…says Mike Schmitt, president, Alcan Packaging Food Americas and Global Pharmaceuticals Division. Alcan Global Pharmaceutical Packaging (AGPP) currently employs 4,500 employees located in 39 cGMP-compliant facilities within 13 countries and regions on three continents. Schmitt previously served as president - Food Packaging Americas and before this assignment, he was president of Food and Specialty Flexible Americas, a position to which he was promoted following Alcan's acquisition of Pechiney. In a previous assignment, he was with Bemis Co, as the vice president and general manager of the PET products division. With a BS from Michigan State University's School of Packaging, and an MBA from Wayne State University, he is also armed with the Six-Sigma certified yellow belt. In this exclusive e-interview with Mike Schmitt, Nishan Chandran unravels the force and fuel behind the success of this mammoth organisation. Current scenario in the global packaging industry, and more so in the pharma packaging industry… The global packaging industry is doing well as are the pharmaceuticals and medical packaging industries. To succeed, it is important to have a global approach not only because of stiff competition but also due to the tremendous opportunities for the industry brought by the rapid growth of the markets. The market is very challenging, especially for organisations like us who always raise their productivity levels to world-class standards. Emerging trends in the pharmaceuticals packaging industry… The latest trend in the industry is being responsive to the customers' unique product needs, and working closely with them to understand the challenges that their products face - whether it is to protect highly sensitive products, tracking & tracing the supply chain or increasing the adherence of end-users to their drug therapy. Sustainability is also a new component that is now part of any successful business strategy in an organisation. I believe that sustainable-packaging initiatives could serve the environment better. In today's struggling economy, revisiting packaging may be necessary given the rising price of oil and therefore, resin and energy costs. To remain profitable, companies have to be looking at ways of running leaner and more-efficient packaging operations. It is mandatory for us to position ourselves in a way that we can offer top-quality products & services and act as a high-performance partner. Hence, we have focussed our investments on the development of modern production facilities equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. Moreover, we have established a network of Centers of Excellence throughout the Americas and Europe, notably resulting in the purchase of new equipment, the construction of new infrastructure and the optimisation of some facilities with one common goal - customer benefit. The key issues and challenges that need to be overcome by the pharma packaging industry… Margin pressure from both rising raw material costs and price sensitivity pose quite a challenge to the pharma packaging industry. Moreover, the exchange rate also has a significant impact on us, especially in the folding carton industry. Therefore, it is mandatory for us to keep improving our productivity and invest in state-of-the-art technology. AGPP's global pharmaceuticals' packaging market share… Alcan Global Pharmaceutical Packaging's current global market share is 4 per cent. Out of Alcan's total pharmaceutical packaging business in pharmaceutical flexibles, India contributes 2 to 3 per cent. We intend to continue this association because the Indian market is currently seeing a very rapid growth and we want to ensure our expertise is offered to this market. The various kinds of packaging technology offered by AGPP and its quality systems… AGPP's multi-material and multi-region offering, helps its customers succeed by designing products to fulfil the specific needs of pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturers, ensuring compliance, barrier properties, sterility and other requirements. Our company has established the same standards worldwide to ensure consistency in our processes and compliance with regulatory requirements. Our product portfolio includes markets like contract packaging, glass tubing, medical, flexible packaging, pharmaceutical flexible packaging, plastics and specialty cartons. Our quality management systems are compliant with the ISO 9001:2000 standards across all of our operating sites and we have achieved 100 per cent compliance with ISO 14001:96 and OHSAS 18001:99, which denotes that our systems are environment-friendly. On recent innovations and initiatives by AGPP … Alcan Global Pharmaceutical Packaging has demonstrated its leadership in innovation since the past months. Our innovation efforts are focussed on our customers' specialised needs, and we work closely with them to optimise product integrity while delivering a high-level of customisation for their individual product requirements. In our plastics group, we recently launched a new product line of high-barrier plastic bottles. StabilitySolutions™ is a groundbreaking, innovative product for pharmaceuticals that requires the highest moisture and oxygen barrier. StabilitySolutions™ DRY and StabilitySolutions™ BARRIER use patent-pending technologies to ensure that the customers' products maintain their efficacy for a longer period of time, delivering the greatest possible benefit to patients. Our contract-packaging group launched ComplySolutions™, a line of products that feature efficient compliance packaging. This new product portfolio is customised for the management of patient compliance and persistence and assembles F1 child-resistance, high levels of