Anglo American CEO expects jobs galore, clean power from fuel cells

The window of opportunity is "wide open" for South Africa to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and simultaneously obtain a source clean emission-free power, Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll said in Durban on Sunday night, 4 Dece,ber 2011, according to Miningweekly.com. Read more >>

Denel appoints new group chief executive

Denel has appointed Riaz Saloojee as the new group chief executive following the resignation of Talib Sadik. Saloojee brings with him a wealth of experience in the defence and manufacturing sectors and a solid career track record that will be of value to the Denel group. He will be able to build on the turnaround strategy introduced in 2006. Read more >>

SA's ageing manufacturers 'a dying breed'

South Africa's factory owners are a dying breed, the Mail & Guardian reports. Hopes for South African reindustrialisation may be dashed by the grim results of the first Small and Medium Enterprise Growth Index, a longitudinal study following 500 small businesses with between 10 and 50 workers. Read more >>

BMW seeks to lead 'green' car manufacturing

iafrica.com reports that the BMW Group announced major sustainability initiatives at the BMW Group Sustainable Future Conference held in Durban as a side event to COP17. Read more >>

Confidence stabilises but manufacturers cautious on outlook

According to Engineering News, the Bureau for Economic Research's (BER's) latest manufacturing survey for the fourth quarter of 2011 shows that manufacturing business confidence in South Africa stabilised at low levels, edging down from 36 to 35 index points. Read more >>

New vehicle sales growth continues

[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] The year is heading for a good finish with November new vehicle sales showing an improvement of 11.7% over that of the same month last year. According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) 49 499 sales were recorded this November - a year to year increase of 5181 units. Read more >>

Mixed results within technical consumer goods markets in Western Europe

NUREMBERG, GERMANY: The overall market for technical consumer goods in Western Europe recorded a sales volume of €44.4bn in the third quarter of 2011. This is a decrease of 4.1% compared to last year's figures. The individual countries are developing very differently. These are the findings of GfK TEMAX Western Europe. Read more >>

Unilever's CMO: 'We need to walk ahead of our consumers'

LONDON, UK: Speaking at the Marketing Society annual conference, and a year on from the launch of Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan, Keith Weed, Unilever chief marketing and communications officer, stressed the importance of foresight and the role that brands and marketing can play in making sustainable living commonplace. Read more >>

Africa must up its game in business

[Kemantha Govender] Africa must move beyond the point of being producers of raw materials to build dynamic and competitive manufacturing sectors which process minerals and agricultural products into consumer goods, says Jacob Zuma. Read more >>

Sasol mulls building ethylene cracker complex

South African energy and chemicals company Sasol is considering building a new world scale ethylene cracker and derivatives complex, which could cost up to US$4.5bn or about R37.6bn. Read more >>

Textile sector weathers global financial storm

[Paul Vecchiatto] The clothing and textile industry has been little affected by the recent global financial crisis as the competitiveness program had helped stimulate it, says Trade & Industry Minister Rob Davies. Read more >>

Downside manufacturing risks remain: BER

Despite some improvements in manufacturing activity during the fourth quarter of 2011, downside risks from the slowdown in Eurozone economic growth momentum remain, says the Bureau for Economic Research. Read more >>

Coega gets second manganese plant

The Coega Development Corporation has announced that a second manganese smelter is to be built at the Coega Industrial Development Zone near Port Elizabeth, to supply China, the world's biggest steel market. Read more >>

Workers' pensions shock

The inquiry investigating the loss of textile workers' pensions has heard that some of the money placed in a trust of a former clothing union consultant could have been used to buy a multimillion-rand Cape Town property and a luxury car. Read more >>