, production of major tropical fruits in the ASEAN region has increased by 45.5% to 28.7 million tonnes, accounting for about 10% of total world production. The major fruits produced are banana, pineapple, and mango. In 2005, ASEAN countries accounted for 22% of the total world production of these three fruit types. About 87% of these fruits are produced by the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. In 2005, 32.2% of world pineapple production was from the ASEAN region, with Thailand and the Philippines being the leading producing countries. ASEAN countries are also the major producers of minor fruits such as durian, rambutan, mangosteen, lychee and longan. In 2005, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia collectively produced 1.7 million tonnes of durians and 1.3 million tonnes of rambutans. The major exporting countries in the ASEAN region are the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Major fruits exported included banana, pineapple, watermelon, papaya and mango. During 1996-2005, exports from the ASEAN region have expanded by 33.6% to 2.47 million tonnes. The total export of major tropical fruits in 2005 was valued at USD 674.9 million, which was about 6% market share of total world exports. ASEAN countries are also the major exporters of fresh minor fruits. In 2005, Thailand exported a total of 471,076 tonnes of minor fruits (longans, durians, rambutans, mangosteens and lychees), valued at USD 271 million. The ASEAN region is the major exporter of canned pineapple and pineapple juices. In 2005, total export value of these pineapple products was estimated at USD 816 million, representing a market share of 62% of total world export of these products. The ASEAN region is also a major exporter of dried tropical fruit products, valued at USD 27.5 million in 2005. The ASEAN region is a net exporter of fresh and processed tropical fruit products. With the exception of Singapore, there is minimal import of fresh and processed tropical fruit products. In 2005, the import value of fresh tropical fruits amounted to USD 70.5 million, accounting for only 0.5% of total world import value. Another USD 28 million of processed tropical fruit products were imported by the region, mainly by Singapore.

Food Processing Industry in India: S&T Capability, Skills and Employment Opportunities

This paper provides a detailed analysis of food processing industry in India, its ST to INR 15077 crore in proposed outlay for 12th plan. The sector is growing, but it is yet to compete in the world market. India’s share in world export is meagre with 1.17%. There is a wide gap between productivity and processing of items. The factors which have been used to study food processing industry are S&T capability of sector, its employment generation capacity and skills needed in the sector. The S&T capability segment venture into the changing trend of technology, difference between conventional and modern technology, the areas in which India is lagging behind. The employment generation capacity highlights growth and size of the industry and skills about the kind of human resources involved in the industry, the level of technology used in the sector. The employment generation capacity of the sector is huge, but the industry is not working at its potential. The labor force is highly unskilled, with 80% of them having educational level below 10th standard. The impact of a variety of policies and programmes undertaken by government to develop food processing sector has not been very encouraging. The state needs to strengthen its efforts in S&T capability, infrastructure support and skill set in order to develop food processing industry.

