Ivory Coast’s rubber industry under pressure page 11

Thursday, December 26, 2019

28,515.45 10,444.52 41,461.26 1,504.80 +60.36 pts +14.7 pts -181.40 pts Gold +1.08% How the design of Boeing’s 737 Max Dow QE sensex cost CEO Muilenburg his job page 11 Price percentage Price percentage 17.85 Brent 67.20 +1.22% WTI 61.11 +0.97% Silver +2.02%

Quick read Stock Exchange Gains 2019 an instrumental year for 14.70 points : Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index gained 14.70 points (+0.14 percent) when Qatar real estate: ValuStrat the bourse closed trading at 10,444.52 points on Wednes- day. The volume of shares outside Doha may experience traded decreased to 45.541 Report says market corrections dull real downward pressure as a re- million from 56.842 million sult of the increasing com- on Tuesday and the value of estate sector’s performance in 2019 petitiveness of villas in prime shares decreased to QR70.740 locations. million from QR161.331 mil- Tribune News Network supply, high demand and fall- Anum Hasan, ValuStrat lion on Tuesday. Indices of six Doha ing rents-particularly on the Qatar Market Research Ana- sectors ended in green zone premium end of the market. lyst, said, “For the past two and one sector in red zone on The year 2019 has been in- Majority addition of years both capital values and Wednesday. QSE Total Return strumental for the real estate apartment supply was seen in rental rates have been declin- Index gained 0.14 percent sector in Qatar as a result of The Pearl, Lusail and Mush- ing however at a decreasing to 19,218.81 points. QSE Al introduction of foreign in- eireb. In addition, residential rate. In 2018 both capital val- Rayan Islamic Index decreased vestment-friendly laws, Paw- compounds were added in ues and rents fell by 9 percent 0.04 percent to 3,956.08 el Banach, MRICS – ValuS- peripheral areas of and 11 percent annually. In points and QSE All Share trat General Manager, has (Abu Sidra, Abu Hamour, Al 2019, capital values reduced Index added 0.25 percent to said in a report published on Wajba and ), Al Wakrah by 5 pecent YoY and rental 3,105.80 points. (QNA) Wednesday. (Al Wukair) Umm Salal and rates dipped by 7 percent an- “By November real estate Al Khor. nually. This trajectory is pro- transactions reached 3,518 Due to oversupply in some jected to carry over to 2020 with a total value of QR21.2 areas, landlords reduced rents as both values and rents are billion. In addition to im- to maximise occupancy. City- expected to soften due to im- Boeing’s fired provement in the legal frame- wide rental values decreased pending supply…” In the of- work, falling mortgage rates by 7 percent annually, in ad- fice sector, rents are expected CEO may get and capital values made buy- dition to a 5 percent annual to decline in Lusail, as 65% of ing property for non-Qatari drop in capital values as per the projected supply for 2020 severance pay households easier than be- ValuStrat Price Index (VPI). will be focused therein. fore,” he said. Secondary locations ex- In 2019, the performance of all real estate sectors waned as market corrections were pervasive. Upcoming malls in Qatar of up to $60 mn In the report, ValuStrat, perienced steeper annual during 2020 include J Mall leading regional consulting declines up to 13 percent Ghanim, Old Salata, Fereej guests (compared to 1.32 mil- residential supply in 2020 is in Al Markhiya, La Plage 04 Agencies firm, reviewed the Qatar real compared to prime locations Bin Mahmoud and Fereej lion last year) stayed an aver- projected to launch in prime Mall in The Pearl and Doha estate market in 2019 and such as The Pearl, West Bay Bin Omran. Falling rents in age of 3.47 nights per stay and locations such as Al Dafna, Mall in Al Maamoura. Retail Boeing’s ousted CEO Den- outlined its vision for 2020. and Lusail, which saw ask- West Bay forced secondary spent an Average Daily Rate Lusail and The Pearl which performance in terms of oc- nis Muilenburg left behind a In 2019, the performance ing rental declines of 8 per- locations such as Al Sadd and (ADR) of QAR 369. The first might negatively impact the cupancy is projected to im- long list of problems at Boe- of all sectors waned as market cent YoY. As per ValuStrat Grand Hamad Avenue to ex- nine months saw occupancy market rent in the area once prove due to temporary in- ing, but he’s walking away corrections were pervasive, research, occupancy in The perience highest annual fall in rates averaging at 64% which projects are handed over. crease in demand as World with a sizable golden para- the report said, adding that Pearl increased as a result of rents of up to 20 percent. is 5% higher than last year, Vacancy in secondary loca- Cup 2022 