Fund managers upbeat about agriculture, emerging markets
China's booming agriculture sector is drawing fund managers in droves.STOCK MARKETS are reeling from news relating to US subprime mortgages but some fund managers are still upbeat about emerging markets and sectors such as agriculture.
Mark Mobius, who has US$40 billion invested in emerging markets, said recently that he believes the bear market will not last long.
Reason: growth in emerging markets such as China, India and Latin America are driven by domestic consumption.
In fact, Zurich-based Pr1me, which focuses on small and mid caps in China, makes it a point to “avoid stocks from the export sector or those dependent on US or European economic cycles”, says its fund manager, Sandro Angelastri, in an email interview with NextInsight.
Sandro says Pr1me owns aboout 30 China stocks listed in Hong Kong and Singapore, the most important of which are:
Listed in Hong Kong --- jeweler Hang Fung Gold, supermarket chain Beijing Jingkelong, ship operations support services provider COSCO International, and TV program production house Qin Jia Yuan Media.
Listed in Singapore --- China’s largest tennis shoe maker, China Hongxing Sports, as well as Midas, which makes aluminium alloy extrusion products and pipes used in rail and other infrastructure sectors.
Sandro is also keeping his 2-year old fund exposed to China’s agriculture sector by holding fishery, diary, farm equipment and water supply stocks.
One of China’s leading farm equipment manufacturers, China Farm Equipment (market cap S$106 million on SGX), was added to its portfolio starting from April 2007.
“We believe that, despite the current global weakness, China’s agriculture sector will outperform in the long run,” he says. For his fund's fact sheet, click here.
Recent NextInsight articles on stocks in China’s agriculture sector:
CHINA KANGDA: No.1 China exporter of rabbit meat to EU
CHINA ANIMAL HEALTHCARE: Seizing opportunities during market consolidation
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GOODPACK shares under accumulation
Goodpack's containers are eco-friendly.
GOODPACK SHARES have been scooped up in recent times by China International Marine Container Ltd (CIMC), which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
CIMC conducted an open market purchase of 13.5 million Goodpack’s shares at a weighted average price of S$1.624, over a two-week period, from 13 March to 28 March.
These shares, representing approximately 3% of the total issued and paid-up capital of Goodpack, works out to a total investment stake of S$22.0 million by CIMC.
CIMC, with a market capitalization close to RMB35 billion, is currently the world’s largest container manufacturer.
CIMC produced 1.866 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of standard dry cargo containers in 2007, up 37% from the previous year. With more than 40,000 employees across China and other parts of the world, CIMC recorded total sales of more than RMB48 billion in 2007.
Recent NextInsight story: GOODPACK: First major foray into China
ISDN’s motion control technology for China’s West-East Gas Pipeline
PAW3000 auto welder uses ISDN motion control technology to improve welding productivity up to 40% at China's West-East pipeline project.Welding equipment used by state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corp to construct China’s West-East pipeline harnesses ISDN Holdings’ motion control technology.
The SGX-listed engineering service provider hopes to supply up to Rmb 151 million worth of motion control units to CNPC.
A first 30 units worth Rmb 1.2 million was recently delivered by ISDN.
The entire pipeline is projected to require 200 motion control units a year from ISDN until its completion in 2011.
When completed, the gas pipeline will transport clean fuel from Xinjiang to the energy-hungry Yangtze River Delta.
The PAW3000 welder used, which improves production rates up to 40%, was jointly developed by ISDN and a CNPC unit.
