B2B
Supply chains, industrial demand and business-to-business services
SK hynix Begins Mass Production of HBM3E, the World's First Fifth-Generation High Bandwidth Memory for AI
On March 19, 2024, South Korean chipmaker SK hynix started volume production of HBM3E, becoming the world's first provider of the fifth-generation high bandwidth memory built from the best-performing DRAM chips and deepening its role in the AI semiconductor supply chain behind Nvidia's accelerators.
China's 53% Problem: How Russia's Heavy-Truck Market Halved in 2025 and Handed the Wheel Back to KAMAZ
New heavy-truck sales in Russia fell 56% in January–November 2025 to 41,840 units as the scrappage fee, OTTS type-approval withdrawals, high credit rates and a ~50,000-unit dealer and leasing stock overhang cut Chinese brands' share from 70% to 53% — while domestic producers rose from 20% to 36% and KAMAZ reclaimed the lead with 30.1%.
Rusal to Launch Pilot Scandium Oxide Production From Red Mud at Bogoslovsky Smelter by End of 2025
On February 27, 2025, Rusal announced plans to commission a pilot facility producing 1.55 tonnes of scandium oxide per year at its Bogoslovsky Aluminium Smelter in Krasnoturyinsk, Sverdlovsk Region, by the end of 2025, with investment of about 500 million roubles and a possible scale-up to 19 tonnes a year.
Indonesia Tells Furniture Exporters to Look Beyond the US Market
At IFFINA+ 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia urged furniture exporters to diversify beyond the US, which takes ~60% of shipments; 2025 exports hit $2.39B
The US$800 Door Slams Shut: How China's Sellers Rebuilt Their US Supply Chains Around Warehouses and Sea Freight
When the US ended the de minimis exemption on Aug 29, 2025, China-to-US small-parcel exports had already fallen 43% year on year to US$1 billion. Sellers who pre-positioned stock in US warehouses and switched to bulk sea freight absorbed the shock; the long tail pays duties of US$30-US$80 per parcel and rents rivals' fulfilment to survive.
HD KSOE Wins 2.1 Trillion Won in Orders for Eight Vessels as 2026 Tally Reaches $10.81 Billion
On May 8, 2026, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (HD KSOE), the shipbuilding sub-holding of HD Hyundai, announced contracts worth a combined 2.1 trillion won (US$1.4 billion) for six container ships and two very large gas carriers, lifting its year-to-date order tally to US$10.81 billion across 94 ships — 46.4 percent of the annual target.
Warehouse Demand in Russia Falls 28% as Record Supply Hits the Market
Warehouse deal volume in Russia fell 28% to 4.1 mln sq m in 2025 while completions rose 71% to 6.5 mln sq m; IBC Real Estate sees 2026 as a balance year
AGR Holding Launches Tenet A8 Sedan Production at Former General Motors Plant in St. Petersburg
On July 21, 2026, AGR Holding and China's Defetoo began producing the Tenet A8 sedan at the former General Motors plant in Shushary, St. Petersburg, expanding the site's programme to three Russian brands — Jeland, Esteo and Tenet — with capacity of 100,000 vehicles a year after full ramp-up.
From Negotiation to Transaction: How Russia's B2B Marketplaces Grew to 2 Trillion Rubles Ahead of the Platform Law
Russia's digital platforms turned over 18.3 trillion rubles in 2025 — 8.5% of GDP after a sixfold rise in four years — and the B2B/B2G online segment inside them hit 2 trillion rubles, heading past 3 trillion by 2028. From October 2026 a federal platform law sets uniform contract, commission and appeals rules, while procurement statutes 44-FZ and 223-FZ and data-trust gaps keep industrial-scale platforms from fully replacing procedures.
CPO Breaks RM5,000: Falling Malaysian Stocks and Indonesia's B40 Mandate Reprice the Palm Oil Supply Chain
CPO futures passed RM5,000 a tonne for the first time since June 2022 as Malaysian stocks fell to 1.88 mt and Indonesia's B40 mandate looms over supply.
Japan's ¥1 Trillion Shipbuilding Gamble: Why Money Alone Can't Reclaim the Sea From China
Japan has committed up to ¥1 trillion (US$6.3 billion) to revive a shipbuilding industry that has slid to roughly 13 per cent of global output — about half its share at the turn of the decade — and far behind China's ~55 per cent and South Korea's ~28 per cent. Drawing on the South China Morning Post's This Week in Asia analysis and industry analysts Darron Wadey (Dynamar BV) and Timothy Renshaw, this deep dive examines why capital alone cannot rebuild yards, skills and orders: the ¥350 billion private contribution and state-matched 'national dockyard' model, the 2035 target to double domestic output, the loss of ~10,000 skilled jobs in six years, a cost premium that saw a Japanese buyer pay ~US$120 million for a smaller home-built container ship than the ~US$105 million a South Korean yard charged for a larger one, the pivot upmarket to complex vessels, the loyal K Line/MOL/NYK fleet as a built-in first customer, and the strategic revaluation of shipbuilding driven by chokepoint risks in Hormuz and the Red Sea.