patient/senior friendliness, ample space/innovation for brand establishment, the ability for simple incorporation of authentication features and packaging processes that are innovative as well as pragmatic. Finally, last year we held our first international Alcan Packaging University (APU) seminar, where current and prospective customers from different countries around the world gathered. The goal of the educational seminar was to create a better understanding of customers' expectations in terms of packaging innovation. Originally launched in 2006 on a European level, the positive feedback received led us to extend the pharmaceuticals packaging seminar to an international audience. These challenges are at the heart of our innovation activities and have motivated our latest product developments and service enhancements. On the way the packaging industry is helping tackle counterfeit problems faced by the pharma industry… Anti-counterfeiting technologies are rapidly evolving to protect consumers and brand owners. They are expanding quickly to stay ahead of well-funded counterfeiters. It is the responsibility of packagers to develop new processes to make sure that the needs of their customers are fulfilled. Our organisation has developed a family of solutions under its N'Crypt brand name and our competitors are also moving forward to help fight this serious problem. On the company's iWheel solutions and its motto behind the conceptualisation… iWheel SolutionsTM was created to communicate our vision of innovation across Alcan Global Pharmaceutical Packaging and offer a clear profile of all our products & services to our customers. This tool takes our conversations with customers beyond transactional activities towards developing value-added solutions based on the requirements of the end-users of their products. iWheel SolutionsTM is an umbrella brand that showcases the innovative, intelligent and integrated solutions we offer our customers to address the diverse challenges faced by their products. We believe that packaging should act as an extension of our customers' products and deliver a unique set of benefits. At AGPP, we strive to understand the business challenges of pharmaceutical and medical companies and design targeted solutions that continue to add value to their products all the way down through the supply chain and into the hands of the consumer. With needs ranging from maximising their brand equity to managing concerns of product counterfeiting or supporting patients in compliance to their medication therapy, iWheel SolutionsTM demonstrates the broad spectrum of expertise and support that we offer. The motto behind your recent acquisition of Associated Capsules Pvt Ltd's flexible packaging plant in Chakan, India... Chakan is a well-equipped plant with dynamic people and an asset base that will definitely complement our current product portfolio. The expertise with local pharmaceutical companies will be an excellent addition to our organisation, increasing our ability to service global and regional customers while maintaining the high quality standards they expect from us. On the future plans of AGPP in India… Alcan Packaging has been providing pharmaceutical flexible packaging in India for over 15 years and has gained a first-class reputation as the leader in quality, service and innovation. Dr Erwin Pasbrig, director - R&D, AGPP, has held many seminars to educate the pharmaceutical industry about packaging solutions and technology. The high-barrier blister packaging Formpack® is recognised as the world-leading brand in alu-alu blisters and is firmly established as the benchmark in India. The company recently cemented its commitment to supporting growth in the emerging markets by announcing a new organisation. Further, a new business unit dedicated to emerging markets was created in July 2008. Alcan Packaging with its newly-created business unit - Pharma Emerging Markets expects the demand for packaging in India to not only increase in volume, but also consumer expectations. Therefore, most modern drug delivery systems and innovative packaging solutions will also be in great demand. Due to our unique and extensive network, we are able to offer systematic back-up capabilities giving our customers an unrivalled security of supply on key products. We also intend to review strategies in some key areas such as generics, biotech, etc, and would continue to remain proactive in the areas of compliance, sustainability, track and trace, product security and RFID. Future outlook for the pharma packaging industry globally and in India... As the Indian economy grows, there will be a huge need for high-quality packaging to meet the rapidly growing demands of the market. The future is promising and we constantly evaluate ourselves on the way we do business with all our customers around the world.

China National Materials Co. Ltd (Sinoma)<1893>, one of the country's leading cement equipment and engineering services providers, announced that its construction subsidiary has inked a EUR167 million contract with Lafarge SA to build a cement production line in western Ukraine. The cement production line, which is located in Mykolaiv, western Ukarine, is designed to have a daily capacity of 5,000 tons of clinker cement. Under the contract, the Chinese company will be responsible of designing and constructing the production line, which is scheduled to be operational within 30 months. The Hong Kong-listed company said earlier its net profit for the first half of this year amounted to RMB 295 million, representing a significant growth of 75.5% over the corresponding period of last year. Its turnover during the reporting period rose 26.8% year-on-year to RMB 10.9 billion.

