{"id":292066,"date":"2010-02-07T23:14:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-08T04:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087194156628161158.post-251825283679878449"},"modified":"2010-02-07T23:17:56","modified_gmt":"2010-02-08T04:17:56","slug":"times-online-panama-canal-revamp-boosts-china-and-puts-buffett-bet-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/292066","title":{"rendered":"TIMES ONLINE: Panama Canal revamp boosts China and puts Buffett bet at risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><span class=\"small\">From <\/span><span class=\"byline\">The Times<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"float-left position-relative margin-top-minus-22\"> <\/div>\n<div class=\"float-right text-right position-relative margin-top-minus-20\"> <!-- BEGIN: Module - Advert:Top --> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> <!-- \/\/Retrieve yaoo Cookie Value var yahoo = \"no\"; var IsYahoo=\"no\"; if (GetQueryString(\"yahoo\")==\"yes\" || get_cookie('YH') == \"yes\") IsYahoo=\"yes\"; if (IsYahoo == \"yes\" || get_cookie('YH') == 'open') { set_cookie (\"YH\", \"yes\", \"\", \"\" ); yahoo = \"yes\"; } else { set_cookie (\"YH\", \"no\", \"\", \"\" ); yahoo = \"no\"; } window.onunload = setYahooCookie; \/\/--> <\/script> <!-- For Travel Search --> <!--SECTION:parameter parameter=\"dart.server\" \/--> <!-- END: Module - Advert:Top --> <\/div>\n<div class=\"small color-666\"> February 8, 2010<\/p>\n<p><!-- END: Module - Main Heading -->    <!--CMA user Call Diffrenet Variation Of Image --> <!-- BEGIN: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image (a) --> <!-- getting the section url from article. This has been done so that correct url is generated if we are coming from a section or topic --> <!-- Print Author name associated with the article -->   <!-- Print Author name from By Line associated with the article -->  <span class=\"small\"><\/span><span class=\"byline\"> Leo Lewis, Asia Business Correspondent <\/span><\/div>\n<p> Today a team of local workmen in Panama will start to dig a hole partfunded by  Japan, aided by Latin American cash and big enough to hold the world\u2019s  biggest Danish-owned, South Korean-built megaships. The ultimate winner,  though, will be China. <\/p>\n<p> The work, which coincides with the start of Panama\u2019s dry season, is the latest  phase in a $5.25 billion (\u00a33.3 billion) project to widen the country\u2019s  famous canal \u2014 an expansion plan that could comprehensively reshape the flow  of world trade and could even scupper Warren Buffett\u2019s $34 billion \u201call-in\u201d  bet on American railways. <\/p>\n<p> Work on deepening the Panama Canal begins amid more evidence of China\u2019s  roaring recovery from the global slump. Over the weekend, the closely  watched Centre for Forecasting Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences  predicted that the country would return to double-digit rates of GDP growth  this year. More critically for world trade, imports and exports are expected  to grow by 19 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. <\/p>\n<p> These are precisely the sort of figures that have given new momentum to the  Panama project \u2014 mooted a decade ago when Panama took possession of the  canal from the United States. The aim is to increase vastly the canal\u2019s  capacity, in terms of both size and number of vessels. By doing so, shipping  industry veterans say, it will re-establish the global importance of the  isthmus.<\/p>\n<p> The idea for an expansion began before China\u2019s economic growth had truly begun  to boom. The plans were drawn up in expectation of steady growth in Japanese  exports to the United States and a rising tide of raw materials heading  across the Pacific from Brazil. <\/p>\n<p> It is clear, however, that the widened canal, as both an import and export  route, will become a prime conduit for Chinese-driven global trade. One  effect will be to make transport costs of finished goods from China to the  East Coast of America much cheaper \u2014 perhaps by 30 per cent, according to  the canal\u2019s operating company. <\/p>\n<p> When the work is finished, the canal will be navigable by tankers with  capacity of a million barrels of crude oil. That, in turn, will open new  routes whereby oil and mineral resources from West Africa can be taken  directly to China \u2014 deepening political bonds that Beijing has carefully  fostered in that region. The same dynamic could also bolster China\u2019s  influence in the Caribbean, expected to develop as a storage hub for oil  before it heads west through the canal and on to China. <\/p>\n<p> Economists at Goldman Sachs believe that the new canal could play a pivotal  role in its Bric (Brazil, Russia, IndIa, China) investment story \u2014 as a  channel more directly linking the Chinese