BRASILIA: Vale SA, the world’s largest iron-ore producer, is poised to lose market share to Australian rivals Rio Tinto Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd as Brazil imposes stricter environmental rules on new mining projects and labor costs soar.

Brazil’s share of the seaborne iron-ore market may sink to 27 percent by 2016, down from 31 percent now, as the country boosts capacity by 188 million tons, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Australia will probably add about 502 million tons, taking its market share to 50 percent from 41 percent.

Vale, based in Rio de Janeiro, delayed the $8 billion Carajas Serra Sul expansion and at least three other projects in Brazil last year amid environmental permit issues, higher costs and labor shortages. The company also cut its 2015 iron ore output estimate by 10 percent to 469 million metric tons and is weighing asset sales as it focuses on metals production.

“We are becoming less competitive,” Jose Fernando Coura, president of the Brazilian Mining Institute, said by telephone from Brasilia. Getting approval for a new project is “a Cavalry because you need to go through 350,000 institutions,” he said.

BHP, based in Melbourne, said April 18 that fiscal third- quarter iron-ore output surged 14 percent as it expands mines and ports in Australia. London-based Rio Tinto’s production gained 9 percent to 45.6 million tons, while Vale’s dropped 2.2 percent to 70 million after bad weather hurt operations.

Miners are boosting output to meet Chinese demand as the country’s growth stokes demand for steel in automobiles, appliances and construction. Chinese steel production reached a record in March amid the ramp up of new plants.

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SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc won approval from Chinese regulators for its US$12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc, clearing a final hurdle for a deal that boosts its patents portfolio and steps up competition with Apple Inc.

“We are pleased the deal has received approval in all jurisdictions,” Motorola Mobility said in an e-mailed statement, confirming that the deal has been approved in China. “We expect to close imminently.”

The acquisition, announced last year, has already received approvals in Europe, the U.S. and other jurisdictions worldwide. Motorola Mobility had said in a regulatory filing in February that it needed approval in China.

Google, facing legal disputes over its Android smartphone software, will be able to draw on more than 17,000 patents from Libertyville, Illinois-based Motorola Mobility. The acquisition is the largest wireless-equipment deal in at least a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“Our stance since we agreed to acquire Motorola has not changed and we look forward to closing the deal,” Mountain View, California-based Google said in an e-mailed statement. The company also confirmed it had received word from Chinese authorities of the purchase being approved.

Google fell 3.6% to US$600.40 yesterday in New York trading. The shares have fallen 7% this year. Motorola Mobility closed unchanged at $39.20. The stock is up 1 percent year to date. (Antara/tw)

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LONDON: Harvesting of the 2012-13 coffee crop in Indonesia, the world’s third-biggest robusta grower, is likely to peak in June or July, according to Volcafe, the coffee unit of commodities trader ED&F Man Holdings Ltd.

Growers there may harvest 10 million to 11 million bags of coffee this season, up from 7 million to 8 million bags a year earlier, the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute estimated on March 7. Production will rise because the weather was favorable during flowering, the institute said. A bag of coffee usually weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).

Coffee delivered to ports for export from Indonesia “picked up this week,” the Winterthur, Switzerland-based trader said in a report e-mailed to clients today. Port arrivals totaled 6,000 metric tons to 6,500 tons, according to the report.

Buyers of Indonesian coffee for June and July shipments are paying a premium of US$70 a ton to the price on the NYSE Liffe exchange in London, Volcafe data showed. That compares with a premium of US$90 a ton last week.

In Vietnam, the biggest robusta producer, traders are “edging up their crop estimates” and exports are 2 million bags ahead last year’s level, according to the report. The 2011-12 season in Vietnam started in October.

“Domestic sales slowed down as farmers stocks become thinner,” Volcafe said, adding that there is a “good appetite” to buy from exporters and traders for nearby shipments. Roasters are looking to buy coffee for later dates.

Vietnamese coffee for June and July shipment was trading at a discount of 10 cents a pound to the exchange price, unchanged from last week, data from the trader showed. Beans in the local market climbed to 42,000 dong (US$2.02) a kilogram (2.2 pounds) yesterday, the highest since Oct. 18, according to data from the Dak Lak Trade & Tourism Center on Bloomberg.

In India, Asia’s third-largest coffee grower, premiums are rising on scarce supplies, Volcafe said.

“We are expecting some fierce internal battles for the remaining coffee as domestic roasters will have to secure coffee until new crop starts,” the trader said. (Bloomberg/aph)

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Some debt-laden consumers go to extremes to let their credit cards cool off. Quite literally. Some exile their cards in an icy “lock box” in their freezer. It’s believed that in the time it takes the ice to melt, the urge to spend will have passed. That’s usually a fix for someone who can’t easily control their charging. But what about those consumers who put a figurative freeze on credit card debt?

