According to The Nikkei Asian Review, the wholesale price of premium Japanese wagyu beef is nearing the record level of last December, based on comparable data that goes back to 1990.
The factors lifting the price are Japan's year-end gift-giving season, fewer cattle breeders and a chronic shortage of calves.
At the Tokyo Meat Market, the transaction price for premium A4 wagyu grew year on year for 28 consecutive months through October. Then in November, the average price was around 2,640 yen (US$23.42) per kilogram, 2% higher than last year.
December's average price is expected to exceed the record 2,700 yen per kilogram set a year ago.
In Osaka, too, the average price for A4 wagyu is currently above 2,700 yen per kilogram, 6% higher than last year.
There are even cases in Tokyo and Osaka in which the highest quality A5 wagyu exceeds 3,000 yen per kilogram.
Demand for high-quality beef has always been strong during Japan's year-end gift-giving season. This time around, however, demand is slowly waning due to the high price, according to the Tokyo Meat Market.
Distributors are starting to stock up on cheaper but high-quality non-Japanese beef. According to a major meat importer, Angus beef and Prime beef are gaining popularity.

Ref: http://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Commodities/Japanese-wagyu-nearing-record-price

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the spot price for iron ore has extended its stunning  year-to-date rebound, topping $US80 a tonne.
Iron ore for delivery to China's Qingdao port climbed 1.5 per cent, or $US1.22, to $US80.83 at its latest fix, according to Metal Bulletin. That's the first time it has traded above $US80 since October 2014. The price has risen 26 per cent this month and has risen 82 per cent so far this calendar year.
The latest advance came as China's State Council pressed ahead with its environmental probe into illegal capacity expansion at mills in Jiangsu and Hebei provinces, Metal Bulletin said.
Earlier on Monday, Chinese steel futures jumped more than 6 per cent to the highest in 31 months, as investors raised bets that strong property and infrastructure investment will sustain demand in the world's top consumer, spurring a similar rally in iron ore and zinc.
Strong property sales in China along with the government's push for more infrastructure projects via its public-private partnership (PPP) fund have strengthened steel demand while supply is under control as Beijing intensely pursues capacity cuts, said Daniel Meng, analyst at CLSA in Hong Kong.
"In the first half of 2017, we will continue to have very strong steel prices because property sales remain very strong at least till October and PPP programme is still in early stage and supply side should remain controlled," said Meng.
Construction steel product rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 6.4 per cent to 3238 yuan ($US469) a tonne, its loftiest since May 2014. Rebar closed up 4.7 per cent at 3188 yuan, gaining nearly 90 per cent this year to end a six-year slide.
China's real estate investment growth quickened in October to its highest since April 2014. The country's many infrastructure projects include a 247 billion yuan railway plan between Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, to integrate the three areas into a mega-city.

Ref:http://www.afr.com/business/mining/iron-ore/iron-ore-tops-us80-a-tonne-amid-redhot-steel-rally-20161128-gszhwd
 
​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-180

According to The Australian Financial Review, Andrew Sambrook has boosted returns on his apartment in Sydney's Bondi Beach by 10 per cent through Airbnb after he ditched the rental market.
He's not alone. New data from the Urban Housing Lab at the University of Sydney shows Airbnb is drying up the supply of rental homes in desirable parts of Sydney as investors chase higher returns from travellers and tourists.
 Airbnb listings of entire homes now exceeds the number of vacant rental properties in Sydney's central and eastern suburbs, and the income from these Airbnb properties is comparable to the median rents in those suburbs.
A paper by professors Nicole Gurran and Peter Phibbs at the University of Sydney shows in the Waverley council area – which include Sydney's popular beach suburbs Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama – there are 821 Airbnb listings of entire homes that are available for 90 days or more, compared to an average of 232 vacant rental homes.
In the City of Sydney there are 1268 listings of such Airbnb homes, compared to an average of 876 vacant rental homes.
The analysis also shows Airbnb landlords in these areas earn as much as traditional landlords, even though the Airbnb properties are likely to be occupied less frequently.
According to the data, Waverley landlords earned an average of $2947 a month for letting out entire homes on Airbnb, compared to the median rent of $2920 a month. In Sydney CBD, landlords earned an average of $2866 a month on Airbnb compared to the median rent of $2960 a month.
Professor Gurran said Airbnb appears to be absorbing vacant rental supply in popular inner-city suburbs.
Sambrook uses HeyTom, a property management start-up that looks after everything from guest booking to cleaning for a 20 per cent commission. (A real estate agent typically charges landlords an 8 per cent commission.)

