The asparagus season, marketed fresh in between March and June, is in full swing right now. And nice surprise for consumers, prices are down sharply. At Rungis, for example, a kilo of white asparagus was worth Wednesday between 4.80 and 6.90 euros per kilo following categories. A decrease of about 70 cents on the wholesale market which is largely passed on to consumers. "Asparagus, which fell 3 euros, are selling like hotcakes, welcomes a saleswoman Hyper U at Mayenne. Customers expect it and the radius was robbed. "

The French are lovers of this ultra-fresh vegetables, many nutritional values. They consume an average of 400 grams per person per year. Overall, local shops (markets, greengrocers and convenience stores) represents more than half of the distribution channel of asparagus. Another third of the volume is up in supermarkets. The remainder is sold through direct sales, which has grown significantly.

Land formerly of Excellence asparagus in Europe, France has seen its market share erode over the years. "Germany has become the European leader since 2003, says Angelique Delahaye, president of Vegetables in France. Its production has doubled in ten years with over 90,000 tons. "And to the detriment of France, who is now the fourth largest in Europe, 18,200 tons, after Italy (44,000 tonnes) and Spain (50,400 tons). In ten years, France has seen its acreage decline of 43%, to 5,525 hectares, according to the parliamentary report coordinated by the Deputy Mayor of Agen Jean Dionis du Sejour. At the same time, the surfaces increased 64% across the Rhine, to 21,815 hectares.

Picking Sunday

This new hegemony of Germany in the production of asparagus owes nothing to chance. First, the Germans love it and there is an ancient food culture where the asparagus accommodates many meals. Then, the country is rich in deep sandy soil, very favorable for growing asparagus. Last but not least Germany, already unbeatable in the industry, is becoming the champion of competitiveness in agriculture all forms of production. "The workforce represents 70% of the cost of production of asparagus in France. Despite a recent decline in expenses, the cost of a seasonal schedule is almost twice as high at home in Germany ", says Angelique Delahaye. Currently, the hourly wage of a seasonal employer costs included, is around 10 euros. In Germany, according to the region, it varies between 4 and 6 euros an hour. Last detail, in France, "the seasonal can not pick the asparagus on Sunday, when he must harvest in high season vegetables every day," says Angelique Delahaye.

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A cold shower. Francois Hollande and Jean-Marc Ayrault, the new duo at the head of the executive, could not begin their terms with worse prospects on the employment front. According to the Bureau of Unedic, the unemployment insurance system – that can not be accused of anti-hollandisme since it is composed, for half, representatives of trade unions – the number of registered unemployed in Class A (no activity) should swell to 178,500 in 2012 and then to 128,300 next year. A total of 306,800 additional people in two years, an increase of 10.6% over current levels.

This would be a disaster for the head of state who is committed during the campaign to reverse the unemployment curve, within one year after his election. To revise its forecast of 2012 and first establish financial and employment projections for 2013, services Unedic have incorporated into their models – reliable, in general – the new growth assumptions adopted by the consensus of economists (+ 0 , 3% and +1% of GDP for the current year and the next).

Scenario B more positive

If you look at job seekers who exercised reduced activity (categories B and C), increasing the total number of unemployed in the Hexagon will be even higher than 110,200, representing an increase of 9.7% in two years. Main explanation: the employment should fall further to 91,300 units in two years, bringing to nearly 300,000 the number of jobs destroyed in the Hexagon on the equivalent of a seven-year term. These poor forecasts, if realized, would further aggravate a little hole Unedic whose accumulated deficit frôlerait 18.2 billion euros end 2013. A record.

The new president and his prime minister, however, will find two tiny glimmers of hope in the fifteen pages of notes prediction Unedic. First, the deficit expected in late 2012 was revised downwards (from 1.3 billion euros) compared to recent estimates, established mid-January because of poor advance of revenues and expenditures. Second, the unemployment insurance system has also established a scenario B if growth would be higher in 2012 and 2013 – the bet made by Francois Hollande with the policies he wants to implement.  

If the GDP grew by 0.7% this year and 1.4% in 2013, the rising number of unemployed in Class A would be reduced to 169,200 over two years (half that in the central hypothesis) and the economy would begin to create jobs in 2013, with a positive balance of about 53,300 jobs by the end of next year.

The impact on the finances of Unedic would be immediate: the debt would be reduced to 17.2 billion at end 2013, one billion less than the central scenario. A completely different horizon.

