n.464

New Princes buys Carrefour Italia supermarkets


1027 outlets, 642 of which are direct, will change hands at the former Newlat. The transaction is worth one billion euros. The Gs brand will be relaunched Much will depend on the skills of the management team. I have already explained this with Mario Gasbarrino in this article. One cannot improvise distributors and the events concerning Standa and Auchan-Conad should have taught us something about this(about Conad you can also read this article that says a lot about the 'reckless operations' carried out in the GD in recent years). The stock exchange seems to think so. On the history of GS read also here. Read also : Carrefour leaves Italy: what it really cost the French group Written on 24 July, updated on 27 July 2025

AuchanCarrefourConad
 

n.459

E-commerce and US consumers penalised by new regulations launched by Trump


In the US until 2 May, incoming non-food goods below the value of $800 were exempt from customs duties(de minimis exemption). Now they are subject to 30% duties. The elimination of de minimis will cost US consumers between $10.9 billion and $13 billion overall, but the relative cost per person will be higher for low-income Americans. Distributors Shein and Temu have raised their prices but Amazon will have to do so as well because 50% of the 'third party sellers' operating on Amazon's platform are located in China (on 3P- third party sellers read here).

AmazonE-CommerceInflationNon-food
 

n.458

The slowdown in agri-food exports


...In May, the growth in exports to the United States almost came to a standstill, falling from 11% in the first quarter of the year to a modest0.4%, with marked declines for some of the main Made in Italy products: extra virgin olive oil fell by 17%, the same percentage for tomato puree, while cheese lost 4%. Only wine bucked the trend, with a slight recovery (3%) after the drop recorded in April. "Rising duties, inflation in the US and the devaluation of the dollar are making our products less competitive. If it really comes to 30% on food tariffs, the blow to our economy will be very heavy,' said [Ettore] Prandini (President of Coldiretti). Obviously tariffs, even at 15%, will not improve the situation. Drafted 23 July, updated 24 July 2025

ColdirettiInflation
 

n.456

The 25-year drought in the south-west of the USA could continue


A mega-drought has eroded water supplies, devastated farms and ranches, and fuelled fires across the American Southwest for 25 years. Not in 12 centuries has the region been so dry for so long. Now comes worse news: relief may still be decades away. According to new findings published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the dry spell is not just a bout of bad luck, no hard time that could end soon. Instead, it appears to be the result of a Pacific Ocean temperature pattern that is "locked in" due to global warming, said Victoria Todd, a PhD student in paleoclimatology at the University of Texas at Austin who led the new research. That means the drought could continue until 2050, perhaps even 2100 and beyond - in fact, Ms. Todd said, as long as humans continue to warm the planet.... Source It also talks about the conditions in California that we have been following since 2013 Below: Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona, where July water levels are only at a third of capacity. Credit...Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

Climate change