Greendex: Survey of Sustainable Consumption

If your business is expanding into new or facing competition in existing markets, can you benefit from enhancing your green credentials to meet consumer preferences?

Greening your supply chain could provide a competitive edge in markets where consumers are increasing concerned with environmental issues and making spending decisons based on those concerns.

Find what you can learn from the Greendex Survey.

Commodity prices volatility is the biggest risk – The CFO Summit

The Economist recently held an event for European Finance Leader called the CFO Summit in London. Over 100 CFOs and finance leaders met to discuss a lot of different issues.

Among these issues were:

• The outlook for policy, investment and the global economy over the next 12 months and how this impacts the CFO and influence on the board
• What steps can be taken to balance strict risk management with company growth ambitions. Should CFOs delay investments or pursue growth?
• How CFOs can prepare their business for growth in the year ahead by becoming a leader in the field of innovation
• Which strategies can be deployed in finance leaders’ push for growth in both mature and emerging markets—and what opportunities and challenges can CFOs expect to encounter in 2013 and beyond?

The CFOs were asked which aspects of supplier risks they are most concerned about. Here are their answers…

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Commodity Outlook – Forecast 2013

The World bank has just released its latest commodity forecast report which looks at not only historical commodity prices but also forecasts for a wide range of commodity cost drivers in the global economy.

You can access the Worldbank commodity forecast for 2013 – Infographics to get a better understanding of the numbers in the report.

This document should prove useful if you are asked to project future cost trends for either the raw materials you purchase, or the finished goods you are responsible for.

It lists 43 different commodities and what the World bank expects their price points to be in 2013 and the following years. Obviously, the idea here is not to take the exact prices from this report but the evolution in percentage that will help you forecast what the impact will be on your finished goods costs using a Commodity Intelligence solution like ProPurchaser and help in your sourcing and negotiation with suppliers.

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Copper Climbs on Improving Demand

Copper‘s 2.9% rise this week reflected the market’s belief that “demand is going to be significantly improved in 2013,” said Bill O’Neill, a principal with commodities trading and consulting firm Logic Advisors.

The Chicago Business Barometer on Friday provided the latest indication of expanding industrial appetite in the U.S. by returning to growth mode, only two months after hitting its lowest level in three years.

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US PMI at 51.5%: Institute for Supply Management

The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI rose to 51.5 last month from 49.6 in August, an increase of 1.9 percentage points and the highest reading since May, above analysts’ estimates of a 49.7 reading.

A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting.

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China PMI at 50.2 in June

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) published by the Chinese Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP), an organization close to the government, is down again at 50.2 for June, from 50.4 in May and 53.3 in April.

Sunday’s PMI suggested Chinese factories struggled with lackluster foreign and domestic demand in June.

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IMF Report on Fiscal Policy to Mitigate Climate Change

IMF helps make carbon pricing the new normal.

Europe does it. Australia does it. Even northeastern-situated states do it. Everyone’s doing it. Let’s do it. Let’s tax carbon.

For me, that is an important message in IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde’s historic speech yesterday and in the release of a new IMF primer on how to raise the price of greenhouse gas pollution.

This is an interesting response to a recent report released by the International Monetary Fund on Fiscal Policy to Mitigate Climate Change .

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China PMI plunges to 50.4 in May

Manufacturing activity in China has greatly eroded in May, according to official data released Friday, which confirms a more general slowdown in growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) published by the Chinese Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP), an organization close to the government, took a dive to 50.4 from 53.3 in April. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in manufacturing activity, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Economists had expected a decrease to 51.5, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

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World trade growth slowdown

The international trade growth will decelerate in 2012 for the second consecutive year and will be reduced to a rate of 3.7%, but serious risks could lower it even more, below its average rate of 5, 4% over the last 20 years, said Thursday the World Trade Organization (WTO).

A recovery could intervene, however, next year, with a volume growth that would reach 5.6%. These projections assume a growth of world output by 2.1% in 2012.

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Worker productivity slows as labor costs rise in the final months of 2011

Labor costs increased at a 2.8 percent rate in the fourth quarter. That’s lower than the 3.9 percent rise in the third quarter, but much higher than the initial fourth-quarter estimate of 1.2%.

Growth in U.S. worker productivity slowed at the end of last year, while labor costs rose. Fewer gains in worker output suggests employers must add workers if they want to meet higher demand.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that productivity rose at an annual rate of 0.9 percent in the October-December quarter. While that’s a slight upward revision from last month’s preliminary estimate, it’s half the pace from the July-September quarter.

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