Planning an Iron Ore Mine: From Exploration Data to Informed Mining Decisions

Introduction Background Australia managed to avoid many of the effects of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, thanks largely to a booming mining economy invigorated by China's unprecedented increase in demand for our mineral exports, particularly iron ore and coal for steel production. Australia contributes about 20% of the world's iron ore production. Virtually all of this production is exported, and the world export market is dominated by Australia and Brazil (US Geological Survey, 2012). Although iron ore resources occur in all the Australian States and Territories, almost 93% of the country's total iron ore resources (totaling 64 billion tonnes) occur in Western Australia, predominantly in the Pilbara region, north and west of the town of Newman. Most of the product is shipped out through the ports of Port Hedland and Dampier. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Current production from Western Australia is approximately 470 million tonnes a year, typically at about 60% iron content. There are plans to double this production rate by 2020 (Geoscience Australia, 2012). It is estimated that current resources and production will sustain this nationally important industry at least until 2050 (O'Brien, 2009). History A local pastoralist Lang Hancock, flying over his cattle station in the northern Pilbara region of Western Australia, is reputed to have made the first major discoveries in 1952 when bad weather forced him to fly low over the Hammersley Gorge: his compass was playing up and he noticed the gorge's rain-washed cliffs were iron red. This legend has since been questioned, with the credit for discovery going back to an 1890 survey by Harry Woodward, the state's government geologist (Lord & Trendall, 1976). Nevertheless, production began only in the 1960s, after intensive lobbying to rescind the pegging and export bans. These bans had been in place since the start of the Second World War, when exports to Japan had been hurriedly blocked by the Commonwealth government. There are now many producing mines in Western Australia, mainly in the Pilbara district. The mining giants BHPBilliton and RioTinto are the major operators, but a number of smaller companies have commenced production or are in the planning stages. Thanks to production royalties on many of the leases, Lang Hancock's daughter Gina Rhinehart is now reputedly the world's richest woman, though assailed by litigous offspring. Mining Western Australian iron ore mines are all open-cut pits. The ore is generally blasted, then trucked to a crusher where it may be separated into lump and fines component products. The crushed ore is railed to a port and loaded onto ships, typically of the order of 100,000 tonnes capacity. To achieve uniform grade, the ore is commonly stacked onto stoc[K.sub.P]iles of perhaps 200,000 tonnes, either before or after railing to the port. Recently a common development has been to direct load part of the ore (without stoc[K.sub.P]iling), taking advantage of both the blending potential of large shipments, and careful planning of the mining sequence, to achieve grade control as discussed below. Grade Control Nearly all the ore is ultimately fed into a blast furnace for steel production. A blast furnace is finely tuned, requiring input ore of consistent grade, not only in its iron content (typically up to about sixty percent iron) but also in its content of the major contaminants, silica and alumina (each a few percent) and phosphorus (a fraction of one percent). A target grade vector is agreed between the producer and the customer. Naturally, this target grade has to be both acceptable as input to the customer's blast furnaces, and feasible to produce from the projected mine. Departure of shipment grade from a narrow tolerance band around the target grade is heavily penalised, both directly and also indirectly, because failure to produce consistent grade affects the company's reputation for future sales. …

The Rise of China and India: Blessing or Curse for the Advanced Countries?

This paper evaluates the impact of the rise of large emerging manufacturing exporters such as China and India on economic growth in advanced countries. After illustrating the possible theoretical channels, I estimate a growth regression based on 3-year average data augmented with country-specific measures of import and export competition from China and India using instrumental variables. Stronger import competition from China and India leads to stronger income growth in advanced countries, but to a loss of manufacturing jobs. A more flexible labour market, lower concentration of employment in manufacturing and pre-existing trade links with China and India help advanced countries to maximise the growth dividend resulting from their rise in world export markets.

Growth and Competitiveness of Non-Traditional Agricultural Exports in Zambia

This study investigates the determinants of growth and competitiveness of Zambia’s flower exports to three main export destinations—the Netherlands, the UK and Germany—using annual time series data from 1990 to 2010. Acknowledging that time series data are often nonstationary, leading to misleading economic analyses, the study employs cointegration and error correction models to establish factors of conditions growth and competitiveness of Zambia’s flower exports. The results show that supply and competitiveness of flower exports are positively influenced by domestic flower production, real GDP and population of importing countries, relative depreciation of domestic currency and world export prices. In contrast, exports from competing countries and real interest rates were found to negatively influence flower exports. This seems to suggest that monetary policies and exchange rate regimes that promote trade are required for enhancing and fostering an environment favorable for flower production and exporting. In addition, the replacement of Zambia’s flower exports by those from other countries dictates that there must be a quality improvement so the country’s exports can compete favorably with those from other countries.

Foreign direct investment as export facilitator in Serbia's apparel industry

The attraction of foreign direct investment, especially export oriented FDI has been one of the main economic policy goals for Serbia since the start of transition in 2001, backed by incentives for attracting this type of investment. The apparel industry is one sector that has drawn significant amount of FDI, and where the link between FDI and exports is emerging strongly, as confirmed by data presented in this article. Appearance of several multinational investors, particularly from Italy, led to positive spillovers on Serbian apparel industry in terms of specific products production and their export on foreign markets, especially 'panty hose, tights, stockings & other hosiery, knitted or crocheted'. In 2012, Serbia's exports for this product represented 1.8% of world exports, ranking Serbia 10th in the world and hence representing a rising niche export. Recent investments of big industry players like Benetton will have further positive effects on export and employment in years to come, provided that the government engages in activities to improve branding in addition to continued investment incentives and policies aimed at advancing infrastructure, education and general business climate.

