Asia

China Vanke bonds fell on Tuesday, after the developer sought to defer a bond repayment for one year. China Vanke, formerly the top homebuilder in China by sales, has been trying to avoid default after a prolonged real estate slump that has affected all of its main competitors. Shenzhen Stock Exchange suspended trading early after a yuan bond with a maturity date of May 2028 dropped by as much as 22 per cent to 23 par value. The developer's exchange traded bonds are all at similar prices. Three sources said that Vanke had asked bondholders of a 2 billion Yuan...

Israir, an Israeli airline, said Monday that it is working on acquiring two widebody Airbus A330s for a combined total of $80m. The company wants to expand long-haul flights to counter the push made by Wizz Air to enter the Israeli market. Israir stated that it was in negotiations through various channels to complete the purchase. It is also in advanced discussions with local tourism group Issta in order to consider a seat allocation for 10 years for an advance payment of approximately $35 million. The company noted that there was no guarantee the deal would be completed at this...

Sources in the industry said that insurance rates for war risks increased after Ukrainian drones attacked two tankers headed to a Russian harbor. Fears of more attacks prompted insurers to raise their prices. Black Sea is vital for shipping grain, oil, and oil products. Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania, as well Russia and Ukraine, share its waters. Shipping and insurance sources reported that war risk rates, which are determined by each underwriter and are based upon the value of the vessel, have risen to 0.5% from 0.4% a week earlier for calls to Ukrainian port. Sources said that the war risk...

The Russian government and Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry announced that Russia and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on Monday to implement a visa free regime for business and tourist people from both countries for up 90 days. The agreement was signed in Riyadh, on the sidelines the Saudi-Russian Investment and Business Forum. The legal procedures to exchange notes and bring the document into effect will be followed. According to me, it will be possible to travel to our countries without a visa at the start of next year," said Russian Deputy Premier Alexander Novak in an interview on television. Novak...

Airbus, Europe's largest aircraft manufacturer, ordered the immediate repair of 6,000 A320 jets that are widely used. This recall affects more than half of Airbus' global fleet. According to a notice sent to airlines, the fix involves mostly reverting back to older software. However, it is necessary to do this before planes can be flown again. Some airlines have warned that the repairs may cause flight cancellations or delays. Airbus announced on Monday that most of the jets recalled had been modified. The following are the major disruptions reported by airlines on Monday at 853 GMT, alphabetically: Aer Lingus The...

Wizz Air Chief Executive Jozsef Vasradi announced that Wizz Air will open a hub for Israel by April. The Israeli government hopes this move will lower the cost of aviation. Varadi met last week with Israel's Transportation Minister Miri regev and stated in a Sunday statement that Wizz was working to resolve regulatory issues and other matters by the end January. Varadi told Regev on Thursday that Wizz was "fully committed" to the idea of opening a Wizz facility in Israel. Varadi stated that lowering the cost of living was a major concern for governments all over the world. He...

The Moldovan authorities reported on Saturday that Russian drones entered the country's skies, posing an aviation threat. This is the third incident of this kind in nine days. The president of Moldova, Maia Sandu has condemned the Russian war in Ukraine, and accused Moscow for trying to destabilise this ex-Soviet country, located between Ukraine and EU Member Romania. The latest incident occurred at the same time as a massive Russian attack against Kyiv and Ukrainian targets that killed three people and injured nearly 30 others. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said that Russia launched 36 missiles and 600 drones. The...

The Moldovan authorities reported on Saturday that Russian drones entered the country's skies, posing an aviation threat. This is the third incident of this kind in nine days. The president of Moldova, Maia Sandu has condemned the Russian war in Ukraine, and accused Moscow for trying to destabilize the ex-Soviet country, located between Ukraine and EU Member Romania. The interior ministry of Moldova said that it had identified the drones as Russians and they had flown above Moldovan territory. This led to the closure of Moldova's airspace. The report added that they later flew onto Ukrainian territory. The civil aviation...