Sunway Construction Wins RM1.04 Billion MEP Fit-Out Contracts From US Technology Multinational, Lifting FY2027 Order Book to RM6.85 Billion
On Aug 21, 2026, Sunway Construction Group Bhd said in a bourse filing that it secured RM1.04 billion of mechanical, electrical and plumbing fit-out orders for two projects of an unnamed US-based multinational technology company; works start immediately and run to March 2028, lifting FY2027 new order wins to RM6.85 billion.
Factoring's Anomalous Year: How Russia's B2B Receivables Market Nearly Tripled Its Income in 2024
Income of Russian factoring companies reached a record 265 billion rubles in nine months of 2024 — 2.7 times the year-earlier figure — while the market portfolio grew 53% to 2.73 trillion rubles and active clients exceeded 16,500. At least a third of the surge came from 8.63% inflation and the 21% key rate flowing through floating factoring commissions; the rest reflects deeper penetration into new industries. High entry barriers keep newcomers out and banking groups in charge.
Port Klang Sets a Record 15.1 Million TEUs in 2025, Holds No. 10 Spot Among the World's Busiest Container Ports
Malaysia's Port Klang handled a record 15.1 million TEUs in 2025, up 3.4%, holding the world's No. 10 spot as transhipment drove about 55% of volume.
Poliplast Group to Launch Russia's First Epoxy Resin Production at Its Khrompik Facility in Pervouralsk
Poliplast Group is expanding its Khrompik chemical facility in Pervouralsk under a programme worth more than 60 billion rubles and plans to start Russia's first domestic epoxy resin production by early 2026 with Industry and Trade Ministry support.
South Korea Wins US$34 Billion of Overseas Plant Construction Deals in 2024, Highest in Nearly a Decade
South Korean contractors won US$34 bln of overseas plant deals in 2024, up 12.7% and the highest in nearly a decade, with the Middle East at 46% of the total.
RZD Container Traffic Rises 4.6% to 5.26 Million TEU in Eight Months as the Network Targets a Record Year
Russian Railways moved 5.26 million TEU in January-August 2026, up 4.6% year on year, and targets 8 million TEU for a record after the 2025 decline.
Russia's Business Travel Bookings Rise More Than 50% in 2024 as Companies Chase New Markets
Russia's business-travel bookings rose over 50% in 2024; foreign trips hit 18% of demand, led by China and the UAE, and 2025 travel may add 15–20%
The Rival Next Door: How Vietnam's Factories Learned to Match China on Quality — and What Still Holds Them Back
By December 2024 a made-in-Vietnam Samsung handset was indistinguishable in quality from a made-in-China one, and Vietnamese factories matched Chinese rivals on quality as well as price across a host of industries — while China's US$3.38 trillion export machine still dwarfed Vietnam's US$354 billion. Drawing on South China Morning Post reporting of Dec. 30, 2024, this deep dive unpacks the mechanics of quality parity in standardized goods, Vietnam's entrenched leads in furniture, coffee and garments, its climb into electronics, machinery and EVs, the structural advantages China keeps (mass-production experience, mature supply chains, e-commerce reach), and the five bottlenecks — small-producer quality control, peak-season logistics, skilled labour, scale pricing and digital reach — that will decide how fast the gap closes as a new US tariff round pushes a second relocation wave.
Lukoil-West Siberia, EKTO and Polyplastic Group Establish Kogalym Polymer Pipe Plant to Produce 500 km of Oilfield Pipes a Year
Kogalym Polymer Pipe Plant LLC, registered on 16 December 2024 by EKTO LLC, Lukoil-West Siberia LLC and Polyplastic Group LLC, will produce flexible polymer-reinforced Polyfibron pipes for the oil and gas industry with a design capacity of 500 km a year; launch is set for 2026 and investment at up to 4 billion rubles.
L&T Wins Order Worth Up to ₹5,000 Crore to Build the Driverless People Mover System at Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport
L&T's transportation infrastructure vertical, in a consortium with Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will turnkey-deliver a fully integrated Automated People Mover system for Phase 1 of Al Maktoum International Airport — a key component of the expansion programme designed to create the world's largest airport.
Retail Media Land Grab: T-Bank, Avito and Wildberries Build Ad Platforms as the Segment Heads to 285 Billion Rubles
T-Bank and Avito launch ad platforms as the online retail media segment in Russia is set to grow from 163.5bn to about 285bn rubles in 2024.
Why available capital does not close every defence supply gap
Why available capital does not close every defence supply gap