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The tone has hardened in the conflict between marine companies between Corsica and the mainland. The strike called by the CGT Wednesday to demand the application of the same social laws to all shipping companies, including foreign competition, making these runs was repeated on Sunday. This movement was caused Saturday "anger" of the direction of SNCM (Société Nationale Corse Méditerranée), 66% subsidiary of Veolia Transdev. The South (ex-CMN) is also affected by the strike. The movement "is followed at 28% to SNCM, a little more to the CMN, but enough to prevent smuggling," said the leadership of SNCM.

The nine SNCM ships and the South (ex-CMN) assigned to services between Marseille, Nice and Corsica are therefore remained docked for the fifth consecutive day, some 13,000 passengers were affected since the conflict began. Many of them have changed their return by traveling on ships of the private company Corsica Ferries, Italian flag, which normally circulate. SNCM has expressed "outrage" because "this movement supposed to fight our competitors strengthens the contrary, beyond their expectations." Moreover, the director of the company for Corsica, Pierre-André Giovannini, expressed his "regret for the inconvenience to our customers, passengers and cargo carriers, and this new blow to the island economy." He said over the weekend of May 8 Bridge is "one of the most important pre-season tourist" for Corsica.

Political parties challenged

The striker will meet again on Monday to decide on the following movement. "So is the future of thousands of jobs in our profession," says the union in a statement savings account payday advance. The strike comes as the ferries market suffered the turmoil of the crisis in recent years. Thus, since its passage in the private sector in 2006, SNCM has almost always been in the red. She was accused of operating losses of 15 million euros last year. Especially, the CGT sailors had already scored a major coup a year ago by stopping work for 47 days, never seen to SNCM. If it were to get bogged down, however this new strike is unlikely to change the trajectory of the group. The direction of the SNCM instead reiterated its "determination to rapidly modernize and evolve the company, in all areas." Last March, the chief executive, Marc Dufour, warned that SNCM would have to separate at least two car ferries and 800 employees in 1617.

The case quickly took a political turn. Friday, a trade union delegation was received in Paris by representatives of different parties, including the national secretary of the PCF, Peter Lawrence. His party has tabled in the Senate on March 22 a bill to require all companies operating in France the first entry in register of ships, making them subject to French social laws. Sailors CGT also met the spokesman of the Socialist Party, Benoît Hamon, who is, according to the union, "clearly in favor of the adoption of this law," and a consultant Francois Hollande. In Marseille, finally, a delegation was received by the federation UMP.

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The UK is preparing to be the center of the world during the Olympic Games in London this summer. But within three months of maturity, the British border crossing is now turning to chaos. Heathrow Airport is at the heart of controversy because of long queues to pass checkpoints immigration. A study by the British Airport Authority said Thursday record three hours of waiting found last Monday in terminal 4. Control agents were sent into a disaster of Manchester in an attempt to streamline the situation.

Tails more than two hours were common in April, while the objectives of the immigration agency, United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA), were exceeded for a quarter of passengers 23 days on the 30th of last month. The agency has set an average time of 25 minutes for European citizens and 45 minutes for non-Europeans.

The UKBA had previously sought to minimize the problem. The Immigration Minister, Damian Green, was summoned to explain to the House of Commons, went to Heathrow Monday during a quiet time and was considered "exaggerated" reports on delays. He attributed the delays to bad weather. The boss of British Airways, Willie Walsh has accused the government of "deceiving public opinion" and be "unable to cope with a major problem."

David Cameron himself has described the aftermath as "unacceptable" these delays and asked the competent authorities to act. The outgoing mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wrote to the Interior Minister, Theresa May, in indignant at "the disastrous impression in the UK" and asked him to "rectify the situation for both the Olympics and to manage the normal flow of passengers. "

Downsizing

Largest airport in Europe (and the third world), Heathrow, with 69 million passengers a year, bordering on saturation. London expects 3-5000000 more visitors during the Olympics. The engorgement of its border resulting from the conjunction of several factors.

Last fall, the agency Immigration and Theresa May had been questioned after the revelation of controls "relaxed" on arrival, neglecting the systematic verification of passports of visitors to accelerate the pace. A careful examination papers has been reinstated immediately, lengthening the time. Meanwhile, the UK Border Agency is facing a rise in traffic with fewer staff. The severe budget cuts decided by the government resulted in a decrease of 10% of its workforce since 2010, and an additional 15% could be eliminated by 2015. To make matters worse, the agency staff must go on strike next Thursday, as the entire public service, for retirement. The UKBA has announced the hiring of 80 people from this month and announced it planned reinforcements of 480 officers during the Olympics.

