Global pallet and container pooling services supplier CHEP has secured a new contract in the US with compact industrial vehicle producer Bobcat Company.

The companies have formed a three-year partnership under which CHEP Automotive Americas will be Bobcat’s returnable packaging provider for its manufacturing operations in North Dakota.

Swiss commodities giant Glencore has announced it will acquire a 70 per cent interest in the Peruvian mine owner Marcobre.

Glencore International AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore International Plc, will purchase the stake from Hong Kong-based copper mining company CST Mining Group for US$475 million (approximately €338 million).

Marcobre is the sole owner of the Marcona Copper Property and the Mina Justa Project, which has a resource of 413.3 million tonnes, with 0.79 per cent copper.

The deal is expected to close in October 2011.

BHP Billiton has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Texas-based oil and gas company Petrohawk Energy to expand its interests in the booming shale gas market.

The equity value of the transaction is $12.1 billion, and the Petrohawk board of directors has unanimously recommended the offer to shareholders.

Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai’s Foreign Investment Office, offers his perspective on a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit on the Gulf Cooperation Council’s trade and investment strategy.

In the light of current energy issues, Toni Johnson looks at the potential of natural gas, particularly shale gas, to fill some gaps.

Rob Greenslade of Centralis discusses the impact of cloud transformation in the desktop environment and warns of the dangers in adopting ‘bargain’ fixed-price DaaS offerings.

The concept of providing virtualised applications to desktops, as a service, and for a fixed price, is tempting for almost any business looking to reduce costs and increase efficiency and agility. Yet transformation can be tricky, and questions remain over strategy, compliance and ROI.

Rather than compete simply on price and quality, says John Tschohl, create a service culture and watch your sales soar.

Quality and price are two criteria for consumers when making a purchasing decision. So it is that most businesses compete by matching the quality and prices of their products and services.

Wood Group PSN’s Australian operations form the company’s largest international business unit, with more than 2,100 personnel now working across five Australian regions: Victoria (Melbourne), Queensland (Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), Western Australia (Perth) and Northern Territory (Darwin).

Having cornered the global export market for the right-hand drive Polo and total production for the derivative Cross Polo, automotive manufacturer Volkswagen Group South Africa has embarked on a major development programme to upgrade facilities, and improve productivity and efficiency. Manufacturing planning division head Chris Glover talks to Gay Sutton about the latest project—the construction of a new press shop.

Namibia’s telecommunications revolution continues as Telecom Namibia increases its business and profitability. Communications is the cement that will knit the country’s industry sectors together and connect them to global markets.

The pace at which Namibia emerges from its recent reclassification by the World Bank as an upper-middle income country to attain a ‘developed nation’ status by 2030 hinges, to some extent, on a dependable, modern and fit-for-purpose communications system.