SCG Logistics Management Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of Siam Cement Plc, has entered into a joint venture agreement with Nichirei Logistics Group Inc to provide temperature-controlled logistics services in Thailand.
SCG Logistics Management’s 51-per-cent stake is valued at Bt575 million. The new company is expected to go into full operation in the third quarter of next year, according to SCC’s filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday.
Clients of temperature-controlled logistics services are mainly in the food and beverage industries, and growth in demand from these industries is expected to remain in the double digits over the foreseeable future. The growth is driven by changes in consumer purchasing behaviour and the increase in the country’s exports of premium-quality food.
The new company will offer premium quality temperature-controlled logistics, including transportation and warehousing, to leading domestic and multinational food and beverage companies in Thailand.
Two-year jail for unlicensed broker
The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday sentenced Ravi Pattiyawongse to two years in prison for conducting unlicensed businesses of securities brokerage and dealing under the name of Benson Dupont Capital Management.
In 2001, the SEC filed a criminal complaint against Ravi, Tyler Wasser and Patrick De Souza for operating unlicensed broker-dealer securities businesses under the names of Benson Dupont Capital Management and Morgan Pacific, which sold shares of five listed companies in the US to investors, benefitting from trading fees from 2000-01.
Their actions caused investors to suffer damages of US$110,275, which is in contravention of Section 90 of the Securities and Exchange Act and Sections 343 and 83 of the Penal Code.
Attempts to arrest Tyler Wasser and Patrick De Souza have failed and the statute of limitations has run out.
CAT in service deal for PTTEP
CAT Telecom and PTT Exploration and Production yesterday signed a 15-year deal for CAT to provide a fibre-optic network-based communications service via submarine cable to support PTTEP’s operations in the Gulf of Thailand.
The network will provide real-time communications links between PTTEP’s head office in Bangkok, its petroleum production facilities in the Gulf of Thailand, and related units, to control the exploration and production operations.
The 800-kilometre network, which started running on March 1, was built from Sri Racha to Songkhla.
Thai rice catches the eye at Foodex Japan
Thai rice enjoyed wide recognition from Japanese consumers attending "Foodex Japan 2013" in Tokyo’s Shiba district, promising a brighter outlook for Thai rice exports to the Japanese market.
Pranee Siriphand, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said Japanese and many foreigners at the event showed great interest in Thai food products.
A total of 2,391 food exhibitors from 72 countries attended the fair, including from Thailand. More than 73,000 visitors joined the event. Pranee said that although Japan grows its own rice, there were still opportunities for Thai premium-grade rice, particularly jasmine rice, to penetrate this market.
Allianz ‘AA’ rating
Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has confirmed the "AA" credit rating of the German insurance group Allianz, the major shareholder of Allianz Ayudhya Assurance, and raised the outlook to "stable".
Allianz’ capitalisation has recovered and provides the company a considerable financial buffer, enabling the insurer to survive difficult ongoing economic conditions more easily. This is how the rating agency backed up its decision.
Trucker service
Continental Tyres has formed a partnership with KC Tyres, a subsidiary of KC Corporation, to invest more than Bt80 million to open a one-stop service centre called "ContiTruckServiceCenter" in Kalasin province to serve the demands of truck users in the middle part of the Northeastern region and nearby areas. The sales projection is set at Bt120 million for the first year, rising to Bt140 million in 2014.
Sirivan Koo-Amphorn, managing director of Continental Tyres (Thailand), said the target customers included logistics service providers in the central Northeast and business partners of KC Corporation.
Fibre lasers to debut
INTERMACH, Asean’s leading industrial machinery and subcontracting exhibition, will host the Southeast Asia debut of fibre lasers through three exhibitors during the fair’s co-located exhibition "Sheet Metal Asia 2013" taking place from May 16-18 at Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre.
Since the advancement of fibre-optic and optoelectronic technologies, the machinery industry has benefited in the past decade from the creation of technologies such as the fibre laser. Originally intended for communication and transport applications, the reliability, compactness, cost and quality of fibre lasers, industries ranging from materials processing to medicine throughout North America, Europe and China have preferred them over traditional solid-state lasers.
"The significance and impact of the introduction of this technology in Southeast Asia is tenfold," said INTERMACH director Sanchai Noombunnam.
Online pre-registration is open from now until May 10. For more information visit Intermachshow.com.
CAT Telecom inks strategic cloud computing pact with IBM
CAT Telecom has signed a strategic engagement with IBM to help the state agency provide cloud-computing services in Thailand.