Ref:http://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/airbnb-landlords-take-rental-properties-off-sydney-market-20161124-gswfbz
 
​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-airbnb

According to The Australian Financial review, Zinc powered to its highest levels in more than 8-1/2 years on Friday on continued fund buying but analysts cautioned that prices were outrunning supply/demand fundamentals.
Lead also extended its rally, hitting the strongest in 3-3/4 years.
Zinc is the best performing metal on the London Metal Exchange this year, surging 77 per cent this year on fears that closures and suspensions of major mines will lead to shortages.
Benchmark LME zinc closed at $US2819 a tonne, a gain of 3.5 per cent and its highest since March 6, 2008. It marked up an 11 per cent rise for the week, the largest weekly increase since February 2010.
Caroline Bain, senior commodities economist at Capital Economics said "I'm afraid I do feel there's a huge element of speculation and at some point sentiment will turn and we could see quite a sharp correction."
Lead, often mined in the same deposits as zinc, also pushed higher, helped by a 16 per cent fall in weekly inventories monitored by ShFE, bringing the stocks decline in China to 62 per cent since late July.
LME lead jumped 6.7 per cent to finish at $US2391.50 a tonne, the strongest since February 2013 and the biggest one-day gain in five years.
Most other metals were weaker, hit by speculators locking in profits from recent rallies and producer selling, but copper edged into positive territory by the close.
LME copper ended 0.2 per cent firmer at $US5879 a tonne after Chinese trade data showed refined copper imports fell 45 per cent year-on-year in October.
"However, we do not think this is signalling weakness in underlying copper demand and expect a rebound in China's copper imports soon," Barclays said in a note.
Aluminium shed 0.8 per cent to close at $US1757, nickel slipped 0.1 per cent to $US11,570 and tin fell 2 per cent to $US20,925.

Ref: http://www.afr.com/business/mining/copper/zinc-lead-power-base-metals-higher-20161125-gsy217
 
​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/7236301

According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japanese shipping group Nippon Yusen has launched the world's first automobile-transport vessel that can run on liquefied natural gas.
The carrier, called Auto Eco, features an engine that can switch between LNG and diesel with the push of a button. It will be operated by a Nippon Yusen Norwegian unit out of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.
The Japanese shipper, also known as NYK Line, christened the carrier at the port Monday in a ceremony attended by former Chairman Takao Kusakari and Koichi Chikaraishi, who heads the group's automobile transport business.
As a fuel, LNG emits virtually no sulfur oxides, lessening the environmental impact compared with diesel. The International Maritime Organization has toughened sulfur oxide standards for ships in the Baltic and North seas, limiting sulfur content in fuel to just 0.1% in 2015 from the previous 1%. Nippon Yusen hopes the dual-fuel LNG auto carrier will help it capture demand for transporting vehicles in European waters.
Seeking an additional revenue stream, the company also will launch a business for supplying LNG fuel to ships in Belgium in fiscal 2016 with Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp.

Ref:http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/NYK-Line-debuts-world-s-first-LNG-auto-carrier

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-lng4941622 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the nation's biggest Wagyu beef producer, Australian Agricultural Company, says it will benefit from higher sales next year after it built up its herd at the expense of short-term cash flows in the six months to September 30.
Sales revenue plunged 17 per cent to $214 million, with the company blaming a decision to increase feed days for its Wagyu herd and reduced product for sale and cut sales of non-Wagyu and live cattle.
AAco managing director Jason Strong told shareholders he was pleased with the company's progress in transforming to a vertically integrated producer that could be a price maker rather than a price taker by marketing branded products.
He said the company began to see some returns from its transition but "we are far from finished".
Mr Strong said AAco had continued to integrate its supply chain in the six months to September 30 in order to ensure consistent supply to each of its beef programs.
"Our increased knowledge of supply and demand across the supply chain signalled that we needed to build cattle inventory in the first half of the year to ensure consistent supply in the second half of FY17 and throughout FY18," Mr Strong told shareholders.
"While this has impacted cash flow in the short term, it will ultimately result in improved returns from beef sales in the coming periods."
AAco wants to position itself as a global luxury beef brand manufacturer, launching its Westholme and Wylarah brands in Singapore in October.
Mr Strong said the company would launch the brands in other key markets over the next 18 months.
"The [Singapore] launch was the latest step to transform AACo to a vertically integrated business selling luxury beef brands, fundamentally changing the way we sell and deliver our products to consumers," Mr Strong said.
"This strategy will underpin the ongoing incremental increase in our average sale prices."

