Archive for July 10th, 2010

Japan in 2nd-Longest Economic Expansion (2006-4-17)

Japan\'s economy is logging its second-longest expansion since the end of World War II, the country\'s economy minister said Sunday in the latest in a stream of optimistic forecasts.The upward trend should continue until the summer of 2007, making the current growth streak the longest in postwar history, said Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano.Japan is enjoying a rebound on booming exports and rising consumer spending. Unemployment has been falling, the stock market has rocketed to near six-year highs, and deflation has been reversed, ending a spiral of tumbling prices that have eroded corporate earnings and workers\' paychecks.The economy has now been expanding for 51 months, the same span as the so-called bubble era of the 1980s and 1990s, Yosano said. The only longer postwar expansion began in 1965 and ended 57 months later."The government predicts growth of 1.9 percent," Yosano said on the Asahi Television talk show Sunday Project. "I can easily… Continue reading

Global construction summit to be held in Beijing (2006-4-17)

The world\'s leaders in design and construction will meet in Beijing on April 25-27 to discuss global construction trends and opportunities at the 2006 Global Construction Summit, organized by McGraw-Hill Construction and the China International Contractors Association. The 2006 Summit, themed on "Innovating for Excellence: Opportunities for Global Players", draws senior executives from leading real estate developers, contractors, design firms, financiers, and government agencies around the world. They will share best practices and brainstorm solutions to problems in the increasingly global US$4.2-trillion construction marketplace. The Summit will address topics such as Innovative Project Financing, Sustainability/Green Building in China, Needs of Global Owners, and Managing Investment Risks in Global Mega Projects. "We look forward to meeting with the world\'s leading contractors, design firms, developers, financiers and building product manufacturers in Beijing to discuss global issues facing this great industry," said Norbert W. Young, Jr. FAIA and president of McGraw-Hill Construction… Continue reading

First credit tranche for Pacific pipeline to be over $7 bln (2006-4-17)

The first credit tranche for construction of an oil pipeline running from East Siberia to the Pacific Ocean will be worth $7.22 billion, the industry and energy minister said Monday. Viktor Khristenko said the board of directors of state-owned pipeline monopoly Transneft were working on the credit, and added that investments would come from Russian as well as foreign creditors. "The markets will be different, to make it cheaper and minimize credit risks," Khristenkko said, adding that construction of the pipeline would start before the end of April. The pipeline is expected to pump up to 80 million metric tons a year (1.6 mln of bbl/d) from Siberia to the Russian Far East before being sent on to the Asia-Pacific region, in particular to energy-hungry China. The first stage of construction was initially expected to be completed by the end of 2008. The pipeline has run into controversy, though, particularly over… Continue reading

Vietsovpetro launches $300mln gas pipeline construction (2006-4-11)

Russian-Vietnamese joint energy venture Vietsovpetro has started construction of a $300-million natural-gas pipeline in southern Vietnam, local media said Monday. Construction is part of a $1.2 billion project to build an energy and nitrogen complex including two electric power stations and a nitrogen processing facility worth a total of $900 million, in addition to the pipeline. The complex is located in the province of Ca Mau in southern Vietnam. Under the project, Vietsovpetro will build a 325-km gas pipeline running from the offshore Cai Nuoc gas fields to two electric power stations with total capacity of 1,500 megawatts. The pipeline will be put into operation in late 2006, while the first of the two electric power stations will be commissioned in late 2007. Vietsovpetro was established in 1981 and launched crude oil production on Vietnam\'s southern shelf in 1986. It has since proved to be one of the largest and most… Continue reading

Tadano launches new truck crane carrier (2006-4-11)

Tadano Ltd has begun production of a new truck crane carrier at its factory in Shido, Japan. Production began in January and the first shipments have now taken place. Approximately 100 units are scheduled for production in 2006.The new carrier will also be supplied to Tadano\'s Chinese manufacturing joint venture, BQ-Tadano (Beijing) Crane Co. Ltd.Tadano truck cranes have traditionally been mounted on carriers built by commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Nissan. Tadano decided to produce its own carrier after Yusoki Kogyo, the subcontractor of Tadano\'s supplier Nissan, was taken over in 2004 by Fuji Heavy Industries and stopped producing crane carriers.Nissan Diesel Motor Company supplies the powertrain for the new Tadano carrier. The left-hand drive 8x4 carrier has a turbo-charged six-cylinder Nissan PF6TB diesel engine.The dry single plate clutch has a hydraulically operated release mechanism with air assisted booster. The transmission has seven forward and one reverse speeds.Front axles are reverse-Elliot… Continue reading

New vehicle of interest to tower crane companies (2006-4-11)

Transportation company Goldhofer has launched a new vehicle - type XLE - in the 25 to 110t payload category, which will be of interest to companies moving cranes without their own wheels.This payload category has been covered by the classical combination system type STZ-VL or STZ-VH/ET so far. The users, however, required a lighter, more compact and easier to operate vehicle system.The compact construction, the low deadweight, the high axle load, the extreme extensibility as well as the deep and wide excavator recess in the bogie make the new system attractive.Great value was put on the use of proven components like pendular axles with an axle compensation of +/-300mm during the development. Bogies, crawler deck and gooseneck are newly conceived and trimmed to the shortest length in order to obtain the largest possible loading surface in the total combination.The compact gooseneck has a new two-circuit steering system making this vehicle manoeuvrable… Continue reading