ANA Holdings says that it has cancelled 65 flights after the Airbus A320 was recalled, forcing it to ground aircraft. Airbus single-aisle aircraft such as the A320 are the most popular in Japan, and the carrier is one of the largest operators, with Peach Aviation and other affiliates. ANA's main rival, Japan Airlines, is a Boeing-only carrier and does not operate the A320. The recall of Airbus A320 jets affects over half of its global fleet, including the A320 family, which is the backbone of Asian aviation for short-haul flights, especially in China and India. About 11,300 single-aisle aircraft are...

Airbus, Europe's largest aircraft manufacturer, has ordered the immediate repair of 6,000 A320 jets. This recall affects more than half of the fleet worldwide and could cause disruptions during the busiest weekend for travel in the U.S. According to a notice sent to airlines, the fix involves mostly reverting back to older software. However, it is necessary to do this before planes can be flown again. The repairs may cause flight cancellations or delays, according to several airlines. As of 6:20 pm, here is a list with major disruptions reported by airlines. ET (2320 GMT): American Airlines The largest A320...

Six major international airlines have lost their operating rights in Venezuela after suspending flights to the nation following an advisory from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Venezuela's civil Aviation Authority revoked the permits of Iberia and other airlines, including TAP, Avianca Latam Colombia Turkish Airlines, Gol. Caracas said in a press release that the carriers "joined state terrorism, promoted by the United States", by "unilaterally halting" commercial flights. The U.S. FAA warned major airlines last week of a "potentially dangerous situation" if they flew over Venezuela because "the security situation is worsening and there are increased military activities in or...

Didi Global announced an 8.6% increase in revenue for the third quarter on Wednesday, as international expansion of China’s largest ride-hailing service accelerated. However, its domestic market was stable. Didi is China's leading ride-hailing service. It has also expanded internationally to Latin America and offers both ride-hailing services and food delivery. The company reported on Wednesday that revenue for the three-month period ended September 30 reached 58.6 bn yuan (8.28 bn dollars). The net profit was 1.5 billion yuan for the three-month period, up from 900 million in the same period of last year. While the international segment represents a...

Data released on Monday showed that the cargo volumes handled by Russia's largest commercial employer, state-owned Russian Railways, continued to decline in November. Russian Railways released a statement saying that November cargo volumes fell by 1.5% on an annual basis to 94.2 millions tonnes. Volumes from January to November also dropped by 5.6%, to 1.021 billion tonnes. The Russian government is examining different options to support Russian Railways. It has accumulated a debt of 4 trillion roubles ($50,8 billion). The railway cargo volume, a key economic indicator of the strength of Russia's export economy, fell to its lowest level in...

VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said in an interview that Russian banks were willing to restructure Russian Railways' debt, as long as their central bank did not increase the reserve requirements on these loans. The Russian government is examining different options to support Russian Railways. This company, which is the largest employer in the country, has accumulated a debt of 4 trillion roubles ($50.8 billion), according to a report on Nov. 25, VTB is the second largest Russian bank and Russian Railways' largest creditor. The bank's top managers participate in weekly government discussions on how to handle the debt. These meetings...

A notice published by the London Metal Exchange on Friday revealed that Henry Bath & Son, a warehouse operator in Hong Kong has been the latest company to register a facility at the London Metal Exchange. According to the LME's notice, the warehouse is located in Hong Kong’s New Territories in the Kwai-Chung district. It can store nickel, lead and zinc, as well as copper, aluminum and aluminium alloy. The LME approved the first Hong Kong warehouses in January of this year. Its aim is to provide a gateway into mainland China, which is the largest metals consumer in the...

Indian businessman Prateek gupta was accused of orchestrating a $600m metals fraud by commodity group Trafigura. He told a court in India on Friday that he didn't know who within his companies had allegedly made fake documents for selling the same cargo to multiple customers. The long-running trial concluded on Friday with the testimony. It will resume again on December 10, for closing arguments. Trafigura, a Geneva-based company, sued Gupta in more than two years. It claimed that he had orchestrated a ruse where he and his firms agreed to deliver pure nickel instead of steel or scrap. Trafigura's lawyers...