IBM will be the preferred technology service provider to help manage cloud systems, delivering innovative computing services for CAT, the company said.
CAT will leverage IBM’s leading technologies to deliver cost-effective cloud services while reducing power consumption and improving performance through server and storage consolidation and virtualisation.
With IBM’s cloud-computing solutions, CAT will be able to develop and offer a wide array of cloud services, from infrastructure to software and application services, more rapidly and cost-effectively, IBM said.
Xaxis launches Thai operation
US-based Xaxis, the world’s largest audience-buying company, recently announced the launch of operations in Thailand via a partnership with mInteraction, the digital unit of GroupM Thailand, to provide regional marketers with the full suite of Xaxis’ solutions.
“The Thai market place, like other areas in Asia-Pacific, is quickly developing in terms of publisher maturity and consumer behaviour,” said Michel de Rijk, managing director of Xaxis APAC. “This makes it a natural fit for the Xaxis products as we continue our expansion in the region.” At launch, Xaxis Thailand will coordinate with mInteraction to provide clients with the capability to implement coordinated audience-buying campaigns across multiple platforms and channels, he said.
Kevin Clarke, CEO of GroupM Thailand, commented: “Xaxis truly represents the cutting edge of online audience targeting and our clients stand to make great competitive gains through the opportunities these products provide.”
Passenger growth accelerates
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced global passenger traffic results for February showing accelerating demand growth on the back of stronger business confidence, particularly in emerging regions. Passenger demand rose 3.7 per cent compared with February last year.
The 3.7-per-cent growth masks improvements in recent months, with October 2012 appearing to have been a turning point for air-travel markets. Since October, passenger demand has been growing at an annualised rate of 9 per cent, almost doubling the growth trend over the first nine months of 2012.
“February’s performance was good news,” said Tony Tyler, IATA director general and CEO. “Demand for air travel continues to rise on economic optimism and improved business confidence.
Thai rice catches the eye at Foodex Japan
Thai rice enjoyed wide recognition from Japanese consumers attending “Foodex Japan 2013” in Tokyo’s Shiba district, promising a brighter outlook for Thai rice exports to the Japanese market.
Pranee Siriphand, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said Japanese and many foreigners at the event showed great interest in Thai food products.
A total of 2,391 food exhibitors from 72 countries attended the fair, including from Thailand. More than 73,000 visitors joined the event.
Pranee said that although Japan grows its own rice, there were still opportunities for Thai premium-grade rice, particularly jasmine rice, to penetrate this market.
S&P confirms ‘AA’ rating for Allianz
Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has confirmed the “AA” credit rating of the German insurance group Allianz, the major shareholder of Allianz Ayudhya Assurance, and raised the outlook to “stable”.
Allianz’ capitalisation has recovered and provides the company a considerable financial buffer, enabling the insurer to survive difficult ongoing economic conditions more easily. This is how the rating agency backed up its decision.
Continental and
KC Tyres join forces
Continental Tyres has formed a partnership with KC Tyres, a subsidiary of KC Corporation, to invest more than Bt80 million to open a one-stop service centre called “ContiTruckServiceCenter” in Kalasin province to serve the demands of truck users in the middle part of the Northeastern region and nearby areas. The sales projection is set at Bt120 million for the first year, rising to Bt140 million in 2014.
Sirivan Koo-Amphorn, managing director of Continental Tyres (Thailand), said the target customers included logistics service providers in the central Northeast and business partners of KC Corporation.
Fibre lasers to debut at INTERMACH
INTERMACH, Asean’s leading industrial machinery and subcontracting exhibition, will host the Southeast Asia debut of fibre lasers through three exhibitors during the fair’s co-located exhibition “Sheet Metal Asia 2013” taking place from May 16-18 at Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre.
Since the advancement of fibre-optic and optoelectronic technologies, the machinery industry has benefited in the past decade from the creation of technologies such as the fibre laser. Originally intended for communication and transport applications, the reliability, compactness, cost and quality of fibre lasers, industries ranging from materials processing to medicine throughout North America, Europe and China have preferred them over traditional solid-state lasers.
“The significance and impact of the introduction of this technology in Southeast Asia is tenfold,” said INTERMACH director Sanchai Noombunnam. “On one hand, we are very proud to act as the conduit for change in Southeast Asia by offering first to debut technologies such as fibre lasers to our visitors so that they have more manufacturing options to consider to enhance the efficiency and quality of the goods they manufacture. On the other hand, it ultimately benefits Thailand and Southeast Asia.”
Online pre-registration is open from now until May 10. For more information visit Intermachshow.com.