Standards Domestic framework and international association Legal framework Independence of justice Judiciary is not independent in China. The government controls the judiciary. The CCP directs verdicts and sentences, particularly in politically sensitive cases. Equal treatment of nationals and foreigners The judiciary does not guarantee an impartial trial to a foreign national. A high degree of corruption exists in the country, especially corruption within the CCP is rampant. The language of justice Mandarin-Chinese is the judicial language of China. Having recourse to an interpreter Having an interpreter is possible. Sources of the law and legal similarities The constitution is based on the promulgation of December 1982; with country's legal system originating from the civil law system which has been derived from Soviet and continental civil code legal principles. Intellectual Property Domestic network and international agreements Texts currently applying to patents/brands Type Text Date entered into law Period of validity Remarks Patent Munich Convention - - Tax rates Consumption taxes Tax rate 17% Reduced tax rate 3% or 6% for small-scale business 0% for exported goods. Other consumption taxes Corporate taxes Tax rate for resident companies Tax rate on long-term capital gains Capital gains are levied at the rate of 33%, System governing groups of companies and dividends paid by subsidiaries to their parent companies Dividends are not subjected to any withholding tax, Tax rate on branches There is no separate branch income tax . Individual taxes Tax rate Allowable deductions and tax credit In China there are several types of deductions and reductions applying to taxpayers, For example, single people can deduct a fixed amount of their monthly salary accounting for 800 RMB, An additional amount of 3,200 RMB can be deducted from the monthly income of the foreigners taxed in China, for a total of 4,000 RMB, The other deductions depend on the activity and on the salary of each, Double taxation treaties Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed Sources of fiscal information Tax Authorities Accounting rules Tax year The fiscal year begins on January 1-st and ends on December 31 of the same year. Accounting standards Accounting reports Companies have to produce a balance sheet and a profit and loss account. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance publishes some important guidelines in the "Accounting Standards for business Enterprises ". Accountancy profession - The Ministry of Finance. Certification and auditing " The Nation's People's Congress " is the highest authority, which promulgates laws and standards of the Chinese accounting.

China's automobile prices rose in September buoyed by an increased consumption tax that was aimed at curbing sales of high emission cars to save energy. Prices of domestically-made vehicles edged up 0.74 percent from August, a rise of 0.59 percent from a year earlier after consumption tax increases of up to 20 percent took effect on Sept. 1, according to the price monitoring center of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Thursday. Prices of the sports cars rose a notable 1.14 percent from a month ago and 1.27 percent year on year, as the consumption tax on vehicles with engine capacities above 3 liters was lifted by 10 to 20 percent. The costs of the vehicles with lower emissions remained unchanged from that of August. Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) prices were up 1.11 percent from July and 1.92 percent from a year earlier. Sedan car prices have increased for five consecutive months as engine upgrading drove up production costs significantly. Imported high-emission cars saw price rises of 6.21 percent from August, and 7.51 percent from the year earlier, mainly due the consumption tax rise. The Ministry of Finance decided to raise the consumption tax on automobiles with engine capacities of 3.0-4.0 liters from 15 to 25 percent, and that of vehicles with engine capacities above 4.0 liters were lifted from 20 to 40 percent. The tax on automobiles with engine capacities below 1.0 liter were reduced from 3 to 1 percent. The move aimed to encourage the sales of energy-efficient cars amid the skyrocketing oil prices. Insiders said prices were expected to slump at the end of the year as the auto sellers would use discounts to attract consumers to reach their yearly sales targets. Jia Xinguang, a well-known auto industry analyst said the tax rate adjustment would not have a fundamental impact on domestic auto sales since the tax rate on vehicles with engine capacities of 1 to 2.2 liters that took half of the total sales remained unchanged. Sales of vehicles with engine capacities of 3 to 4 liters comprised only 0.26 percent of the total.

One of the leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery in the world and a part of CNH Global NV, New Holland Agriculture, rolled out its 1,00,000th tractor near New Delhi. While imparting his views Franco Fusignani, CNH International, said, ''This achievement is a great event for all the Indian team and reflects the growing preference by our customers in India and around the world as well as the continuous commitment of our company.'' He further said that the company is expanding this manufacturing facility by investing in the production of a new driveline and axles. Mario Gasparri, business leader-CNH Asia Pacific,and managing director, New Holland India, said, ''Our main aim is to provide products that are suited for specific customer applications and to fulfil the need of Indian farmers.'

Turn a hands-on hobby into building secondhand auto parts. Business Overview If you have the equipment and skills required, an excellent part-time income can be earned by rebuilding secondhand automobile replacement parts. You can work from a homebased workshop on an as-needed or part-time basis for existing auto parts rebuilders, or you can advertise you service locally for rebuilding automotive parts. Also consider specializing in automotive parts rebuilding for parts used in rare, antique and exotic cars, trucks and motorcycles.

