12/04/2016 World Business Report


12/04/2016

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Now for the latest financial news with

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The European Union outlines new proposals forcing companies

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to come clean on exactly where they make their profits.

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More evidence of slowing global growth with aluminium giant Alcoa

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Also in the programme, we'll hear about the rice heavy diet

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of Singapore's foreign construction workers that is affecting

:00:47.:00:48.

Plans to force corporate giants to disclose more about

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their tax affairs will be unveiled by the European Union later today.

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Even before the leak of the Panama papers, which shone a spotlight

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on tax avoidance globally, the European Commission was forming an

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agenda for more transparent rules when it comes to corporation tax.

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Avoidance currently costs the EU between $60-$80 million dollars

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That's big bucks when many EU countries are battling with

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So, in new proposed rules, big companies, that is, those that

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earn over $850 million dollars annually, will have to publish

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their income and tax reports from whichever EU country they operate

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This will cover 6,500 companies globally,

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including the likes of big US names such as Apple, Amazon and Google.

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But tax transparency campaigners say the rules won't go far enough.

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They argue tax havens should also fall under the new rules, with data

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from outside the EU to be published on a country-by-country basis.

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There probably wouldn't have been attention paid to the EU

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Commission's proposal to get multinational companies to publish

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profits and tax bills and make them available to the public at the

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so-called Panama Papers scandal, which exposed the extent of the use

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of offshore tax havens, has given the legislation a real boost. If

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passed the law will mean multinationals operating within the

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EU will have to publish their profits and paid within the EU

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country EU country by country as part of the commission's efforts to

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ensure companies do not skimp on their taxes. Transparency

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campaigners say the law does not go far enough as it does not require

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companies to publish country by country data on profits made outside

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the EU. Of course it wouldn't become law overnight. EU governments will

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have to agree to it and it will have to get through the European

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Parliament. When rules are announced later today, we will update you.

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The US earnings season has kicked off, with aluminium giant Alcoa

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And its not good at all, confirming fears that demand remains

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soft for building and heavy construction materials.

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Alcoa posted a first-quarter net profit of $16 million.

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That's down a whopping 92% from a year earlier.

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The company is also considering shedding another 1,000 jobs.

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Alcoa also lowered its 2016 outlook for global sales in the aerospace

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industry, and its shares fell 5% in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

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Joining me now is Warren Gilman, chief executive of CEF Holdings,

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a company that invests in mining and resources.

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It all sounds pretty grim. Give us your perspective on these results.

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It's all pretty grim indeed, but no great surprise here. We really

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probably did not learn anything from the Alcoa quarterly release. We all

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know that the world of resources is tough and probably gonna get tougher

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before it gets any better. Just to say that as part of the results they

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stipulate why they are lowering their global sales outlook. China is

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one of the main reasons. They say they believe consumption is at 6.5%.

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They believed growth would be a originally around 8%. It always

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seems to come back to China, doesn't it? It does. China's the gorilla in

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the room for any participant in the commodity world. Despite the fact

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that demand growth is slowing, demand growth in the aluminium

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business is good on a relative basis, certainly better than other

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commodities like iron ore and copper. The real problem is Chinese

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supply. That has continued to grow in the aluminium sector. Just as

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importantly, if not more importantly, their exports are

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growing faster than annual production, and that is the headwind

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Alcoa faces, this constant supply of new aluminium coming into their home

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markets. They have had to decrease their own production and try to

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focus people's attentions more on the engineered products downstream

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side of the business, which is growing, but again that business has

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its own headwind. We have all seen from the Ford share price and the

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Boeing share price over the last year, that automotive growing space

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has a headwind, and that is a bright spot for Alcoa, never mind primary

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aluminium business which is under continued strife and tension for the

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next couple of years. Just really, how long will this season last? As

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you say, china's exporting more on a cheaper basis, which is a challenge

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steel makers are facing a round-the-world, particularly in the

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UK -- China's. Look, this is a tough business, as you mention. Still in

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the UK is an example. The growing supply of resources and commodity

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finished products like aluminium steel is a problem that's not going

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away soon -- Steel. It has been a product of the investment the last

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ten years. There is no sunshine at the end of this corner. It really

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tends to look towards the second half, when Alcoa's splitting into

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its two component parts, and shareholders will at least be able

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to look at the downstream business in separation from its primary

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business, sometime probably in the third quarter. OK, Warren, we

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appreciate your time. Rice is a staple food

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for millions of people around But for some,

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the rice itself is virtually their only food, leaving them

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deficient in essential nutrients. The result is called

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"hidden hunger" and it's acute in Now it's also been highlighted

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as a problem among many migrant Singapore's migrant construction

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workers are building one of the most advanced cities in the world, and

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this is what keeps them going. According to the social enterprise

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45 rice, a typical migrant worker here consumes a whopping 1.5

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kilograms of cooked rice a day. But not a lot else. A little bit of

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curry and a little bit of chicken. And normally this large amount of

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rice a day, without other nutritional food around it, it ends

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up being mostly an carb diet, they don't get the nutrition they need

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for the work they are doing on a daily basis. They are working from

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7am until 8pm and this is arduous work. Workers pay around $1 US per

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meal to a third party who arranges catering and delivery of food for a

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cut. The calorie heavy rice fills them up but it lacks essential

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vitamin A minerals which nutrition experts say leaves workers suffering

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from a form of malnutrition they call hidden hunger. So they are

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applying a formula used in the developing world for years,

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fortifying rice with all of the ingredients needed to make it a more

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balanced meal. Very often, when you get plain rice as part of your diet,

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you might feel less productive, less energetic, you might even fall more

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sick, so you will feel less healthy in general. It would be great to

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have a more balanced diet, however very often it is not affordable, so

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it is very simple and cost-effective to add vitamin C and minerals. The

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enriched rice is already being trialled on a small group of migrant

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workers -- add vitamins and minerals. Can you tell the

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difference? Yes. It is nicer. By the middle of this year, DSM, in part

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partnership with 45 Rice said they would like this fortified rice to be

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brought to as many as 30,000 of Singapore's migrant construction

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workers. With in a few years they are hoping to be able to feed the

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entire foreign construction worker population, more than 300,000

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people. And while enriched rice is more expensive they say they won't

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be passing on the extra cost to their workers because they will save

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money by dealing with caterers directly and a raging their own

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delivery. Let's quickly look at the markets.

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Japan is leading today, over 1%, because the yen has weakened versus

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the US dollar for the first time in seven days, bringing relief to

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exporters in Japan. Able see you soon. -- I will see you soon.

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New guidelines covering cosmetic surgery have been revealed

:10:36.:10:39.

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