nears, especially chute. in 2020, capital values and declining rents as well as vari- As of September 2019, though, ADR declined by 4 tions may increase as resi- for shopping centres which The exact amount of mon- rental rates are projected to ous incentives being offered. Qatar had 26,778 hotel rooms percent. dents might prefer shifting to are introducing anchor ten- ey that he will leave with isn’t decline at a decreasing rate. New office stock was and hotel apartments within Outlining its 2020 pro- more competitive premium ants from entertainment and yet clear. That will depend The 2019 housing market added in Lusail, Mushiereb 128 establishments. A total jections, the report said 70 locations. In addition, capi- speciality Food & Beverage to on his negotiations with Boe- has been one of increasing Downtown, Al Sadd, Old Al of 1.49 million international percent of the upcoming tal values of low-quality villas draw footfall. ing (BA), including how the company labels his depar- ture — for example, was it a retirement? A resignation? A layoff? Russia’s Sberbank to But public filings show Muilenburg could be entitled China seeks closer ties with neighbours to a benefit plan worth more remain Yandex partner than $30 million and, poten- AFP Japan. tween the pair have been tially, a severance payment of Agencies “Partnership (with Yan- Chengdu, China During a separate meet- Chinese further strained by US leg- about $7 million. Muilenburg dex) will remain,” Gref told ing on Monday with South islators’ support for the pro- also has another $20 million- Russia’s Sberbank plans to Reuters, adding there could be China made overtures on Korean President Moon overtures democracy movement in plus worth of vested stock and continue its partnership with some changes in a number of trade to Japan and South Jae-in, Li said China was ● China has said it would Hong Kong, and their con- a pension package totaling Yandex even though it has joint projects between the two Korea and offered support willing to work on a rail demnation of the mass in- more than $11 million. transferred its ‘golden share’ companies. Sberbank’s key for an infrastructure initia- network linking Korea with “further open up its ternment of Muslim minori- Muilenburg, 55, became in the country’s leading inter- joint ventures with Yandex are tive as it hosted the leaders China and Europe, Yonhap services industry” to ties in the western Chinese CEO of Boeing, the world’s net company to another en- Yandex.Market and Yandex. of its two neighbours this news agency reported. Japan region of Xinjiang. largest aerospace company, in tity, Sberbank’s Chief Executive Money. week amid strained ties with Li’s remarks come as ● Li stressed on Wednes- 2015 after serving in several German Gref told Reuters. The deal with Mail.Ru the US. China and the United States China has also said it day the importance of Chi- other executive roles, includ- To assuage Kremlin fears will see Sberbank buy into a Chinese Premier Li Ke- edge closer to an initial was willing to work on a rail na’s trade ties with Japan ing chief operating officer and about potential foreign influ- company called MF Technolo- qiang said Wednesday at trade agreement after im- network linking South and South Korea, saying CEO of its defense space and ence, Yandex this month ap- gies, which owns a majority of a meeting with Japanese posing tariffs on billions of Korea with China and their vast volume of trade security division, throughout proved changes to its corporate Mail.Ru’s voting rights, from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dollars worth of goods over Europe was due to the “joint protec- his 34-year tenure at the com- structure to establish a “public Gazprombank — another state- that Beijing was willing to nearly two years in a bruis- tion of regional stability and pany at Boeing. interest foundation” which owned Russian financial outfit. strengthen economic coop- ing trade war that has hit peace”. His exit from the company would receive Sberbank’s gold- Sberbank’s 35 percent stake eration with Japan in third- the global economy. so-called “phase one” deal China, Japan and South comes with Boeing mired in en share and a number of other in MF Technologies would give country markets. On Friday US President between the world’s two Korea held a summit on setbacks and scandals, in- rights. it control of one-fifth of the vot- At the meeting on the Donald Trump touted a largest economies have yet Tuesday that also touched cluding two fatal crashes and Sberbank, Russia’s top ing rights of Mail.Ru and a 1.8% sidelines of a trilateral sum- “very good talk” he had held to be published in writing, on a planned free-trade numerous issues with