Ref:http://www.afr.com/business/agriculture/livestock/australian-agricultural-company-tips-wagyu-sales-to-rise-next-year-20161123-gsvg89

​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5524689 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, cells taken from cancer patients will be stored at a medical institute in Japan for use in developing more effective anti-cancer agents and to help individually tailor treatment for victims.
The tentatively named Gan Bank (cancer bank) will be introduced in April next year by the Osaka Medical Centre in Japan for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases in Higashinari Ward, sources said Nov. 4.
Cancer cells spread differently in different patients, and the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs also varies from individual to individual. The centre plans to adopt new technology to collect and cultivate these cells.
Sampling many cells and examining their slight differences could lead to a new type of treatment in which specific patients’ cancer cells can be checked in advance and more effective drugs selected.
However, most cancer tissue removed during surgery soon dies, making it difficult to check the effectiveness of drugs in vitro and to replicate tumours in laboratory animals with collected cancer cells while maintaining the unique characteristics of the carcinoma of each patient.
Masahiro Inoue, head of the biochemistry department of the centre’s research institute, and his colleagues developed a technology in 2011 to culture cancer cells without killing them.
Cancer cells from patients are filtered with a fine mesh, and remaining cell masses are transplanted into mice so that they can proliferate. These cells are then frozen and stored.
The technology allows physicians to unfreeze tumour cells as necessary so that they can be used to test new drugs under development and new combinations of existing anti-cancer agents.
To date, cells from 50 types of colorectal cancer and 30 kinds of lung cancer have been stored using the newly developed technique.
The stored cells will be made available for pharmaceutical companies and other research institutes next spring to coincide with the centre’s relocation to Osaka’s Chuo Ward.
If it becomes possible to identify more effective drugs for certain patients, that could help realize personalized medicine.

Ref: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201611220001.html

​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1072242
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japan's biggest industrial-gas maker, Taiyo Nippon Sanso, will acquire an Australian industrial-gas company this year as it continues to fortify its overseas network in an effort to weather intense jockeying for position that is redrawing the industry map.
Taiyo Nippon Sanso will acquire all outstanding shares of Supagas through an Australian subsidiary, likely for around 25 billion yen (US$225 million). Based near Melbourne, Supagas has 17 production and sales bases. Taiyo Nippon will retain all of Supagas' 270 or so employees.
The Japanese company entered the Australian market in 2015 with the acquisition of Renegade Gas. Buying Supagas will roughly double Taiyo Nippon's market share there to 10% and enable it to expand across the country.
Industrial gases, such as nitrogen, oxygen and argon, are used in applications ranging from welding to food processing. Taiyo Nippon says its advantage lies in its ability to supply the right gases for customers' needs. But differentiation on quality is difficult. Setting up production facilities close to customers, rather than shipping gases over long distances, cuts down on cost and delivery time. Global giants' push to build denser regional production and sales networks is driving an industry shakeout.
Air Liquide's acquisition of U.S.-based Airgas this year made the French company the world's largest industrial-gas maker, holding just over 25% of the global market. Germany's Linde and American peer Praxair, which rank second and third respectively with 23% and 14% shares, entered merger talks this summer that later fell through.
Japan's industrial-gas market is maturing, with production slowing at major customers such as steelmakers, chemical companies and automakers. Taiyo Nippon aims to have overseas sales account for at least half its total revenue by fiscal 2022, up from 40% now. The company projects sales of 570 billion yen for the fiscal year ending in March and has a roughly 7% share of the global market -- making it the No. 5 player -- well behind its Western peers.
Taiyo Nippon acquired American assets this summer divested by Air Liquide and Airgas as part of the merger, lifting its share of the country's market by 1 or 2 percentage points. The Japanese company plans to keep actively pursuing overseas acquisitions.
The Supagas deal will be funded by loans as well as cash on hand, which Taiyo Nippon has in abundance thanks to its roughly 9% operating profit margin. Fundraising has also been made easier by the backing of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, which took a majority stake in the company in 2014.

