Japan's crisis

Since late last week, we’ve all been witnesses to the unimaginable tragedy in Japan and how millions of lives there have been affected. We have partners and colleagues throughout Japan, and,according to them, the impacts will clearly be felt for many days ahead.
These impacts have been felt worldwide, and CFgear is not immune to them. Japan manufactures many circuit boards and components thatare important to many of our products, including our USB flash drives. Many overseas suppliers have reported 30-50% increases in the cost of raw materials in addition to many product shortages.

Thedestructive earthquake and towering tsunami that hit Japan is expected to have an impact on the South Korean economy and its businesses, local experts said Friday.
Governmentofficials, financial analysts and business executives said that the record 8.8 magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami that devastated parts of Japan could exert negative impact on the global economythat is making a comebackfrom the 2008 financial crisis.
“At present, because the extent of the damage cannot be gauged, the fallouts cannot be determined but they are expected to exert influence across the board in areaslike global trade, foreign exchange markets, stock markets and businesses,” a government source said.
The source, who declined to be identified, said that while the incident took place after the close ofthe local market, it could raise market uncertainties. Seoul is keeping close track on the non-deliverable forward market, according to the source.
The finance and knowledge economy ministries haveconvened emergency meetings of senior officials to follow up on damages and determine fallouts in trade, growth and the industrial sector, with the Bank of Korea also setting up an emergency task forceto monitor events in Japan.
“Close attention will be paid on effects on industrial parts that South Korean companies buy from Japan, and overall effects on international crude oil and grain...