Trade & Supply Chain

MILESTONES: GLOBAL   By Erik Heinrich   Japan has been invited to participate in negotiations that extend the reach of Nafta into South America and the Asia Pacific region.   Other members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), expected to be the world’s ...

NURTURING GLOBAL BREADBASKETS   By Justin Keay   It is time to address developmental roadblocks globally if the world’s food supplies are to meet demand over the next 40 years.   There is probably no industry where the basic laws ...

NEW OIL REFINERY TO NEARLY DOUBLE NIGERIA’S OUTPUT   By Antonio Guerrero   Aliko Dangote, head of the Dangote Group and ranked as Africa’s wealthiest man, will invest up to $8 billion to build a new oil refinery complex in his ...

East Africa is a hotbed of new oil and natural gas finds. Most countries are taking a slow and measured approach to developing their resource boon, but will they avoid the resource curse that plagued many early-developers?

MEETING POINT   By Dan Keeler   Panama is working hard to become the dominant corporate hub in Central America.   With its stable and open economy and its uniquely favorable location as the bridge between North and South America, ...

CHEVRON BOOSTS ITS INVEST-MENT IN AFRICAN BLACK GOLD   By Antonio Guerrero Global oil group Chevron approved a $5.6 billion development project in Angola.   The Mafumeira Sul offshore oil field will be its second-largest African investment, after the Agbami ...

VIVID LANDSCAPE IN FOREST PRODUCTS   By Antonio Guerrero   Despite currency volatility and slowing demand from China and Europe, Brazil, Chile and other key Latin American markets continue to churn out wood pulp for export, and the sector is ...

By Gordon Platt GLOBAL WINNERS BEST TRADE FINANCE PROGRAM International Finance Corporation (IFC) IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, offers programs that focus on supporting trade in areas that have the greatest impact on the poor. Georgina Baker, ...

EMBRACING THE MODERN ERA   By Gordon Platt   Global Finance presents the winners of its annual trade finance providers awards, incorporating the results of our first-ever trade finance readers’ survey.   The ancient business of financing trade is now ...

By Gordon Platt REGIONAL WINNERS AMERICAS Citi With its extensive presence in the US, Canada and Latin America, Citi is the largest service provider for private-labeled letters of credit and open account transactions. The bank’s global footprint enables it to ...

WILD SEASON   By Michael Shari   Volatile commodities prices are poised to drive an M&A wave and are already changing how companies hedge against price swings.   A storm is brewing in the global commodities markets. Perceptions of global ...

THE HUNT FOR INTERNAL GROWTH   By Laurence Neville   China is in the midst of an economic makeover to increase domestic consumption and reduce reliance on external markets for growth. But how far are policymakers willing to go, and ...

NEWSMAKERS: NIGERIA   By Valentina Pasquali   A 61-year-old Nigerian oil tycoon is now the richest black woman in the world, having recently overtaken American entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey for the title.   Her name is Folorunsho Alakija and she ...

OIL GLUT   By Gordon Platt   High oil prices have enabled the Middle East’s major oil producers to finance infrastructure investments despite the global slowdown. But the jig might soon be up.   With its massive inflow of oil-export ...

NEWSMAKERS: US   By Valentina Pasquali   Ford Motor Company recently unveiled a two-year succession plan geared toward a full management reshuffle by 2014. The centerpiece of this arrangement was the appointment of Mark Fields as chief operating officer, effective from ...

THE STARS ALIGN   By Rebecca Brace   As treasurers seek to optimize liquidity and working capital, cash and trade solutions are increasingly in sync.   Treasury and trade used to be two separate disciplines. But in recent years there ...

DOMINANT REGIONAL PLAYERS   By Kathryn Tully   Since 2002, Global Finance has honored the best trade finance banks by region and by country based on a number of criteria, including technological innovation, transaction volumes, global coverage, customer service and ...

HIGH TECH MEETS THE LAW OF INERTIA   By Paula Green   Treasurers wanting to move to high-end forecasting solutions still face an uphill challenge.   Even when a treasurer wants to move to a high-end system for forecasting cash, ...

First and foremost, it reduces administration and documentation, and vastly reduces the time-to-payment on secured trade account receivables. With an L/C at site it can typically take 10-14 days to receive funds—while awaiting documents to arrive. But with a BPO ...

Is trade becoming an asset class? Some market participants are pushing in that direction. This, of course, is easier said than done, but the cost of getting it wrong could be enormous. “Ultimately corporates pay the price,” said Kah Chye ...