Here's your Wade Trade News import-export bulletin for July 2010 .... with more import-export news you can use and free trade leads worth exploring further. This month you will find trading news on Brazil, Shanghai and Hong Kong, plus useful sites for Norway, trading books and details of what claims to be the world's largest ever directory of manufacturers and suppliers!

* Brazil Reports Highest Economic Growth Since 1995
Brazil's economy grew 9% in the year to the end of the first quarter 2010 .... with GDP reaching US$441 billion. Announcing the figure recently the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said it was the country's highest ever GDP growth since the institute started calculating GDP figures fifteen years ago. It said the figures - confirming that the economy had expanded for four consecutive quarters - showed that Brazil was well on the way to recovering from the global financial crisis. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil was the last country to start suffering from the effects of the global financial crisis - and now the first to overcome it, describing the growth as "exuberant".

Brazil's performance can be attributed mainly to the industrial sector, where GDP increased by 4.2% over the quarter and 14.6% over the year. Industrial products and services are worth US$96 billion to Brazil's economy.

* Shanghai One Of World's Top Sourcing Centres
It's well worth investigating trade opportunities in Shanghai - with the news that it is fast becoming one of the world's top sourcing centres. In 2010, multinationals including Wal-Mart, Honeywell and Dell are likely to spend US$50 billion on purchasing in Shanghai. Overall, multinational firms are expected to increase procurement value by 30% in Shanghai this year, thanks to the recovering economy and their expansion plans in China. So says US media firm Global Sources. Tommy Wong of Global Sources says: "Shanghai has become China's most vibrant sourcing hub thanks to its location and economy. The booming demand of Chinese consumers hasn't changed despite the uncertainties in the global economy."

Latest figures from the China Retail Report show that China's retail market value is set to grow 79% annually from now on to reach 20.8 trillion yuan (US$3.06 trillion) in 2014. The value of the electronics market alone will jump 55.8% to 1.38 trillion yuan in the same period, according to the same report.

 

* Hong Kong Exports Keep Growing. UPDATE
After last month's positive Hong Kong trade news the latest figures confirm that it really is becoming a place you should look at for trading connections. Hong Kong's exports grew 20% last month - following a 24% growth the month before. Total export and import value again showed significant year-on-year increases, at 21.7% and 28.8% respectively - according to the latest statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Government. Exports value reached HK$242.2 billion (US$31.1 billion), including HK$236.7 billion of re-exports .... which are very important to Hong Kong's trade. The value of imports increased over a year earlier to HK$277.5 billion (US$35 billion).

Exports to other Asian countries grew most strongly of all, with Indonesia and India being major buyers of Hong Kong exports. The fastest growing export products were electrical machinery and appliances, electrical parts and office equipment.

* Nortrade For Trade With Norway
Nortrade is Norway's official trade portal, and it was established in 1996 by the Norwegian Trade Council as one of the first official trade portals in the world.

Nortrade contains updated information for over 4,000 Norwegian companies that deal in export, import or other forms of international operations. The database's contents include industry codes for products and services and are divided into 35 business sectors. You can search for all companies, products and services in seven languages.

Through its Trade Board foreign companies can put in requests and get into direct contact with Norwegian trade partners. Nortrade is also updated daily with topical news and articles. Find the Nortrade website here: http://www.nortrade.com

* Why Not Trade Books ?
Downloading books from the Internet and reading them on a computer or electronic book reader is still very much in its infancy. People still tend to prefer their books printed on paper. And the fact is, book publishing is one of the UK's most successful industries when it comes to export success. More UK-published English-language books are sold abroad than from any other country, including the USA. If you're interested in exporting books here are a couple of contacts you might find useful: The Bookseller's Association is a trade association. Their site has news on the latest books and much other useful information. Here it is: http://www.booksellers.org.uk  The London Book Fair is one of the world's biggest book fairs, where publishers and distributors from around the world meet up. Here's their site: http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk  When exporting books that could be considered controversial (such as religious or political books) always check what local import restrictions there might be.

 

* Recommended Resource : Manufacturer Supplier
This site describes itself as the world's largest directory of manufacturers and suppliers for importers and exporters - the place for buyers and suppliers to find trade opportunities and promote their businesses online. I don't know whether it is, but there are certainly plenty of contacts along with direct links to their websites (no need to set up an account to access the info. as with so many sites). You can search by product type or country. Best for international manufacturer/supplier sources. Take a look: http://www.manufacturersupplier.com

* More Help & Information
That's all for this month. Look out for August's bulletin when I'll have some more leads that can make you money. In the meantime if you need more help or information on the products Wade World Trade has for you, including our seminars and courses, our website is open 24/7 - find us at http://www.wadetrade.com. You can also view a presentation by Wade's MD Justin Power, explaining how you can get started in import-export without a penny in capital.

Until next month,

 

Mark Hempshell
Editor