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At the entrance, the staff welcomes you with a "hello-namaste." In the room, remind you of Paris macarons, but the decor is no doubt: you are in India. At the table, it offers a good curry and burgundy … Welcome to the Sofitel Mumbai KBC, the first hotel brand in India since its move upmarket, which began in 2007. The first stone was laid that year in the new business district of Bombay, near the largest stock of diamonds. The hotel was inaugurated this week. "The biggest challenge in India, the construction time. There are a lot of bureaucracy. We had to ask more than one hundred licenses, "said Robert Gaymer-Jones, CEO Sofitel Worldwide.

The 5-star luxury 302 rooms (first prize $ 250 a night) employing 520 people is to compete with the chains located in Bombay: Indian Taj and the Oberoi, but Four Seasons, Hyatt, Westin and Shangri-Here which opened its first facility in mid-June "There is not enough supply, so there is market share to take," said Denis Hennequin, CEO of Accor, decided to accelerate in India. The group has 15 hotels today and will end the year at 23. We stay away from the expansion in China, where Accor has more than 120 addresses. "There are high barriers to entry into India. Everything takes time. We must find the right partners, "explains Denis Hennequin. Eleven openings are planned this year, with five this month, the first Pullman and Formule 1.

Goal of becoming the first hotel outside India

By 2015, Denis Hennequin is 90 hotels open or under construction and the place of the first international hotel group in India. "This represents a sixty hotels open," says Christian Karaoglanian, managing director of hotel development, which indicates that 30 to 40 million euros are invested annually in India, where the group is developing with local partners. The Sofitel Mumbai represented an investment of about fifteen million euros for Accor, which owns some of the walls. All operations undertaken in India is so far a total of 223 million euros worth of assets of 1.15 billion.

The leading position covered by Denis Hennequin is occupied by Carlson, with 52 hotels. The battle promises to be tight. "We have a very privileged position in India that is the envy said Hubert Joly, CEO of Carlson. We will try to keep it. "The group plans to build 48 hotels and has signed a partnership agreement with the Indian Bestech Hospitalities to open fifty Park Inn by 2024.

But places are to be taken. "There are 150,000 hotel rooms across India, as well as in the city of Shanghai," said Christian Karaoglanian. Accor, the openings will be especially Formula 1, Ibis and Novotel. Sofitel two are scheduled to Bombay with a "So Sofitel" contemporary design. Outside of Bombay, Robert Gaymer-Jones looks as opportunities in Delhi, Bangalore and Goa.

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One hundred days after his inauguration, Mariano Rajoy faces Thursday its first general strike in Spain. "Hundred Days, hardly!" Are offended tenors of the Popular Party (PP, right), the formation of the head of government. "The strike, finally!" Meet the basics of trade unions, eager to do battle. For the past three months, government and workers' representatives to look into daggers.

In recent weeks, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), the two largest unions in the country, have organized two events before calling a general strike. The leaders admitted bluntly: it was first to count.

In the crosshairs of unions, labor market reform, adopted by decree on February 9 and described as "extremely aggressive" … by the minister of the economy itself!

Javier Doz, Head of International Relations of CCOO, summarizes the two main objections to the reform: "First, this law flexibilized layoffs and cuts costs. Second, it greatly weakens collective bargaining. "The government says it is to encourage hiring by offering less restrictive labor contracts. The argument is scanned by Doz: "Since the adoption of the decree, unemployment has continued to grow."

"A stroke of genius!"

The executive, in turn, paved the way. A short sentence illustrates this perfectly. It was in Brussels on 31 January. Mariano Rajoy attended his first European Council. Prior to opening the meeting, he met with his Finnish counterpart and brags: "The reform of labor law will cost me a general strike!" Rajoy then displays a satisfied smile. Barely a month after taking office, the standoff between the government and unions had already begun.

"A stroke of genius!" Can not help admiring Pablo López Calle, professor of sociology of work at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. "It's Rajoy himself who called a general strike! It presents the mobilization as a sign of his political identity, "he decrypts. Proof of its determination, in short.

For unions, in any case, the day will be a test. In a country affected by an unemployment rate of 23%, fear of losing his job well anesthesia claims. For several weeks, unions must also defuse a series of controversies echoed by the conservative press. A leader of UGT, for example, was accused of receiving tens of thousands of dollars from the Caja Madrid, a savings bank the largest in the country. In reality, the money is paid to each member of the Board and shall be returned to the union. "This is a campaign to discredit us," considers Doz, denouncing "personal insults".

