WASHINGTON (AFP) – Vietnam on Tuesday called on the United States (US) to recognise it as a market economy, saying stronger trade ties would benefit Washington in key areas.

“Our American friends and partners often say a strong, independent, resilient and prosperous Vietnam is in the interest of the US. We look forward to stronger actions by the US to realise this commitment,” Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said on a visit to Washington.

“We hope that the US will soon recognise Vietnam’s market economy status,” he said at the Brookings Institution think tank, a day after meeting top officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In a letter earlier this year to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, eight senators led by Sherrod Brown – a union-friendly member of Biden’s Democratic Party who faces a tough reelection fight – urged a decision against market economy status for Vietnam, pointing in part to concerns about organised labour rights in the country.

But Bui said that Vietnam offered potential in key areas of interest to the US including in semiconductors, critical minerals and artificial intelligence. “Our cooperation in this area can elevate Vietnam’s position in the regional and global value chain, which also benefits the US and other partners,” he said.

He also told the US audience not to expect policy turbulence in Vietnam despite recent political upheaval.

The Party last week announced that Vietnam’s President Vo Van Thuong, had quit after barely a year on the job due to unspecified “violations and shortcomings”.

“Vietnam’s campaign for anti-corruption has been going on, and it is welcomed by the international community, including the businesses,” the foreign minister said in explaining the resignation.

He noted that Vietnam has “collective leadership,” with a Party Congress taking place every five years and a policy vision set out through 2045.

“The resignation of the president, I think, it would not affect our foreign policy as well as our own policies of economic development,” Bui said.

LONDON (AFP) – New York cocoa prices on Tuesday cracked an all-time peak above USD10,000 on stubborn supply fears, further stoking worries about the elevated cost of Easter eggs and other treats.

The commodity, which is mostly used to make chocolate, zoomed as high as USD10,080 per tonne to extend its record-breaking run.

The most-traded cocoa contract later stood at USD9,767 at about 1600GMT, as poor harvests in producing countries sparked shortage woes.

London cocoa prices meanwhile vaulted on Tuesday to a new historic pinnacle of GBP8,682 per tonne. The rocketing cocoa market has sparked worries over the knock-on impact on the price of chocolate, at a time when the world’s major economies are already grappling with elevated inflation.

“Chocolate is the new luxury good in town, and we expect that sweet treats will see their prices surge in response,” said XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks.

New York cocoa seen its price more than double this year, surging by around 135 per cent.
London prices have leapt by 144 per cent in value.

Cocoa soared in 2023 on a wave of speculation over a global supply deficit, whereby demand outpaces supplies.

The market accelerated its dizzying ascent this year, driven by a supply crunch over bad weather in Ghana and Ivory Coast. The West African nations are the world’s biggest producers of the commodity.

Both countries had been hit by heavy rains that have sparked a tough year for the crop.
Producers now also face fresh turmoil due to the resurgence of the El Nino climate phenomenon, which causes drought in some areas and flooding in others.

“Supply and demand fundamentals have driven the price of cocoa higher this year,” noted Brooks.

“Reduced supply from West Africa, the main cocoa growing region, along with a boost in demand is putting upward pressure on the price.”

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – H&M said yesterday its net profit more than doubled in the first quarter as the world’s second biggest fashion retailer worked to control costs.

The Swedish company reported a profit-after-tax of SEK1.2 billion in the December-to-February period.

“Through continued cost control, better precision in our collections and close cooperation with our suppliers, we now stand better equipped,” chief executive Daniel Erver said in a results statement.

“We are fully focused on driving profitable growth going forward,” Erver said.

The group’s operating profit nearly tripled to SEK2.1 billion, well above the SEK1.3 billion forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Sales fell by two per cent to SEK53.7 billion, but H&M said they “gradually improved” in February and rose in the first weeks of March.

Erver took over earlier this year from Helen Helmersson, who stepped down after four years at the helm.

H&M, the second biggest fashion retailer after Zara owner Inditex, posted lower-than-expected results in 2023.