its 737 bank, has also agreed to buy a economic interest in the tech mit in the southwestern city with China’s President Xi with officials citing incom- agreement between the Max airplane. Boeing has stake in internet company Mail. giant. The purchase should be of Chengdu, Li added that Jinping on a deal to resolve plete translation and legal three nations, which has struggled to get the plane, its ru, as Gref continues to trans- completed by the end of the China would “further open the dispute. work. been many years in the most important product, back form the lender into a banking- year, subject to government ap- up its services industry” to However details of the Meanwhile relations be- making. in the air. to-online services company. proval, Sberbank said. Recently appointed top Nissan executive to leave troubled carmaker

chief executive Hiroto Saikawa at Nissan, comes at a precari- Jun Seki heads to electric-motor firm in September, who admitted ous time for the company and Nidec, creating new distraction for Nissan he had received questionable the auto sector, with estab- payments. lished carmakers seeking scale The carmaker has been in through consolidation as a way DPA in a statement on Wednesday. Dec 1 exit turmoil amid plunging profits of splitting the billions of dol- Tokyo Japan’s second-largest and sales following the arrest lars in investments needed to carmaker did not disclose the Jun Seki, who took Nissan’s of Ghosn in November 2018. keep up with the shift toward Nissan Motor says it has ac- reasons for Seki’s resignation. number-three post of vice Nissan also reported on electric and self-driving cars. cepted the resignation of a top However, he and new chief chief operating officer on Wednesday that its global ve- Seki will be joining a executive who took his posi- executive Makoto Uchida are December 1, will step down hicle sales fell 10 per cent year- company that makes about tion this month as part of the believed to have locked horns and leave the firm. Seki and on-year to 417,913 units in an eighth of Nissan’s sales, carmaker’s new management, over how to deal with Renault, new chief executive Makoto November. Ghosn, the former but has a market value that’s dealing a severe blow to turna- Nissan’s largest shareholder, Uchida are believed to have head of the Renault-Nissan- more than 60 percent higher round efforts after last year’s Kyodo News reported. locked horns over how to deal Mitsubishi Motors alliance, is at about ¥4.5 trillion ($41 bil- arrest of former chairman Car- Seki is expected to move to with Renault, Nissan’s largest facing charges of financial mis- lion). Known for its precision los Ghosn. Japanese electric-motor mak- conduct and breach of trust. products, Nidec is the world’s Jun Seki, who took Nis- er Nidec in February on the shareholder He is out on bail and has de- No. 1 supplier of hard-drive san’s number-three post of promise of becoming its presi- nied the allegations. motors. The manufacturer is vice chief operating officer on dent in the future, Kyodo said, management team under The departure of Seki, who seeking to become a top sup- December 1, will step down citing an unnamed source. Uchida on December 1 follow- spent most of his career in en- plier for electric vehicles and Jun Seki, the vice chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Co and leave the firm, Nissan said Nissan launched a new ing the resignation of former gineering and manufacturing home appliances. Thursday, December 26, 2019 11 Economy & Business How the design of Boeing’s 737 Max cost CEO Muilenburg his job Muilenburg became CEO in 2015 - a few years after the company decided to create the Max by modifying its 1960s-era 737 airplane design rather than devising a modern passenger jet from scratch. But he was at the helm when an engineering quirk and a single tragic accident blossomed into a catastrophe

tca/dpa Los Angeles

oeing’s approach to mak- ing the 737 Max was sup- posed to save money and help it compete with rival air- plane maker Airbus. BInstead, the design created a cri- sis that killed hundreds of people, ate up billions of dollars, angered airlines and regulators, and cost Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg his job. Muilenburg became CEO in 2015 - a few years after the company decided to create the Max by modi- fying its 1960s-era 737 airplane de- sign rather than devising a modern passenger jet from scratch. But he was at the helm when an engineer- ing quirk and a single tragic acci- dent blossomed into a catastrophe that has consumed the company. After a 737 Max crashed in In- donesia in October of last year, kill- ing everyone on board, Muilenburg seemed to point blame at the pilots, and