Lawyers at Trafigura said that Prateek Gupta’s claims that the group devised a secret plan to exchange expensive nickel for low value metals are full of contradictions. The Indian businessman was giving evidence in an ongoing fraud case. Trafigura, a Swiss commodity trader, sued Gupta two years ago. It claimed that he was behind a scam where he and his firms agreed to deliver pure nickel but instead delivered scrap steel or other metals. Gupta countered by claiming that Trafigura staff themselves designed the scheme at the heart of the case. Trafigura, however, has denied this claim repeatedly. Gupta, who...

Lawyers for Trafigura accused Prateek gupta, an Indian businessman who gave his first testimony on Wednesday, of a long history of fraud. Gupta admitted that he was under investigation for fraud in India but denied these allegations when he appeared in the High Court of London. Trafigura, a Swiss company, sued Gupta two years ago. It claimed that he was behind a scam where he and his firms agreed to deliver pure nickel but instead delivered scrap steel or other metals. Nathan Pillow, a Trafigura lawyer, cited two more fraud cases in which low-value metals were substituted with nickel. Gupta...

Two people familiar with the situation said that the Russian government is looking at different options to support Russian Railways. The company, the largest employer in the country, has accumulated a debt of 4 trillion roubles ($50.8 billion). The state-owned Russian Railways employs 700,000 workers and has seen its revenues fall amid the sharp slowdown of Russia's wartime economy. Meanwhile, debt costs are on the rise, driven by interest rates that have reached their highest levels in 20 years. Two people, who requested anonymity because the subject was sensitive, said that Moscow had been discussing ways to help the railways...

China Gas Holdings, a privately-controlled city gas distributor, has hired an ex-senior trader of the Chinese utility GCL Group as its head of global natural gas sales. Xiong Xin was the head of gas trading for GCL New Energy Holdings (a unit of GCL Holdings), a solar power company, until early 2024. He joined China Gas in Oct. Xiong has nearly a decade's worth of experience in trading at the state oil giant CNOOC, and privately owned Chinese gas company ENN, before he joined GCL. He now heads China Gas’ growing liquefied gas trading business, as well as liquefied petrol...

Investors cited concerns over Prime Minister Sanae Takayichi's plans to spend. The yield on the 20-year JGB rose by up to 2 basis points to 2,695%. And for the 30-year JGB, it rose by 2 bps to 3,195%. These are their highest levels since October. Takaichi announced this week that she would set a new fiscal goal extending over several years in order to allow for more flexibility with spending. This is a way to water down Japan's commitment towards fiscal consolidation. Takashi Fujiwara is the chief fund manager of Resona Asset Management’s fixed income division. The increase in yields...

In October, the share of Russian and Indian aluminum in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell as nearly 50,000 tons from Australia, Indonesia and the Middle East entered the system. LME data released on Monday showed that the percentage of aluminium stock of Russian origin available in LME warehouses fell to 51% from 59% in September. The share of Indian origin also decreased by one percentage point, to 40%. LME has prohibited metal produced in Russia after April 13, 2024 from its warehouse system. This is to comply with U.S. & British sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine 2022. Metal produced...

The giant Russian railcar and tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod said Friday that it would be restructuring its operations in order to reduce costs. A local report had stated the company planned to cut its workforce by 10%. The Uralvagonzavod plant, located in Nizhny Tagil about 1,400 km east of Moscow in Nizhny Tagil, has been sanctioned for its role in providing tanks to Moscow's Ukraine war. The factory is owned by a state-controlled conglomerate that has ties to one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies. It claims publicly to produce T-90M battle tank and modernise T-72B3M. Local news outlet E1 reported on...

CMA CGM announced that it had suspended all cargo shipments from Mali. The French group also said road transport was experiencing difficulties due to safety issues and fuel shortages. Early in September, the al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin announced a ban on fuel imports into this landlocked West African nation. Since then, the group has attacked convoys that were trying to enter the country and reach Bamako. CMA CGM India's website said Wednesday that road shipments from Mali have been suspended until further notice. The group issued a statement saying that it would not accept new bookings of...