“We continue to plan our business with respect for a challenging situation in the world around us where consumers remain affected by inflation and high interest rates,” Erver said.

BANGKOK (AP) – Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers are showcasing their latest models, including a flying car, as they take on global rivals at the Bangkok International Motor Show.

Companies like BYD, XPeng and Great Wall Motors are quickly growing their sales in Thailand, challenging longstanding market leaders like Toyota, Isuzu and Ford, as they expand exports across the globe.

And Thailand, one of the biggest markets in Southeast Asia, a region of more than 600 million people, has made developing its EV market a priority.

Tesla launched sales in late 2022, offering its popular Model 3 and Model Y at prices aimed at competing with rivals like China’s BYD.

BYD displayed a wide range of its EV lineup, including its Dolphin, a pure EV that it says runs 490 kilometres (km) on a single charge and is priced at THB859,999.

BYD sold 30,650 EVs in Thailand last year.

MADRID (AFP) – Spanish inflation accelerated in March due mainly to higher energy costs, preliminary official data showed yesterday.

Consumer prices rose 3.2 per cent on an annual basis, up from 2.8 per cent in February, national statistics office INE said in a statement.

The main factor pushing up inflation was a rise in the price of electricity and fuel, which offset slower growth in food and non-alcoholic drink prices, it added. Spanish inflation hit a record 10.8 per cent in July 2022, its highest level since 1985 sending consumer prices soaring, but it has since eased.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in 2022 put in place a series of measures to help households cope with higher inflation such as free commuter rail travel which it plans to start phasing out this year.

FRANKFURT (AFP) – The German economy is expected to barely grow this year, leading economic institutes said yesterday, as weak demand at home and abroad slows the path to recovery.

Europe’s largest economy will expand by just 0.1 per cent in 2024, five think-tanks said in a joint statement, a sharp downgrade from their earlier forecast of 1.3 per cent growth.

“Cyclical and structural factors are overlapping in the sluggish overall economic development,” said Stefan Kooths from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

“Although a recovery is likely to set in from the spring, the overall momentum will not be too strong,” he added.

The German economy shrank by 0.3 per cent last year, battered by inflation, high interest rates and cooling exports, and is struggling to emerge from the doldrums.

Consumer spending was picking up “later and less dynamically” than previously forecast as wages lag behind.

Germany’s export sector, usually a key driver of economic growth, was suffering from cooling foreign trade against a fragile global economic backdrop.

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan is expected to announce plans to develop a next-generation passenger jet following a government committee meeting yesterday, a year after the last struggling attempt was scrapped.

The public-private project, which could use hydrogen fuel in a bid to cut emissions, will cost around JPY5 trillion, Japanese media reported, citing unnamed sources.

An official announcement was expected after a closed-door meeting of politicians, experts and businesspeople to discuss a new aviation industry strategy.

“For the Japanese aircraft industry to achieve sustainable growth, we cannot stay satisfied with our position as a parts supplier,” State Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Kazuchika Iwata, told the committee in comments open to press at the start of the meeting.

“In the new business fields of carbon-neutral technologies, including hydrogen, we aim to take a leading position” and partner with global players to develop a narrow-body plane, he said.

The goal is for the plane to be ready by 2035, the Nikkei business daily and other Japanese media reported.

The fresh push to build the nation’s first homemade airliner in more than half a century comes after Mitsubishi Heavy Industries abandoned a much-hyped attempt in February 2023.

The troubled project to develop a twin-engine plane for short-to-medium haul flights was ditched 10 years after the jet was due for commercial rollout, having suffered technical glitches and repeated delivery delays.

China showed off its first domestically produced passenger jet in Singapore last month, aiming to challenge the dominance of Airbus and Boeing with its single-aisle model.

Japan last launched a commercial airliner in 1962 – the YS-11 turboprop that was discontinued about a decade later.

Hydrogen fuel does not emit carbon dioxide when burned, making it an exciting prospect for Japan which is targeting carbon neutrality by 2050. But environment campaigners are sceptical about its use without a reliable supply chain for so-called “green” hydrogen, produced from renewable energy sources.