[See 10 Signs You Shop Too Much.]

Some consumers routinely let their credit cards gather dust. They’re comfortable walking around with cash or they use debit cards, saving credit accounts for emergencies and the occasional plane ticket or hotel room. Their resolve is admirable, as allowing revolving balances to swell, often at much higher interest rates than on other loans, can strain household finances. High balances jeopardize the high credit ratings needed to secure attractive financing on life’s big demands, like a home purchase.

But as anyone who’s ever tried to decode their credit report knows, all credit cards are not created equal.

For starters, having a respectable amount of credit history is important. Accounts that carry modest balances and robust upside borrowing limits will earn favorable points. That’s because the consumer has not only proven their reputation for paying their bills, they’re viewed as having credit wiggle room in a financial pinch, which will help them keep up with their bills.

[See 6 Benefits and Rewards of Having Awesome Credit.]

But one of the first distinctions the consumer (and the lender, for that matter) should make is to determine if a credit account is active or inactive. Here’s where card-use frequency can really make a difference.

If a consumer carries no balance and pays only a small or nonexistent annual fee, the issuing company makes no money. When a consumer uses the card and pays it off before interest kicks in, the issuer still collects an interchange or “swipe” fee from merchants. No balance and no fees mean the issuer is paying to maintain the account and it’s generating marketing expenses as it tries to woo the consumer with increased limits or other promotions. An issuer will do this for some time, but eventually consumer inaction will cost the issuer too much and it will close the account (If an issuer cancels an account due to inactivity, notification to the cardholder isn’t required, according to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.) As a result, the approved but unused credit limits that worked to drive up a credit score disappear.

Particularly damaging is when consumers close accounts they’ve paid off even while they continue to work down what’s owed on their remaining high-balance card or cards.

Here’s how it works: Fewer accounts on record and a lower overall approved borrowing limit pushes up the consumer’s revolving utilization percentage. Utilization reflects the debt-to-credit limit ratio on revolving accounts.

[See 6 Surprising Ways to Boost Your Credit Score.]

A spike in this reading can be a drag on the credit score. Granted, utilization is only one figure used to calculate the amounts-owed portion of a credit score, but it’s an important one. Overall, the amounts-owed factor counts for about 30 percent of a score, according to FICO, one of the original credit-scoring companies. (The company name has become synonymous with the score itself; credit scores are often called FICO scores. They’re issued through consumer reporting agencies, including Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.)

There’s a solution, but one that shouldn’t be treated recklessly. Simply use all cards from time to time to keep them active. That’s right, blow of the dust. Just try to pay that balance before the interest kicks in; making minimum payments can get a little too comfortable.

Sometimes consumers tire of a little-used card. They don’t like the marketing solicitations. They worry about misplacing the card or having too many account numbers vulnerable to theft.

But closing credit card accounts should be given careful thought. If bad credit marks on a report go away in around seven years, so do strong track records. That means open accounts are necessary for feeding a credit score over time. And, hey, if you don’t trust yourself, there’s always the freezer.

BALIKPAPAN: Balikpapan Municipal Government believes coal bed methane (CBM) in the Kutai Basin area, which the research proposed by Virginia Indonesia Company LLC (Vico), can be used as new energy sources to reduce dependence on subsidized fuel.

Head of Regional Development Planning Board (Bappeda) of Balikpapan Suryanto said Vico has informed the Local Government to conduct research.

“At least it needs 2 or 3 years of research to find out the reserve. Whether it is potential or not,”he said to Bisnis today, May 18, 2012.

Suryanto sadi the potential gas in the cavity of coal can be utilized for power generator, petrochemical raw materials, household goods and transportation fuels. He said tcoal bed methane (CBM) is different from coal which the exploitation process often leaves a pretty big pit.

Gas which is trapped in coal matrix will be taken out without having to dismantle the extensive soil.

“So it is not like coal mines which usually to risk environment. This is different. It is not coal but it is gas, just like oil drilling,” he said.

Most of Kutai Basin region is part of Kutai Kartanegara and only a small part of the region located in the eastern Balikpapan. Some potential CBM areas in Kalimantan lie along the eastern Kalimantan as Barito Basin, Pasir and Asem Asem Basin, Berau Basin and North Tarakan Basin.(T03/TW)

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SURABAYA: Indonesia and US have adjusted perception to start working on the development of renewable energy, shale gas.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary Department of Energy, Phyllis Yoshida, said US government is serious to develop the potency of shale gas in Indonesia.

“US Energy Department has allocated US$1.2 million for developing renewable energy projects in Indonesia,” he said this week.

