Europe

The Port of Felixstowe, the UK's largest container port, opened a new deep water shipping terminal today.

The new terminal consists of two berths – Berths 8 & 9 – and is the first stage of a £1 billion plus inward investment programme in Hutchison’s UK ports.

Currently the Port of Felixstowe deals with over 40 per cent of the UK’s container cargo, with around £60 billion of imports and exports passing through the port each year. The expansion could add a further £20 billion to this figure.

US battery manufacturer EnerSys announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to launch a joint venture in Germany to produce large format lithium-ion battery cells.

EnerSys will have a majority interest in the joint venture in cooperation with GAIA Akkumulatorenwerke GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lithium Technology Corporation (LTC).

US-based high-tech component manufacturer Atmel is to acquire ADD Semiconductor, a privately held company based in Zaragoza, Spain that develops power line communication solutions.

Atmel Corporation is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, non-volatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components.

DHL Global Forwarding has established three new direct connections between Germany and the African continent.

Transit times for less than container load (LCL) shipments on the three new lanes between Bremen and Tema (Ghana), Cape Town (South Africa) and Mombasa (Kenya) will be shortened by five to six days.

Ireland’s Kerry Group has confirmed agreement to acquire the global flavours business of the US-based multinational Cargill.

Kerry, a Dublin-based ingredients, flavours and consumer foods group, will acquire Cargill Flavor Systems for around $230 million (approximately €171 million).

The deal comes following Kerry’s announcement in July that it was in exclusive discussions to acquire the Cargill unit.

SABMiller has agreed to acquire Australia’s Foster's Group for approximately A$9.9 billion (£6.5 billion).

London, UK-based SABMiller said the acquisition is consistent with its strategic priorities and will provide it with exposure to Australia's strong economic growth prospects, as well as cementing its position in the Australian beer industry.

Melbourne-based Foster’s is Australia’s biggest brewer; and acquiring it will give SABMiller access to roughly half of the Australian beer market.

Ireland’s PetroNeft Resources has announced the discovery of an additional oil field within its licence at North Varyakhskaya, Russia.

The field is the seventh to be discovered in Licence 61, which is situated at Tomsk Oblast in south-western Siberia.

Tungolsky Licence 61, acquired by the company in May 2005, is located on the east side of the Ob River in the least explored oil-bearing region in the area. The licence covers 4,991 square kilometres.

Proven plus probable reserves within the licence area are estimated to be 83 million barrels.

Swiss power and technology group ABB has announced it is to construct two solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants for Eskom, South Africa’s national electricity provider.

The two one-hectare pilot plants will be located on greenfield sites adjacent to the coal-fired power stations at Lethabo in the Free State, and Kendal in Mpumalanga. They will be the first of their kind to be built in South Africa.

Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to create 750 new jobs at a new engine plant in the West Midlands, UK.

With an investment of £355 million, the project is set to significantly boost the economy in the local area and support the development of manufacturing and skills in the UK. Further jobs are also expected to be created within the wider supply chain.

The plant will manufacture new four-cylinder, low-emission petrol and diesel engines.

Marriott International has identified enormous growth potential in the Middle East and Africa. Ed Fuller, president and managing director of International Lodging in the region, talks to Jayne Flannery about the rationale and strategy that underpins the expansion.