Earlier in March, South Africa’s power regulators granted a 24.8% increase in rates to Eskom, its state-owned energy provider, considerably less than the 35% hike requested. Subsequently, Eskom’s management stated that the lack of required funding could hamper expansion plans and result in “extremely tight” conditions from 2011 and beyond which could result in further load sharing and cuts in power to manage the country’s growing demand. Eskom has now had to apply to the World Bank for a $3.75 billion loan to accomplish its plans to increase power generation capacity over the next three years. It is generally believed that the SA government will do whatever is required to ensure that there are no embarrassing disruptions in the near-term particularly during this year’s World Cup festivities in June.

Chinese vehicle sales rose sharply again in the month of February, climbing by 46% to 942,900 vehicles, year-on-year. Passenger car sales soared by 55% in February over the comparable period of 2009. It is believed that a portion of the increase in sales last month represented deliveries from stronger December orders qualifying for the higher tax incentives offered in 2009. Total vehicle sales in China in 2009 were reported as 13.6 million units, for a rise of 45% over 2008 sales. With a lowering of certain tax incentives from last year, the torrid pace of sales growth in China may be difficult to maintain and sales may be expected to slow somewhat in the months ahead.