This measure is done to support Indonesia’s commitment in expanding an access on environmentally friendly energy, while still keeping the economic target. (Bisnis/K21/T03/TW)

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Get ready for the Facebook feeding frenzy. On Thursday afternoon, the company priced its initial public offering at $38 a share, giving it a market value of $104 billion. The stock begins trading Friday on the Nasdaq.

The result for Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook employees, and early investors is clear. The IPO will make many billionaires and countless others millionaires.

1. More ads. Facebook makes most of its revenue through advertisements. As a public company, management will experience pressure from the press and investors to meet quarterly numbers. More than that, its hefty IPO valuation will demand phenomenal growth of both revenue and net income. While Facebook would do well to diversify its income streams, it’s a sure bet that part of its strategy will involve enhanced ad revenues.

Google offers a good history lesson. Anyone who has used the search giant is probably aware that Google inserts paid advertisements above the search results and to the right of the search results. What you may not have noticed is that the number of those ads has steadily increased over the years as Google looks for more growth. In fact, in the last year or so, Google has even started inserting ads promoting its own content in highly sought after verticals such as credit cards, banking, and mortgages.

Exactly how this ad growth may affect Facebook users is unclear. But we are likely to see more commercialization of our Facebook pages.

2. New mobile. Mobile users of Facebook account for nearly 50 percent of its user base. According to its S-1 filing with the SEC, Facebook had 488 mobile users in March. With the growth of the smartphone and tablet markets, more Internet users are going mobile than ever before. So why is that a problem for Facebook?

The problem comes in the form of revenue: Facebook doesn’t make any from mobile. Some have predicted that Facebook will introduce ads into its mobile platform. That’s certainly a possibility. What is certain is that Facebook will be looking to monetize its mobile platform in one way or another. If done right, it should enhance the user experience. If done wrong, it could mean just more annoying ads.

3. Less privacy. A lot has been written about Facebook’s IPO and user privacy. What we haven’t seen is much in the way of specifics. Exactly how or why would going public have any effect on privacy?

The answer is simple: ad revenue. Google gets the benefit of our searches to present us with relevant ads. If you are looking for “Nike Zoom Ja Fly” running shoes, Google can present paid ads for exactly that. But Google is a search engine; Facebook is not. Google has the benefit of knowing in real-time exactly what we are looking for.

Perhaps that’s why Google generates about seven times more revenue per user than does Facebook. Google generates about $9.52 per monthly user, while Facebook generates just $1.32. And that’s a big problem for Facebook.

One solution would be to improve its ad platform. To do that, it may turn to more user data. If done correctly, the result could be positive for users. Relevant ads that don’t overwhelm the content can be helpful. Taken too far, however, and the results could be disastrous.

4. Facebook-generated content. If the above potential changes at Facebook are speculation, this one can safely be categorized as wild speculation. But it seems that Facebook-generated content, in contrast to the user-generated content that dominates now, has tremendous potential if executed correctly.

Currently, Facebook has a wealth of data that is largely untapped. Putting aside privacy concerns for a moment, one wonders if Facebook could enter markets now dominated by the likes of Groupon, Craigslist, and Yelp in ways no other company could. Facebook would need to leverage the information already tucked away in more than 900 million Facebook pages. But if it could do so in a way that made our lives better without compromising privacy, the potential is virtually unlimited.

Imagine Facebook-created content about local events powered in part by user-generated content stripped of any data that would give rise to privacy concerns. In some cases, Facebook could choose to generate its own content; in other instances, it may choose to partner with existing technologies and brands. But either way, the income potential makes me wonder if this isn’t in Facebook’s future. Time will tell.

Until then, be a friend and like the Dough Roller Facebook page. DR is the founder of the popular personal finance blog, the Dough Roller, and author of 99 Painless Ways to Save Money.

A business owner recently asked for time management strategies for busy entrepreneurs. Aren’t we all insanely busy running our businesses? Most of the people that I work with – my clients, my customers – are solo entrepreneurs which are one-person businesses or very tiny businesses that have less than 10 people in them.

My first response is that I gave up on the concept of “time management” a long time ago and I decided that I needed to re-frame that in order for me to have the most productive days that I possibly could.

First, I’ve re-framed by not calling it “time management” and I referred to it as “me” management because that’s really what we’re doing during the day. It’s figuring out how to manage ourselves in light of whatever else is going on so that we can remain the most productive we can be.

What would you like to succeed at tomorrow?

The first one is trying to decide the night before what your successes are going to be the next day rather than what your tasks or your projects are going to be the next day. We’re all focused on creating successes in our lives, in our businesses. So those tasks better be putting you on your path to creating your success.

Decide what your top priorities are and what your highest-impact tasks or projects are to be able to experience success the next day. Deciding this the night before seems to be better for me because I now look forward to the day. I know exactly what I’m going to accomplish. I know exactly what I’m going to focus on.