Boeing simply issued a notice saying flight crews should follow a safety checklist. Less than six months later came the deadly crash of a 737 Max in Ethiopia and the subsequent grounding of the plane worldwide. Boeing has endured a steady stream of bad publicity as details emerge about how Boeing handled the system that caused the crashes. Muilenburg has also riled the Fed- eral Aviation Administration as the agency investigates the accidents, and the once-cozy relationship be- tween the company and the regula- tor has deteriorated. This weekend, Boeing’s board reportedly decided Muilenburg was File photo of Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg in Washington. (AFP) finished. “He was becoming seen as not outstrip the expected savings. the plane, it added larger and more ings about the MCAS system. But the craft’s autonomous functions. only a public relations obstacle but The two crashes killed a total of powerful engines to accommodate the company went ahead with it Although these incidents are a regulatory barrier,” said Jeffrey 346 people. There’s no telling when a bigger fuselage and more pas- and then successfully petitioned the distinct, they suggest that the com- Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean the Max will be cleared to fly again, sengers. But engineers had to place FAA to take mentions of the system pany has moved away from the en- for leadership studies at the Yale which has put a dent into the plane’s those larger engines in a different out of the plane’s flight manuals, gineering-first mindset it was once School of Management. sales and airlines’ flight schedules. Twin crashes position than the previous engines arguing that it was benign. known for, said Jeff Yastine, equi- In 2011, Boeing’s airplane busi- The company faces congressional so the plane could clear the ground. After the crashes, Boeing be- ties analyst at investment advice ness was in disarray. scrutiny and a criminal investiga- After a 737 Max crashed in The new location changed the came aware of messages describ- site Banyan Hill Publishing. Two of its major passenger jet tion for its handling of the incidents Indonesia in October of last year, plane’s center of gravity and could ing those concerns - but it waited “It really has become a crisis of programmes - the new, fuel-efficient and the plane’s development. killing everyone on board, cause the plane to pitch up under months before giving those mes- confidence,” he said. 787 Dreamliner and the 747-8 Inter- The company estimates that the Muilenburg seemed to point blame certain circumstances. To counter- sages to FAA investigators. Boeing said in a Monday state- continental - were behind schedule situation could cost it at least 9.2 at the pilots, and Boeing simply act that, engineers added the now- The company also has exasper- ment that the leadership change was and over budget. On top of that, billion dollars. And it’s losing sales issued a notice saying flight crews infamous flight control software ated the FAA in recent months by “necessary to restore confidence in rival Airbus was wooing stalwart to Airbus. In October, Airbus’ A320 should follow a safety checklist. known as the Maneuvering Char- offering too-optimistic predictions the company moving forward as it Boeing customers such as American overtook the 737 by total orders for Less than six months later came acteristics Augmentation System, of when the regulator would clear works to repair relationships with Airlines with its single-aisle A320n- the first time. the deadly crash of a 737 Max in or MCAS. the Max to return to the skies. regulators, customers, and all other eo plane. “I really fully understand all That software was implicated In addition to the 737 Max cri- stakeholders.” David Calhoun, cur- To counter Airbus and save the reasons that went into it,” Scott Ethiopia and the subsequent in the 737 Max crashes in Indone- sis, Boeing has faced delays on rent chairman of the company, was on development costs, Boeing an- Hamilton, aviation industry con- grounding of the plane worldwide sia and Ethiopia after it received its KC-46 aerial refueling tanker, named president and CEO. nounced it would outfit its old 737 sultant with analysis firm Leeham faulty information from a sensor which had problems with a camera While the timing of Muilen- with a new engine and a new name: in Washington, said of the Max de- and pushed the planes’ noses down system that helps the plane refuel burg’s ouster was unexpected - in the 737 Max. The company’s chief sign. “But obviously in hindsight, al stairs that attached to the fuselage into a fatal dive. other military jets. a crisis, companies typically try to financial officer at