The challenges of Spain

Mistrust vis-à-vis trade unions, however, goes beyond the usual political divisions. During the demonstration on 19 February, for example, indignant movement of May 15 had joined the workers' representatives. But these indignados had organized their own parade. "Thanks for coming!" They sang at the CCOO and UGT. One way to criticize the supposed slowness of their response. "¡No representan our" ("They do not represent us!") Cried others, usually reserved for a political slogan.

Conversely, unions are wary of calls from the foot of the Socialist Party (PSOE). The leader of the PSOE, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, does not hide his strategy: "The PP has shown with the bishops (an allusion to the protests against gay marriage or abortion), we, we demonstrate with the unions." These latter, however, still marked by the austerity measures of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Socialist prime minister post. "In recent events, says Lopez, union leaders have done everything to prevent the Socialists are at the forefront." The Socialists, requinqués by an unexpected election victory last Sunday in Andalusia, intend to transform the test.

Beyond the likely battle between unions and government figures, the point lies elsewhere. Condenses into a general strike the next day challenges of Spain. On the one hand, the government Rajoy wants to kill the rebellion in the bud, establish his austerity program and ensure social peace by force of his majority. The other, the parliamentary opposition and trade union seeks to rise from the ashes.

]]> http://ecopolhome.com/mariano-rajoy-faces-its-first-general-strike/feed/ 0 http://ecopolhome.com/if-you-ride-a-lot-go-to-venezuela/ http://ecopolhome.com/if-you-ride-a-lot-go-to-venezuela/#comments Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:56:08 +0000 admin http://ecopolhome.com/if-you-ride-a-lot-go-to-venezuela/  

While fuel prices going from record to record in France, a study by German GIZ revealed by Challenges, shows that the French are not the worst off. Every two years, this independent economic research firm analyzes the price of gasoline and diesel in 170 countries. The experts come to update some of the results to reflect the surge in oil prices. The barrel has indeed increased by about $ 20 since the last measurements in 2010.

According to the survey, the price differences among countries are unprecedented. Gasoline is cheaper and 112 times in Venezuela, where it costs 0.17 euro per liter, as in Turkey where it reached 1.91 euro per liter, and 88 times cheaper than in France (1.50 per liter on average).

Subsidies and taxes are the difference

To explain these price differences, GIZ identified four groups of countries. The first category includes all states like Venezuela disconnects the fuel price of one barrel of oil through grants awarded to distributors. It is only country in the top 20 oil producers like Venezuela, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, United Arab Emirates paydayloans. The price per liter do not exceed € 0.38.

The second set also includes oil-producing countries but the subsidy policy is less aggressive. Accordingly, the fuel price is a little higher, but remains below the market price is around € 0.58 and a liter as in Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Angola or Sudan.

In the third category, however, there are countries whose tax increased the price of a liter of petrol above the market price. This is the case of the United States, China, Russia or Brazil. The fuel is sold from 0.64 to 1.04 euro per liter.

The last group consists of states where governments have established a strong fuel tax. This is true of all countries of the European Union, Switzerland, Turkey but also in poor countries such as Eritrea and Rwanda. At the pump, the price is greater than 1 euro per liter.

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Three major operators compete around the 4G brings the Internet broadband mobility to exchange emails in the blink of an eye, watching videos or surfing the Web at home. Verizon, AT & T Wireless emphasize that LTE (Long Term Evolution). In early summer, Sprint will join the battle overseas.

After saturation of services in New York and California, customers are opting for a more reliable service. U.S. operators had invested less than their European counterparts for the previous generation of mobile telephony. "There is a change in leadership. There are four or five years, European operators dominated the mobile technologies. Now, operators in the United States have adopted and deployed the LTE, "says Wim Sweldens, president of the mobile division of Alcatel-Lucent.

Of some 6.4 million users worldwide LTE end of 2011, 63% of Verizon customers in the U.S., notes the firm Informa. They should represent 428 million customers at end 2016, representing 6% of mobile users worldwide, said the company Juniper Research. 4G is a boon to increase average revenue per customer. AT & T and Verizon offer commercial offers between 40 and 50 dollars a month for data only, not to mention the basic subscription between 20 and 30 dollars. In France, "we want to be ahead of our competitors for the deployment of 4G," says Stéphane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, who refuses to indicate when it will launch its service for the benefit of surprise. Orange is expected no earlier than the end of the year and most likely in 2013.