Write it down

My second tip is “don’t just decide that in your head.” We as entrepreneurs walk around with a lot of stuff in our heads and the more you write it down, the more committed you are actually in getting it done, so write it down. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. I write down my top 3 priorities everyday on plain old yellow post-it notes.

Focus on your top 3

Now, there are a multitude of other things that you need to get done. I’m sure we all have lists of 40 or 50 things we need to get done. But of all of those 40 or 50 things, what are your top 3? And when you focus in on your top 3 try not to make them in broad categories. Make them very specific.

Break it down

If it’s a big project then you want to break it down and you want to pull out the top 3 things that you want to get done for that project. If you make labels like “write a book” then what happens is you sit down in your productive hours,(we’ll touch on that in a second) and you try to write a book.

You’re not really being productive if you sit down to accomplish that task and you’re asking yourself “Okay, what’s the next step for writing a book?”. You’re just figuring out what you need to do to get the task done. So the more you can make it as specific as possible, the more quickly you move into productivity when the day begins.

Save the date

It isn’t going to get done until you schedule it. Take a look at your calendar. Are the highest priority things actually scheduled in your calendar or you’re just hoping that it fits into the day? I say schedule it.

For me, my most productive hours in the day are the first one to three hours of the day so that’s when I sit down. I shut off the phone. No internet. No excuses. Just quiet time where I’m focused on getting those top 3 things done before anything else.

For most people, their productive hours are the first thing in the morning. Some people are night owls and for them it’s the last thing at night. If you’re a night owl, write it out, schedule it, and make sure that those are the things that you’re focused on getting done on that day.

Learn from your mistakes

If your day wasn’t productive, at the end of the day the best thing you can do is to reflect on what didn’t go well and make sure you make those corrections the following day. Sometimes you have to manage people if you’re working with them. Otherwise they’ll eat up all of your time.

When I don’t manage things in that way, my days aren’t productive. It’s when I do those key things I have the most productive days possible. So give it a try. It really does work.  

Allison Babb Phillips – About the Author:

And now I’d like to offer you 11 FREE Videos on How To Get New Clients over at www.GetMoreClientsVideos.com from Allison Babb Phillips who is an award-winning small business author, international speaker and Business Success Coach who teaches business owners how to quickly attract  new clients and how to close sales on the spot without ever being salesy or pushy.

TOKYO: Rakuten Inc., Japan’s biggest online shopping-site operator, is leading a group investing US$100 million in social networking service operator Pinterest.

Rakuten was joined by investors including venture-capital firms FirstMark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, Rakuten said in a statement today,May 17, 2012.

Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News, is an investor in Andreessen Horowitz.

The Japanese Internet company has invested in online businesses including Brazilian online retailer Ikeda to expand around the world.

The Tokyo-based company’s flagship shopping portal, Rakuten Ichiba, connects merchants to customers looking for a one-stop shop for products from electronics to pajamas.

“We see a high potential in Pinterest that is growing at an accelerated pace,” Hirotoshi Kato, Rakuten spokesman said by telephone. “We have collaborated with Facebook and Mixi. We will reinforce the social area.”

Pinterest operates a social networking site where users can collect and share photos on the Internet. It had 11.7 million visitors as of January, according to the statement.

Pinterest may be able to expand in Asia and Europe through Rakuten’s subsidiaries, Kato said.

Rakuten’s investments over the last twelve months include the purchase of a 75% stake in Brazilian e-commerce business Ikeda last year for an undisclosed amount.

The company in September announced plans to buy Play Holdings Ltd., a U.K.-based operator of an online retail site, for 25 million pounds ($40 million) in cash. (Bloomberg/T07)
 

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DENPASAR: Bali exported 961 kilograms of coffee worth US$74,376.67 in the first quarter this year, a 3.31% increase from US13,916 in same period last year.

But in terms of volume there has been an increase of only 186.87% because in last year’s same period only 335 kilograms had been exported, Head of the Bali government administration spokesman I Ketut Teneng said in Denpasar Thursday, May 17, 2012.

He said last year Bali exported 30.26 tons of coffee worth US$215,074, a 30.26% increase from US$126,584 in last year’ same period.

Ketut Teneng said Balinese farmers started growing environmentally favorable coffee in Bali by using organic fertilizers from cows.

“The coffee growers have been synergising their activities with cow farming on the sidelines of their plantations, so that they received double income, namely cows and coffee, and the wastes of the cows are used to fertilize their coffee crops,” he said.

The coffee can compete in the export market with similar commodities of other countries.

He added that coffee took the form of rice seeds and after processing reached the Japanese and French markets as well as those in some other countries in Europe. (Antara/tw)
 

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