March 28, 2024

Quake Battered Japan Consumer Confidence in March

HONG KONG — Japanese consumer confidence fell in the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami last month, highlighting how the disaster’s economic and psychological impact extended beyond the stricken areas and into the wider fabric of the Japanese society.

Households across the nation became considerably less willing to purchase consumer durables and people were more worried about their jobs, incomes and overall livelihood, according to a survey published by the cabinet office Tuesday.

An overall index of consumer confidence
compiled by the office slumped from 41.2 in February to 38.6 in March, a reading that echoed the sentiment levels recorded during 2009, when the impact of the global financial crisis was still keenly felt in Japan.

The survey of 6,720 households was conducted on March 15, providing a snapshot of the consumer mood in Japan just days after the earthquake and tsunami slammed northeastern Japan on March 11. Many Japanese, out of respect for the victims, have also shied away from making luxury or big-ticket purchases.

Separate surveys of merchants and businesses around Japan likewise have shown that companies are intensely worried about how the disaster and the lingering crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will affect their sales, earnings and production capacities.

Economists say that both business and consumer sentiment has stabilized and has even begun to recover in recent weeks, and that the results of surveys conducted shortly after the quake do not accurately reflect the sentiment that prevails now, more than five weeks after the disaster.

The crowds in Tokyo’s main shopping districts, for example, appear to have swelled nearly back towards pre-quake levels; many expatriate residents who had left Japan at the height of the worries about radiation leaks from the nuclear power plant have returned.

Transaction volumes at the Tsukiji wholesale fish market have returned to pre-quake levels, a sign people are eating sushi again despite radiation concerns, Kyodo reported on Tuesday.

Still, the quake and the power shortages that have followed it will leave a marked dent on business activities and company earnings across Japan.

Overseas tourists have been slow to return to the country. Several retailers have said their sales slumped after the quake, and many manufacturers are still struggling to ramp up operations at factories that were closed because of the post-quake disruption to power supplies and the deliveries of spare parts and components.

Sony Ericsson, for example, on Tuesday said the March 11 disaster had made for a “challenging quarter,” and that it was experiencing some disruptions to its supply chain. The company, which makes mobile phones, reported net earnings of €11 million, or $15.6 million, for the first three months of 2011, beating analysts’ expectations.

Keith Bradsher and Andrew Pollack contributed reporting from Tokyo.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/business/global/20yen.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Resistance to Jaitapur Nuclear Plant Grows in India

They stood to lose mango orchards, cashew trees and rice fields, as the government forcibly acquired 2,300 acres to build six nuclear reactors — the biggest nuclear power plant ever proposed anywhere.

But now, as a nuclear disaster unfolds in distant Japan, the lonely group of farmers has seen support for their protest swell to include a growing number of Indian scientists, academics and former government officials. “We are getting ready for bigger protests,” Mr. Gawanker said.

While the government vows to push ahead — citing India’s energy needs — Indian newspapers recently reported that the environment minister wrote Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to question the wisdom of large nuclear installations. And a group of 50 Indian scientists, academics and activists has called for a moratorium on new projects. “The Japanese nuclear crisis is a wake-up call for India,” they wrote in an open letter.

Opponents note that the area was hit by 95 earthquakes from 1985 to 2005, although Indian officials counter that most were minor and that the plant’s location on a high cliff would offer protection against tsunamis.

The heated debate shows how the politics of nuclear energy may be changing, not only in the United States and Europe but in developing countries whose economies desperately need cheap power to continue growing rapidly.

For Indian officials intent on promoting nuclear energy, the partial meltdowns and radiation leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan could not have come at a worse time. Currently, India gets about 3 percent of its electricity from the 20 relatively small nuclear reactors in the country. But it is building five new reactors and has proposed 39 more, including the ones here in Madban, to help meet the voracious energy needs of India’s fast-growing economy.

Only China, the other emerging-economy giant with a ravenous energy appetite, is planning a more rapid expansion of nuclear power. Beijing has indicated that it, too, plans to proceed cautiously with its nuclear rollout.

By 2050, the Indian government says a quarter of the nation’s electricity should come from nuclear reactors. And the project here would be the biggest step yet toward that ambitious goal. The planned six reactors would produce a total of 9,900 megawatts of electricity — more than three times the power now used by India’s financial capital, Mumbai, about 260 miles up the coast.

So far, workers on the site are simply digging trenches, as a dozen police officers provide round-the-clock watch. Protesters, including Mr. Gawankar, have been arrested at various times, and state police officials have banned gatherings of more than five people in the villages near the site.

Prime Minister Singh has been so committed to atomic power that he staked his government’s survival in 2008 on a controversial civil nuclear deal with the United States. That agreement, completed last year, opened the door for India to buy nuclear technology and uranium fuel from Western nations that previously would not sell to it because of India’s refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Most of India’s reactors have been indigenously developed, but it is now building two reactors with Russian help. The proposed nuclear plant in Madban will use a new generation of reactors from the French company Areva. Projects using technology from the United States, and from Japan, are also planned.

Government officials have said that India will conduct more safety reviews to make sure its existing reactors and new proposals are safe. But they reiterated their commitment to nuclear projects, including the one in Madban, which has been named the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant, after a nearby village.

Many Indian scientists, though, remain distrustful of India’s nuclear establishment. And they criticize the decision to use Areva’s new reactors, saying they are unproved.

Heather Timmons contributed reporting from New Delhi.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=4f6e32fc8e8143f5b2315310553c44c7