CHICAGO --With anemic U.S. grain and soybeans shipments repeatedly characterizing weekly export inspection reports and economic troubles blanching global growth prospects, an additional pall has been cast on the U.S. export outlook. Exports of U.S. wheat, corn and soybeans should drop 13%-20% year over year, according to the most recent USDA supply and demand estimates. But the drop is attributed to a mixture of a smaller corn harvest than last year, a 64% reduction in the year's soybean inventory and uncertain 2008 crop yields following an unusual growing season. For wheat, a more competitive marketplace has emerged as global supply recovers following international crop failures in past two seasons. The most recent USDA export inspections data, as of Sept. 25, show that weekly inspections of soybeans and wheat for export were down roughly 45% from the same time a year ago and corn inspections had fallen 11%. Analysts are uncertain as to what extent the weakening worldwide economy will offset the food demand of a growing world population. Given the relative inelasticity of food demand, most agree that production issues -- in terms of how much product is available for export and how much is entering the marketplace from competitors -- will drive the fate of U.S. exports. But recent prices "plunged an additional 75 million people below the hunger threshold, bringing the estimated number of undernourished people worldwide to 923 million in 2007," the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization said in a September report, noting food prices rose 52% between since last year. The chaos rocking economies worldwide is "certainly not a positive, but the broader picture is a supply question," said Wachovia analyst Bill Nelson. "If you believe USDA stats, there's seldom any contraction for world demand for corn and soybeans. History is a pretty strong indicator that demand continues to increase." Exports play a leading role in support U.S. crops prices, representing as much as 44% of wheat's total market, said Michael Swanson, an analyst with Wells Fargo. And while corn exports slipped from as much as 28% as domestic needs for ethanol increased, about 16% is still shipped abroad, as are about 34% of U.S. soybeans. "To some degree, we've restricted exports because of lack of availability," Swanson said. "The biggest driver, of course, is where energy prices go." As oil prices go down, corn could follow. "If the prices of oil fall, we don't have any floors under these crop prices anymore," said Daryll E. Ray, director of the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center at the University of Tennessee. With ethanol margins under intense pressure Swanson sees as "quite problematic" the USDA's prediction of a 1.1 billion bushel increase in corn use for ethanol. "We've seen gasoline consumption drop; ...you can't have high corn prices and low ethanol prices it just doesn't cash flow," Swanson said. The U.S. dollar is another barometer of export potential. The dollar index rallied recently, but at around 70, it's still low comparatively low to the levels of around 120 hit in the last decade, said Nelson. "The low 80s, 70s corresponds with firm prices for grain We consider it a positive environment for exports," he said. "There's the potentiality for U.S. soybeans to do better than the USDA expects, which is about 1 billion bushels," Nelson said. "We 'found' 65 million more bushels today the equivalent of a little less than a bushel per acreage yield change. With the potential of the added supply, maybe we can expect to export 1.5 billion bushels. It's still less than last year. The [2008] crop, as we believe today, was hurt by the floods and didn't yield well." Exports will be constrained by supply, not financial capacity, he said. "When you look back at these periods of recession through history and it's hard to see any impact [on exports]. Effects are more obvious in drought or major events that really restrict supply," Nelson said. Especially in corn and soybeans, low stocks should support the prices at levels where farmers find incentive to plant, analysts say. "I suspect that we will be seeing, if not this year then next, increasing in production worldwide in the grains responding to higher prices," Ray said. "John Deere, Cargill, Monsanto and Pioneer -- all of them now have operations in countries currently producing lots of agricultural products or getting ready to gear up to produce." The mid-to-long term export outlook "not as much of a problem of under supply as over supply," Ray said. All analysts add the caveat that weather issues can dramatically alter supply. As for the fundamentals and the increasing world population and standard of living---"it's very easy for an economist to turn that into an optimistic story with regard to what it means for U.S. agriculture," Ray said. "It does make sense and it is logical, but it's easy to overdo it. If you don't have food, you get riots in the streets, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect [developing countries] to be dependent on us," he said. "China and India have been going to other countries and securing land -- usually renting . And I wouldn't underestimate the ability of Chinese to boost production on the [domestic] acreage they have."