Effect of Packaging Materials and Storage Conditions on Bio chemical and Microbial profile of Mung BeanWarrian(Indigenous Fermented Food)

Mung bean warrian were prepared by blending black gram flour with mung bean flour. These are relished equally along with other types of warrian around the world export potential of these products has been marred by microbial spoilage during transportation and storage. The growth of proteolytic bacteria, effect of packaging materials and storage conditions were studied in mung bean flour blended warrian over the year and compared with control traditional black gram flour warrian. The results revealed more biochemical degradation of the product in the third quarter of the year in (rainy, hot and humid weather) when proteolytic count was the highest. As compared to the control samples, the pH (4.2), reducing sugar (8.5 mg g−1) and total proteins (22.4%) were reduced highly in the third quarter while values for total solids (18.5%), soluble proteins (35.5 mg g−1), free amino acids (45.2 ig g−1) and proteinase activity (7.4 IU g−1) were increased. Out of the different packaging materials (paper, low density polythene (LDPE), tin containers, glass containers, aluminium laminates, and PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) jars employed Aluminium (Al) laminates (0.035 – 0.096%) and PET jars showed negligible moisture pick up (0.033 – 0.091%) from the environment while the paper packages picked up the highest moisture (8.2 – 13.9%). The proteolytic count showed similar trend with moisture pick up, highest in paper packages (4.25 – 4.75 Log10 CFU) and lowest in Al laminates and PET jars (3.90 – 3.95 Log10 CFU).The study showed that proteolytic bacteria in mung bean flour blended warrian grow better in hot and humid conditions resulting in the flavor changes in the product. PET jars and Aluminium laminates were suitable the best packaging and storage material for mung bean flour blended warrian.

TRADE COSTS AND TRADE COMPOSITION

In this paper, we investigate whether countries' trade costs act like other national endowments by affecting the composition of countries' exports. Using an econometric approach that controls for endogeneity by accounting for potentially relevant omitted variables, we find strong evidence for a sample of 37 industrialized and transition countries that national trade costs systematically affect the composition of trade and can be viewed therefore as a source of comparative advantage. Industries located in countries with low trade costs capture significantly higher shares of world exports, where this effect is stronger in trade cost intensive industries. (JEL F11, F14)

Reformní kroky Mezinárodního měnového fondu

Předložená stať se zabývá Mezinárodním měnovým fondem jako jednou z nejvýznamnějších nadnárodních institucí, jejímž prioritním cílem bylo přispět k dosažení mezinárodní měnové stability. Od jeho založení se rozložení moci a ekonomické síly posunulo směrem k dynamicky se rozvíjejícím ekonomikám jako je Brazílie, Indie, Rusko a hlavně Čína, a tato situace by měla být reflektována i na půdě Fondu. Hlavní pozornost je v textu proto věnována realizované reformě členských kvót, od kterých je odvozena hlasovací síla a tím i vliv v této instituci. Na základě údajů o podílu zemí G8 a G20 na světovém HDP, světovém vývozu a devizových rezervách je analyzován vztah mezi ekonomickou silou těchto zemí a jejich zastoupením v řídících orgánech Fondu. Současně je v textu věnována pozornost i dalším již realizovaným a nově připravovaným reformním krokům, směřujícím k rozvíjení strategie prevence finančních krizí. Realizace v textu akcentovaných opatření by nesporně přispěla k zvýšení legitimity této instituce, a k naplňování jejího soudobého poslání. Tak by mohla plně obhájit své místo v mezinárodním měnovém systému.

Exploring crude oil production and export capacity of the OPEC Middle East countries

As the world economy highly depends on crude oil, it is important to understand the dynamics of crude oil production and export capacity of major oil-exporting countries. Since crude oil resources are predominately located in the OPEC Middle East, these countries are expected to have significant leverage in the world crude oil markets by taking into account a range of uncertainties. In this study, we develop a scenario for crude oil export and production using the ACEGES model considering uncertainties in the resource limits, demand growth, production growth, and peak/decline point. The results indicate that the country-specific peak of both crude oil export and production comes in the early this century in the OPEC Middle East countries. On the other hand, they occupy most of the world export and production before and after the peak points. Consequently, these countries are expected to be the key group in the world crude oil markets. We also find that the gap between the world crude oil demand and production broadens over time, meaning that the acceleration of the development of ultra-deep-water oil, oil sands, and extra-heavy oil will be required if the world continuous to heavily rely on oil products.

