Monthly Archives: January 2012

Iran jitters. But Iraq and Angola show bigger changes.

There’s been speculation that China has cut its oil imports from Iran during the past month owing to a pricing dispute. This comes on the back of a U.S decision to impose sanction on foreign banks dealing with Iran’s central bank.

With that in mind, I’ve updated China’s oil import data for the past month. The graph shows only a modest change in the composition of China’s oil imports from its Middle East suppliers throughout the Arab spring.

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From fake viagra, to fake pound coins

More fakes. It used to be that Egypt was flooded by fake-Viagra. Not so much anymore: now, it’s fake-Egyptian pound coins. The common thread is that both are made in China.

Egypt’s Youm Al Saba’a reported last year that the coins are entering the country hidden in shipping container full of toys. Apparently, the number of containers makes proper inspection difficult. There’s also the risk of damaging the toys.

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