BEIJING, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Four large Chinese steel firms have been in talks to reduce their crude steel output by a total 20 percent, or up to 20 million tonnes, in a bid to cut ore imports and support prices, the official Xinhua agency said late on Friday. Company officials, who met in the steel producing town of Handan, also discussed "improving the flow of information at a high level", Xinhua said in a report posted on its website, without quoting a source. Senior officials from Shougang Steel in Beijing, Angang Steel and two newly formed groups -- Shandong Iron and Steel, and Hebei Iron and Steel -- decided that cuts would be based on current capacity, the report said. It did not give a time frame for the cuts to take effect. All four steel mills are state-owned firms in northern China. Angang already sources most of its iron ore domestically, while the Shandong and Hebei groups are in the process of forming in mergers directed by the central government. Cuts would help the firms control the rhythm of raw material purchases, the rate of consumption of stockpiles and encourage raw material prices to return to a rational level. It would also avoid disordered competition between different regions and markets, and relieve pressure on world iron ore markets, the report said. The firms have a total capacity of around 100 million tonnes at present, or about one-fifth of China's estimated production this year. The cutbacks would make a dent of around 34 million tonnes in the amount of iron ore China uses, Xinhua estimated. But it will also create tighter conditions, particularly in the North China market where they make most of their sales. Angang Steel, one of China's top three steel producers, expects growth in domestic demand to slow in the second half and production costs to rise faster than steel prices. China's steel consumption rose about 16.3 percent in the first six months of 2008 but is expected to ease in the second half, an Angang director, Fu Jihui, said. Info source：Xinhua

Asian stocks tumbled, driving the benchmark index to its lowest level since November 2005, on concern credit market losses will increase and slowing growth will damp demand for the region's exports. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd fell more than 4 percent after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc posted a wider loss than analysts estimated. Mazda Motor Corp, which gets more than half of its operating profit in Europe, plunged the most in seven years after the European Commission cut the euro area's growth outlook. Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd retreated 5.3 percent after Japan's machinery orders declined. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 2.6 percent to 114.74 as of 7:35 pm in Tokyo, set for its biggest loss since July 25. The measure has given up gains made in a Sept 8 rally sparked by the US government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "The rescue of Fannie and Freddie wasn't enough to erase the symptoms of economic slowdown," said Lim Chang Gue, who oversees the equivalent of $1.8 billion as head of global investment at Samsung Investment Trust Management Co in Seoul. "Some industries would normally see a seasonal bump in demand about now, but this year there just isn't any." All 10 industry groups fell yesterday, led by financial stocks. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 2 percent to 12,102.50, led by Mitsubishi UFJ. Taiwan's Taiex Index slumped 3.2 percent on speculation government measures to revive the economy will be insufficient. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index fell the least in the region after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points, more than expected. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures were down 1 percent recently. US stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 advancing 0.6 percent to 1,232.04, as investors bought energy shares trading at their cheapest level in 18 months. Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest bank, fell 5.1 percent to 823 yen. ANZ, Australia's fourth-largest by market value, slid 4.3 percent to A$16.85. Lehman said on Wednesday it posted a $3.9 billion third-quarter loss on $5.6 billion of writedowns, worse than the $2.2 billion loss analysts had predicted. Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld is striving to convince investors that the No 4 US securities firm will stem losses as housing prices fall. Mizuho Financial Group Inc, Japan's second-biggest bank by assets, retreated 5.3 percent to 445,000 yen. Babcock & Brown Ltd, an Australian infrastructure-asset manager that has lost 93 percent this year, fell 15 percent to A$2.00, a record low. European slowdown Lehman's loss pushed global writedowns and credit losses caused by the collapse in the US mortgage market to $511 billion, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg News. "Global securities firms and investment banks can no longer count on the securitization deals that have kept them profitable in recent years," said Yuuki Sakurai, a Tokyo-based general manager at Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Co, which manages about $54 billion. Mazda, Japan's fourth-largest automaker, slumped 10 percent to 463 yen in Tokyo, the most since September 2001. Nikko Citigroup yesterday cut its rating on Mazda to "sell" from "hold". The European Commission lowered its full-year growth forecast for the 15-nation euro region's economy to 1.3 percent, from 1.7 percent earlier, and signaled the 2009 outlook may also be cut. The euro dropped to the lowest in 13 months against the yen. A weaker euro hurts Japanese exporters by reducing the value of repatriated sales. Nintendo Co, which got 37 percent of last year's sales from Europe, fell 3.2 percent to 48,050 yen in Osaka. TPV Technology Ltd, the world's biggest contract maker of computer monitors that gets a quarter of its sales from Europe, tumbled a record 13 percent to HK$2.73 in Hong Kong. The company cut its forecast for shipments this year. Motech Industries Inc, Taiwan's biggest solar-cell maker that got 39 percent of last year's sales from Europe, fell 4.8 percent to NT$160. Stocks in Taiwan also fell as investors bet a NT$180.9 billion ($5.6 billion) package of spending and tax cuts won't boost the market. The measures "will not succeed since they are not altering corporate or economic fundamentals in a meaningful way," said Howard Wang, who oversees $10 billion at JF Asset Management Ltd in Hong Kong. Sumitomo Heavy, Japan's largest maker of plastic injection-molding gear, dropped 5.3 percent to 469 yen. Fanuc Ltd, the world's biggest industrial-robot maker, lost 2 percent to 7,540 yen in Tokyo. Japan's machinery orders declined 3.9 percent in July from the previous month, the Cabinet Office said yesterday. Economists had estimated orders, an indicator of capital spending in the next three to six months, would fall 3.6 percent. Affiliates of South Korea's Kumho Asiana Group gained after the group said it may sell all or part of its life-insurance unit to raise cash. Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co, South Korea's biggest builder, climbed 2.7 percent to 13,250 won. Asiana Airlines Inc, the nation's second-largest carrier, advanced 4.9 percent to 4,610 won.