Geographical aspects of Russia’s participation in the international movement of capital

Extent of Russia’s participation in the international movement of capital. Developed countries are domi� nant exporters and importers of capital in the world, while less developed countries (emerging markets) occupy a secondary position. Thus, in general, in 2000–2008, their capital exports amounted to 4.131 trillion USD, while imports stood at 5.439 tril� lion USD (see Table 1), i.e., 10 and 12% of world exports and imports of capital, respectively. The low share of less developed countries (emerg� ing markets) in world exports of capital is primarily due to their level of economic development. They have not yet accumulated sufficient capital resources, espe� cially, real capital, and, most importantly, at the stage of early industrialization and, moreover, at the active stage of industrialization the need for capital is enor� mous. It can be seen from the fact that the rate of gross capital formation (the ratio of the real, i.e., nonfinan� cial, capital to GDP) in less developed countries is higher than in the group of developed countries. With regard to capital imports, the low level of economic development in emerging markets (it usually corre� lates with indicators of the investment climate) pre� vents the import of capital. In a huge group of countries with emerging markets (Table 2 only shows twenty countries of this group, which are leading in terms of GDP), according to the absolute volume of exports and imports of capital, Russia is only second to China (China’s GDP in 2008 exceeded that of Russia by 2.7 times at the exchange rate) and far superior to Brazil, India, and other lead� ing emerging markets. In 2000–2008, Russia’s share in world exports and imports of capital amounted to 1.4 and 1.1%, while these figures were 1.6 and 2.3% in China, 0.3 and 0.7% in Brazil, and 0.1 and 0.7% in India, respectively. Orientation of Russia’s exports and imports of cap� ital towards offshore countries. The Bank of Russia

Export competitiveness patterns in Indian industries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to measure and analyze industry export competitiveness of India and it tries to achieve this by presenting a multi‐dimensional framework for measuring and illustrating industry export competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe framework considers industry specialization, industry export growth rate, and relative export market share for a dataset of 97 different Indian industries over a five year period (2001‐2005).FindingsThe analyses identifies four different types of industry groups, namely domestic static, domestic dynamic, global dynamic and global static. The result shows that the majority of Indian industries are dynamic and growing faster than the world export growth rate for the period of study. A total of 40 percent of India's industries are more global, in terms of industry specialization, compared to the world average, with such highly specialized industries as silk, gums, carpets and textiles, floor coverings, pearls, precious stones and metals. The authors show that industry specialization leads to dominance in worldwide export market share. India's global dynamic industries are mainly in the raw materials, commodities and skilled manual labor rather than high tech or manufacturing sectors.Research limitations/implicationsThe framework allows us to measure and illustrate industry export competitiveness and permits an intra‐country comparison, a comparison of various industries of one country, or permits an inter‐country comparison, a comparison of one industry across different countries.Practical implicationsThe framework should help policymakers, government officials, industry associations, and company executives to assess their export competitiveness and focus on protecting or promoting certain industries by directing scarce resources to sectors where they may count the most. The findings of the study can also be useful for international bodies such as UNCTAD and world‐bank in identifying regional industry that can foster growth of trade and economies in the South‐Asian region.Originality/valueThe framework used is conceptually innovative and applicable to a variety of contexts for modeling industry export competitiveness. The framework also facilitates inter‐ and intra‐country export benchmark analyses.

Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Trade Complementarity between India-ASEAN Trade: A Study with Reference to Fisheries Sector

India and ASEAN signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in trade in goods which came to effect from 1st January 2010. There were apprehensions on the likely impact of this RTA on some sensitive sectors of India such as agriculture, fisheries and plantation crop as large number of people depend on these sectors for their livelihood. India is a large consumer of marine products and export also export part of the catch to international markets (1.7 percent in total world export in 2007). Some of the ASEAN partners of India namely Thailand (5.82%), Vietnam (3.86) and Indonesia (2.14%) have larger presence in international fisheries trade and there is a possibility that they can export these products in to India in the post FTA period. In this context the paper looked in to the various provisions of India ASEAN FTA on fisheries sector and calculated trade complementarity and similarity using different trade indices. The paper found that India has taken adequate precaution to protect its marine sector from large scale dumping. The apprehension that India-ASEAN FTA will lead to substantial import of marine products in to India is unfounded.