the time said that they should have taken a different for passenger boarding. That low After the crashes, the nation Then on Friday, Boeing’s Star- maintain stability - the move can be would cost only 10 to 15 per cent direction. They could have built profile was good in the days before learned more about actions taken liner capsule - which is expected to seen as a symbolic one. as much as designing a whole new two airplanes for what it may wind airport jetways, but it has since be- at Boeing during Muilenburg’s ten- carry NASA astronauts next year “Boeing has mishandled it all,” plane. up costing them.” The original 737 come a constraint Boeing engineers ure. - failed to reach the International Hamilton said, adding that Muilen- Now, of course, the costs in- design, which debuted in 1967, was have had to work around. In 2016, the chief technical pilot Space Station on its first test mis- burg was “the face of Boeing. All curred by the 737 Max saga may low to the ground with foldable met- As Boeing looked to modernize for the 737 Max expressed misgiv- sion after a faulty timer threw off that falls under his watch.” Changing times put Ivory Coast’s rubber industry under pressure

AFP The stakes are high in a nanas, cassava, yams, maize marginalise food production,” Abidjan country that produces 60 per- and rice, which are part of said Arthur Alloco of the for- cent of Africa’s rubber and the diet of Ivorian people, has estry campaign group Soun- A decade after rubber was holds seventh place world- dropped in favour of specula- dele Konan Foundation. heavily promoted as a gold- wide. Annual Ivorian produc- tive crops, particularly cocoa APRAC is urging rubber mine for Ivory Coast’s cocoa- tion is 624,000 tonnes and and rubber,” Koffi sad. planters to devote between dependent economy, planters some forecasts hold that it But global market prices five and 10 percent of their are under pressure to address may reach one million. for rubber and cocoa have land to market garden pro- criticism that they are dam- Some 160,000 producers slumped during the past five duce and breed the likes of aging the environment and earn their living from rubber years. chickens and rabbits as a weakening the country’s abil- plantations and employ tens While some analysts ex- valuable source of support in- ity to feed itself. of thousands of workers who pect cocoa prices to rise again, come. “Well-managed rubber “tap” the hevea trees by cut- the forecasts for rubber are Kremien dismissed per- production is an asset,” said ting grooves into the bark to dim and discourage economic ceptions that rubber grow- Eugene Kremien, the presi- make the latex - natural rub- reliance on the industry. ing depletes the soil and said dent of the Association of Pro- ber - bleed out into cups. - ‘We are reforesting’ -Nu- his industry -- “unlike cocoa fessionals of Natural Rubber At the end of 2010, when merous NGOs accuse the rub- growing” -- was not to blame (APROMAC), whose detrac- world rubber prices were A trainee learns how to bleed a hevea tree to harvest latex rubber in a plantation at Sikensi, some ber industry of endangering for the country’s deforesta- tors argue that plantations high, conditions were ripe for 50kms north-west of Abidjan, southern Ivory Coast. (AFP) food security in Ivory Coast tion. Ivory Coast has lost al- exhaust the soil and endanger a boom. and forcing a West African gi- most all of its wild forests in food security and forests. The Ivorian government The state provided train- compared with one or two an- selves be lured by quick gains, ant to import products such half a century. The association is seek- invested 40 million euros ing in the different skills of the nual harvests for other crops, abandoning the growing of as rice even though it is famed Indeed, according to Kre- ing to show that the rubber ($44.3 million) to promote rubber business and helped many peasant farmers turned food crops,” said Jean-Bap- for its rich soil. mien, the canopy provided by industry can meet mounting production, leading to the open tracks in rural areas to away from their traditional tiste Koffi, president of the “The agronomic con- rubber trees helps to retain demands for sustainability, creation of 110,000 hectares transport produce. cultures in a rush for “white Federal Union of Ivory Coast straints of hevea cultivation precious moisture from rain- both for the environment and (about 270,000 acres) of new Since rubber trees are pro- gold”. Consumers, active since 2012. (trees must be planted far fall, which would otherwise its producers. plantations. ductive 10 months of the year, “The planters let them- “The production of ba- apart) have led planters to evaporate in open fields.