and Brazilian markets. <\/p>\n<p> By the time that the expansion work is finished in 2014, the canal will be  able to take ships capable of holding 12,600 containers \u2014 more than double  the capacity of the \u201cPanamax\u201d ships that represent the canal\u2019s present size  limit. Moreover, the new canal will also be large enough for the gas  industry\u2019s existing fleet of liquefied natural gas carriers, most of which  are too big to make the Panama crossing and are forced to take the longer,  more hazardous route around Cape Horn. <\/p>\n<p> The reshaping effects have already begun. At the moment, the largest container  ships leaving Asia for the US dock in one of the big West Coast ports, with  Los Angeles the largest of those. Their journey is completed by freight  train, much of it run by the Burlington Northern rail company, in which Mr  Buffett has invested so lavishly. <\/p>\n<p> However, anticipation of the wider Panama canal has shifted the focus: the  combination of West Coast and rail may be quicker, but with potential cost  savings of $1,000 per container, the sea route may prevail as China\u2019s  favourite. <\/p>\n<p> Ports in New York and nearby New Jersey have begun work to increase capacity  and deepen their channels to accommodate even larger ships. Big retailers,  such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot \u2014 voracious importers of Chinese goods \u2014 are  building hundreds of thousands of square metres of new storage space around  the ports of Houston, Texas. <\/p>\n<p> <b>Chinese consumer demand<\/b> <\/p>\n<p> \u2022 China\u2019s growing role in the global economy is to stretch to the shopping  basket, within four years (Marcus Leroux writes). <\/p>\n<p> According to IGD, the food industry analysts, China will replace the United  States as the world\u2019s largest grocery market by 2014. <\/p>\n<p> Consumers in China are tipped to spend \u20ac761 billion (\u00a3666 billion) on  groceries in 2014, against \u20ac529 billion this year. Spending in China \u2014 where  chicken feet are a speciality and ready meals are unheard-of \u2014 will grow at  nearly three times the rate in America and Britain, IGD believes. <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"textBodyBlack\"><a name=\"comments\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Share Investor Links<\/span><\/a><a name=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shareinvestorblog.com\/\">Share Investor Blog<\/a> &#8211; Stockmarket &amp; Business commentary<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/shareinvestornz.blogspot.com\/2007\/02\/new-zealand-business-news.html\">Share Investor New Zealand Business News<\/a>&#8211; Get more business news<br \/>Discuss this topic @<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shareinvestorforum.com\/\"> Share Investor Forum<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/shareinvestorforum.com\/ucp.php?mode=register&amp;sid=450a61250472e03fa25c205c9c1723f1\"><strong>Register<strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/a> free<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.currency-market.blogspot.com\/\">Share Investor&#8217;s Daily Forex Updates<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Recommended Amazon Reading<\/span><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_pub=\"shareinvestor\";<\/script><\/p>\n<table id=\"searchResults\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"clsEven\">\n<td class=\"tdimage\"><a href=\"http:\/\/astore.amazon.com\/politicalanimal-20\/detail\/1439149372\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/41qXBx8NLxL._SL75_.jpg\" alt=\"Warren Buffett's Management Secrets: Proven Tools for Personal and Business Success\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td class=\"tddescription\"><a href=\"http:\/\/astore.amazon.com\/politicalanimal-20\/detail\/1439149372\">Warren Buffett&#8217;s Management Secrets: Proven Tools for Personal and Business Success<\/a> by <span class=\"by\">Mary Buffett<\/span><br \/>    Buy new:        $16.50       \/ Used from:        $13.55<br \/><span class=\"availability\">Usually ships in 24 hours<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"clsOdd\">\n<td class=\"tdimage\"><a href=\"http:\/\/astore.amazon.com\/politicalanimal-20\/detail\/0060555661\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/41rcIrKhYiL._SL75_.jpg\" alt=\"The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. 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The ultimate winner, though, will be China. The work, which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":833,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-292066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/833"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292066\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}