Sign that the market takes off, the number of terminals available is increasing rapidly. Last year, the only facilities were proposed to connect the USB to connect a PC 4G, Huawei launched by the Chinese and the Taiwanese HTC. In January 2012, "48 for LTE smartphones are on the market, six times the number six months ago," says the GSA (Global Mobile Suppliers Association). Among them, all the major manufacturers have answered the call, with the notable exception of Apple. Catalogs are provided the most offered by Samsung (17 smartphones LTE), LG (10) and HTC (7).

As for equipment for 4G networks, the battle is very fierce between manufacturers to be selected for the 226 to build networks in 76 countries. In this market, European manufacturers are the strongest. Sweden's Ericsson and French Alcatel-Lucent selected by both the largest U.S. operators, reap the biggest contracts. They got respectively 36.7% and 21.1% of the world in 2011, says research firm In-Stat. Then come the duo Nokia Siemens (11.7%), in the lap of the Finnish group, China's Huawei (9.9%) and other actors such Samsung, NEC, Cisco and ZTE.

]]> http://ecopolhome.com/4g-has-become-a-selling-point/feed/ 0 http://ecopolhome.com/sncf-tgv-depreciates-its-700-million-euros/ http://ecopolhome.com/sncf-tgv-depreciates-its-700-million-euros/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:08:14 +0000 admin http://ecopolhome.com/sncf-tgv-depreciates-its-700-million-euros/  

SNCF will release on February 16 as "good" annual results, in the words of its leadership. Yet they will undergo a severe movement of the plane. On 14 February, the president of SNCF, Guillaume Pepy, unveiled to participants of a seminar on "business model TGV" that his group would carry out an impairment of € 700 million on its TGV . "The value of TGV, now in the books of the SNCF, amounts to nearly 4.5 billion euros," he said, according LaTribune.fr who reports his remarks. We will depreciate the 700 million euros because we have too many trains and they are mostly old. "

The fleet has 457 SNCF trains whose average age is 17 years. This decision comes as the SNCF profitability of the branch TGV group – very profitable long – has deteriorated in recent years. An evolution largely attributed by the public company to the concomitant increase in tolls which it must pay with Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), owner of the tract. Since late last week, SNCF and RFF have agreed on changes in rates of tolls until 2018. Guillaume Pepy was this medium-term visibility a prerequisite for engaging in orders for new trains. He said Tuesday that such investments would only be possible when the operating margin of the travel industry would reach 20%. Or it tops out at 14% today.

Until 2015, the fleet will continue to welcome new trains: 15 "Euro Duplex" will be delivered by Alstom in 2012, 11 in 2013, 11 in 2014 and seven in 2015. According to its chief financial officer, David Azema, who intervenaitle February 15 parliamentary days when the rail is in fact particularly after 2025 that the station should replace trains end of life.

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PSA announced this morning its annual accounts. The group recorded an operating profit of 1.31 billion euros, against 1.79 billion a year earlier. The net profit is not apparent at 588 million euros, against 1.13 billion euros in 2010. Meanwhile, turnover rose by 6.9%, to 59.9 billion euros.

Peugeot loses money on its core business, namely to build and sell automobiles. To be precise, the industry grouping of PSA Peugeot Citroen and recorded an operating loss of EUR 92 million in 2011. In the second half, the deficit in the division has even approached the 500 million euros. Outside this perimeter, the Chinese subsidiary is profitable but it remains small (404,400 vehicles sold).

After a brief stint in the green, the action has continued to sink throughout the session. At 16 hours, as the same fall of 6.9%, to 14.07 euros.  

Peugeot said it plans to open the capital of its subsidiary Gefco, specializing in logistics. He also plans to sell the walls of his Paris headquarters. This is to return cash to the group. It is perhaps this aspect that worries investors.

These efforts include a major program of asset sales of 1 instant payday loans.5 billion euros. This amount includes the sale (completed in February) of the car rental company to quote an American group for 440 million euros, the IPO of the highly profitable logistics subsidiary Gefco, which PSA could take about 560 million, and dispositions of real estate assets – including the walls of the Paris headquarters of the Avenue de la Grande Armee – to 500 million.

Vague and cautious outlook from Moody's

Beyond the figures, investors are sensitive to the perspectives of PSA. THERE is no forecast of operating margin. It is unclear whether Peugeot will be profitable this year. The group expects a 5% drop in sales in Europe, including a 10% decline in France. Growth should be at the rendezvous in emerging countries.

For its part, Moody's placed under surveillance in his note on the group. If the rating agency's rating deteriorates, Peugeot would be in the category of junk bonds.

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