China Bans Japan, Turns to Russia for Seafood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China became the main buyer of fish products from Russia, having tripled its imports on an annual basis to over 1.3 million tons last year. 

 

The surge in Russian deliveries to China comes after Beijing imposed a ban on imports of all seafood from Japan in response to Tokyo’s discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean in August 2023. [Refer to my three posts on the said subject, dated August 25, October 07 and November 03, 2023].

 

Russia’s seafood exports from the fish-rich Far Eastern Primorsky and Sakhalin regions surged by over 70% last year, data published by the Russian regulator responsible for food safety, Rosselkhoznadzor, showed on Thursday. The regions exported nearly 2 million tons of seafood last year, a 72% increase compared to 2022, according to the report. 

 

Microsoft overtook Apple to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company for the first time in more than two years, as worries over smartphone demand have weighed on the iPhone-maker’s stock in recent weeks. 

 

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant rose 1% to $388.47 on Friday, ending with a market valuation of $2.89 trillion. Meanwhile, Apple gained 0.2% and closed with a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion. It’s the first time since November 2021 that Microsoft has closed with a higher value than Apple. 

 

While both were part of the so-called Magnificent 7’s powerful rally in 2023, their fortunes have diverged this year. Microsoft have risen 3.3%, supported by ongoing optimism over artificial intelligence, while Apple have dropped 3.4% amid rising concerns over their growth. They have been hit by at least three analyst ratings downgrades as concerns over weakness in iPhone sales, especially in the key Chinese market. Analysts pointed to competition from a resurgent Huawei and growing tensions between Washington and Beijing that have increased pressure on Apple.

 

Wall Street’s less-favorable view on Apple suggests it would not be surprising if Microsoft maintained or even built on their newfound size advantage. The average analyst price target for Microsoft equates to upside of about 8% over the coming 12 months, slightly above Apple’s return potential. Such a gain would result in Microsoft topping $3 trillion in market valuation, joining Apple as one of only two companies to hit such a threshold.