Ref:http://asia.nikkei.com/Japan-Update/Taiyo-Nippon-to-buy-Aussie-gas-maker

​ If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1872777
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Nick and Nicole Jansen relish being able to sell surplus power from 15kWh of solar panels on their roof to neighbours via Powershop's Your Neighbourhood Solar platform.
Nick and Nicole Jansen set out to install a typical 5 kilowatt hour solar panel system when they built their new house in Northcote, in Melbourne's inner north-east, last year.
But their builder encouraged them to go large. They would have plenty of corrugated iron roof, he pointed out, so why not bolt on 15kWh-worth – or 60 solar panels? 
The Jansens agreed, but with recent sunny weather they found they were producing as much as 70kWh of solar power a day and selling a lot of it back to the grid at the modest feed-in tariff of 7.2¢ per kilowatt hour.
So when their retailer Powershop invited them to join a trial six weeks ago and sell their surplus.
In doing so the Jansens joined a new front in the revolution challenging major energy companies – "peer-to-peer" trading of solar power. 
"It was very simple. It was basically an app-based invitation," said Jansen, an anaesthetist at Royal Melbourne Hospital. "I thought, 'yeah, that sounds like a great idea'." 
Powershop estimated its solar customers across Melbourne generated about 100,000kWh of surplus solar power in six weeks, so it offered it to other customers – largely people without solar power and relying on the regular grid – at the start of the trial.
Even though they would pay 4¢ more than Powershop's regular tariff for grid power, they snapped up the 100,000kWh in 48 hours. On Wednesday the company launched the service – dubbed "Your Neighbourhood Solar" – commercially. 
The result was a resounding validation of three planks of the energy revolution. First, there's a hunger for solar power. Secondly, the appeal of neighbour-to-neighbour trading of solar power is real.
Thirdly, it's a threat to energy distributors and retailers like AGL Energy, Origin Energy and Energy Australia, who also need to offer such "behind the meter" services to offset declining demand for grid power – but have to tread more carefully.

Ref: http://www.afr.com/news/next-big-thing-selling-solar-power-to-the-neighbours-20161116-gsqky6
 
​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/4695611

According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japanese policymakers are seeking to broaden a tax credit for research and development to include services, aiming to promote the use of innovations like artificial intelligence to lift stagnant productivity.
The government and the ruling coalition consider services based on information technology to be pivotal to future economic growth. The expanded R&D credit is to be included in the package of fiscal 2017 tax code reforms due out on Dec. 8.
"We're discussing tax measures to promote forward-looking corporate initiatives, including innovative R&D investment," Finance Minister Taro Aso said Wednesday.
The tax break as currently written covers research spending related to manufacturing, as well as improving, designing or inventing technology. As such, it is mostly claimed by manufacturers such as automakers and drug makers.
The proposed change would explicitly include service development, a step sought by the Japan Business Federation. The credit itself would also be recast to better reward companies that increase R&D spending.
For service businesses, the tax break would apply to such costs as labour and R&D outsourcing, along with purchases of computers, sensors and other necessary equipment. The industry and finance ministries are hammering out details. Examples of R&D themes that could qualify include monitoring services that use sensors help farmers tend their crops or alert day care workers when a child is sick.
The service sector makes up 70% of Japan's gross domestic product. Yet productivity in nonmanufacturing industries stands at around half that in the U.S. after having risen just 25% or so since 1970. Manufacturing productivity tripled over the same period. Higher productivity would help ease labour shortages among service businesses.
The manufacturing sector accounted for nearly 90% of the 670 billion yen (US$6.11 billion at current rates) in R&D tax credits claimed in fiscal 2014, Finance Ministry data show.

Ref: http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Japan-to-expand-R-D-tax-break-to-services
 
​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
http://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-ai1940039