How the misidentification of a pathogen can cause an emergency response – a real life case study of an Australian grain export incident

In February 2004, a shipment of Australian wheat was rejected by an importing country that alleged the grain contained ustilospores of Tilletia indica. This allegation caused all wheat trading and shipments from Australia to be stopped. At this time, Australian wheat was worth A$4 billion and provided 14% of the world's export demand. How did this misidentification occur? And why is correct identification of pathogens so important when trading with other countries?

Emergent Vulnerability in Attracting Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America: The Case of Mexico

AbstractOver recent decades, Latin America has seen its position in the world order erode. Its share of total world exports has significantly declined. A broad opening to foreign investment has economically depressed many local initiatives, and the region’s economic growth is now largely dependent upon foreign capital. Nevertheless, an incipient trend has become established that reflects a change in preference for foreign capital destinations, shaped by the degree to which a science-technology base is present. This draws attention to the fact that tax facilities, proximity to markets, and cheap labor are insufficient factors to guarantee the cycle of capital, since what stands out is the outgoing transfer of the innovation activity itself. Latin American governments have done little to build an attractive science-technology platform that could allow our countries to join these rapidly growing chains of commodity production. This ultimately suggests that greater exclusion is to be expected. In this article, the case of Mexico is highlighted as an example of these trends.

How do Export Structure and Competitiveness EvolveSince Trade Liberalization? An Overview and Assessmentof Indonesian Manufacturing Export Performance

The paper aims to elucidate the evolution of competitiveness and quantifies the contribution of the geographical and commodity composition on Indonesian manufacturing exports classified by factor intensity for period of 1987 to 2008. Using constant market share (CMS) analysis and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) indicators, we reveal that while mostly enjoying benefits from world export growth, Indonesia exports performance were deteriorated by the negative contribution of commodity composition and market distribution, and the role of competitiveness in manufacturing export performance, which was improved significantly right after trade liberalization policy unleashed in 1986 has been diminishing in recent years. In addition, most of Indonesian manufacturing exports were still concentrated in natural resource- and unskilled labor-intensive manufacturing commodities.

Economic Prospects as well as Human Rights Violation at Shrimp Farming: A study based in south west coastal region of Bangladesh

Shrimp is an important export commodity in Bangladesh. The districts in which shrimp cultivation occurred are Bagerhat, Khulna and Satkhira in Khulna Division and Cox's Bazar, Chittagong and Noakhali in Chittagong Division. Out of our total quantity of shrimp exported from the country during 2001 (42000 tonnes), the share of Bagda was 25000 tonnes (58%) and Golda 12000 tonnes (28%). Other varieties like Harina amounted to 6000 tonnes (15%) (Source: Banks' Report). Bangladesh accounts for only 2.5% of the total world export of shrimp. But in prospective of Bangladesh, Shrimp is the second most important export, employing 840,000 people (Frank Burger, 20002). Frank Burger also states that shrimp represents 90% of all marine products exported from Bangladesh. But there is mixed image about Bangladeshi shrimp in the international market. In the report published by the Environmental Justice Foundation of London, UK, titled Smash and Grab: Corruption, conflict and Human Rights Abuse in shrimp Industry in March 2003, a grey picture of Human Rights situation has been exposed. In our national and local newspapers, news of abuse of Human Rights in the shrimp industry continues to be published regularly. To think that if we keep our eyes closed and believe that no one will know what is happening, and if we do not admit, the occurrences will not be proved, will be a gross mistake instead, we need to be courageous. We must investigate the basic causes behind these occurrences. Coordinated efforts are needed to be undertaken in order to reduce the incidence of such occurrences. We must understand that unless the local marginal landowners, the local workers do not get an equitable share of the income from the shrimp sector, and if opportunities for unethical activities continue to exist in shrimp trading depots and processing factories, then questions will be asked as to how much the

Changes in China’s Influence on Korean Exports by Production Phase

I estimate the impact of China’s GDP on Korean exports to the world and Korean exports to China based on the VAR model. It is found that the responses of Korean exports to shocks in China’s GDP are very different by export type (exports of raw materials, capital goods, and consumption goods). Reflecting the trend that the proportion of capital goods in Korean exports is increasing, Korean exports of capital goods respond most sensitively to these shocks among the three export types. Another finding is that Korean exports of raw materials do not respond very sensitively relative to the other export types. These findings are almost same as those for Korean exports to China in terms of response to GDP shocks. In addition, Korean exports to the world and Korean exports to China are more responsive to China’s GDP growth shocks over time.