Foundry Market China boasts the largest number of foundry enterprises in the world, with the total in excess of 26,000 companies, and an annual output that has been ranked No.1 in the world since 2000, this includes 22.42 million tons in 2004 and 24.42 million tons in 2005. China’s annual output contributes up 25% of the world total and plays a very important role in the casting chain as the biggest casting production country. After a market survey of suppliers and purchasers, the next conference hosted by SC and CFSU will be held at Shanghaimart in Shanghai on March 21 – 22, 2008. Address: 2299 Yan'an Road (West), Shanghai, P. R. China, 200336 Website:http:// www.Shanghaimart.com Last Review The inaugural Global Foundry Conference was held at the Qingdao Grand Regency Hotel, 13-14 Sep, 2007. The conference featured 260 participants including 40 buyers and 220 suppliers from America, Canada, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Serbia and Japan. They come to China to source various castings materials and related products. All the suppliers have their own factories on the Chinese mainland. Meanwhile, over 90% suppliers have passed one or more of the international quality certifications standards. Conference Characteristics (1) Specialty Focusing on foundry fields; (2) Internationalism The buyers are mainly from North America, West Europe, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and domestic manufacturers requiring large procurement etc. Most of the suppliers will have their own factories on their countries. (3) Pertinence At the request of buyers, SC will invite appropriate suppliers or assigned suppliers buyers and assist buyers with forming business partnerships 60 days before the conference; (4) Reliability All the information on suppliers and buyers will be strictly examined by SC; (5) Feasibility of trade agreements Purchase discussion, purchase explanation and the products promotion conference will help facilitate an understanding between buyers and suppliers, the goal of the trade agreement will then be realized; (6) Business opportunities receiving a copy of China’s Casting Guide free of charge, including detailed information on foundry suppliers’ primary products, supply direction, annual production amounts and annual export values which will be vital for casting buyers. Foundry buyers will find Time-saving; $$ savings of purchasing costs from direct manufacturers; More qualified suppliers and better delivery times to select from; First-hand information on foundry trends; The best platform for purchasing; Free of charge browsing database on China suppliers. Foundry buyers Are free to join database of foundry buyers and can be assisted by SC with browsing, selecting, contacting and purchasing from suppliers in China. Participation in the conference allows you to negotiate with more qualified suppliers and receive the “Buyer Guide” free of charge; $50US for each buyer attending the conference includes registration fee, a full set of conference materials and a conference lunch. Participation in the exhibition allows for the purchasing of samples and drawings and direct communication with the suppliers. SC will be responsible for recommending suitable suppliers 60 days before the conference. $200US for each booth (3M2), includes a two-person registration fee, a full set of conference materials and a conference lunch. Make purchase explanation. SC will release purchasing information on over 50 media, chosen suitable suppliers, providing further communications on a 365-day trail service. $150US for each buyer’s 25- minute presentation includes a two-person registration fee, a full set of conference materials and the conference lunch. Suppliers’ Products Castings: steel casting, iron casting, precision casting, alloy die-casting, ductile cast iron, low-pressure casting, metal casting, auto parts & accessories, pump and valve casting, ferrous casting, pipeline casting, grey iron castings, pressing, nodular iron casting and forgings. Related casting equipment die-casting equipment, casting machinery, apparatus, materials, processing control, test, simulation and software, etc.