Europe

Here are some company news and stories that could impact the markets in France and Benelux or even individual stocks. Lisi SA Lisi SA, a French-based company, announced on Wednesday that SK Capital had entered exclusive negotiations to acquire the medical division of lisi. Tonnellerie Francois Freres SA TFF Group said on Wednesday that it anticipates a further decline in business for 2025/2026 and added that profitability will be under pressure. Warehouses de Pauw NV WDP announced on Wednesday that it had completed the sale and leaseback of a distribution centre to ID Logistics. Legrand SA Legrand, a French group...

Documents from the prosecutor's office showed that Italian tax police seized $43.5 million ($51 million) in cash from Rhenus Logistics Group, Rhenus' local unit. This was part of an investigation into allegations of tax fraud and illegal labor practices. Milan prosecutors launched a series formal investigations against Italy's delivery and logistics firms. They targeted the local units for major companies such as FedEx, Amazon, GLS, and DHL. According to a 199 page decree, the investigation accuses Rhenus Logistics Spa, of issuing fake invoices, and bypassing tax and labour laws in order to avoid paying tax and social insurance payments. The...

The operator of the Greek bulk carrier said that the 19-member crew, which was severely damaged by repeated attacks in the Red Sea, likely carried out by Houthi militants are safe. They will arrive at Djibouti on Monday evening. Michael Bodouroglou said that the fate of the Liberian Magic Seas, which is flying the Liberian flag, was uncertain. The vessel could sink, according to Bodouroglou. The first incident of this kind to be reported since mid-April was Sunday's attack off the southwest coast Yemen. The Magic Seas was targeted by gunfire, rocket-propelled missiles, and skiffs for more than four hour....

Germany's antitrust regulator dropped its investigation into the alleged anticompetitive behavior at the nation’s largest postal service group DHL, after the company severed ownership ties with another competitor that handled letters for businesses. The Federal Cartel Office’s two-year investigation focused on mail consolidation. DHL’s Deutsche Post InHaus Services collects letters from multiple companies and processes them, offering discounts based on the total volume. DHL competes in this market with Max-Ventures, a postal services group. However, the two also hold 26% and 74% respectively in Compador, another player in this segment. DHL's antitrust authority stated that it had allayed concerns by...

TMS Tankers, the Greek operator of the tanker, said that an external explosive device was most likely responsible for the explosion which damaged the Greek oil tanker Vilamoura last week as it was sailing near the coast of Libya. This conclusion is based on a preliminary investigation. On June 27, the Marshall Islands flagged tanker Vilamoura was leaving the Libyan port Zuetina to head to Gibraltar, with around 1 million barrels oil. An explosion occurred in the engine room. TMS Tankers stated that preliminary investigation findings indicate clearly that the explosion and subsequent fracture of side shell plating as well...

An attack on a ship in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen's southwest coast, was launched by eight small boats using gunfire and grenades. A British maritime agency and a security firm confirmed the incident. The situation continues, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations and British maritime security company Ambrey. The attack was not immediately attributed to anyone. This is the first report on the region by the agencies since the middle of April. The tensions in the Middle East are still high due to the conflict in Gaza, the 12-day Israel/Iran war that lasted for...

Worldline, a French payment company, has announced that it has hired Accuracy as an auditing firm to evaluate its remaining merchant portfolio for risky activity. A group of 21 European news outlets claimed last month that Worldline covered-up client fraud in order to protect its revenue. Last week, Belgian prosecutors announced that they had launched an investigation into possible money laundering activities within its Belgian division. Worldline responded to media reports by stating that it has strengthened merchant risk control since 2023 and terminated client relationships with non-compliant clients. The group announced that in addition to the hiring of Accuracy,...

Experts said that a 90-day trade thaw could be a welcome respite for the U.S. Freight Industry, as importers rush in to secure shipments before the busy back to school period. Overcapacity has caused a three-year slowdown in the $906 billion U.S. Trucking Industry. This was exacerbated by President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs against his country's biggest trading partners. The White House's agreement with the UK, and the ongoing trade negotiations with other partners have changed expectations. Instead of worrying about low freight activity, they are now expecting a possible import surge before the peak shopping season, which begins late...

After Washington and Beijing agreed on a temporary tariff cut, U.S. retailers such as Walmart and several clothing companies are racing to get China-made products for the busy summer season that begins in late May. According to Portless, the logistics company that helps U.S. brands import goods via air from China, orders for sundresses as well as bathing suits, clogs, and sunscreens have increased since Monday's agreement between Washington and Beijing to temporarily lower tariffs. Izzy Rosenzweig is the CEO of Portless. Portless counts Hapari swimwear and bug repellent manufacturer NatPat as clients. "They said, 'let's resume production and shipping.'...

After a series cancellations due to U.S. Tariffs, China-based shipping companies have resumed purchasing container space for goods heading for the United States. Beijing and Washington are now headed for trade negotiations in Switzerland. The trade between the two world's largest economies has plummeted since U.S. president Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 145% on China-made goods, a move that prompted China impose levies at 125% on U.S. made products. According to Flexport Logistics and Freight Forwarding, the U.S. Tariffs affected an estimated 80% goods shipped from China into the U.S. in April. Hapag-Lloyd customers cancelled 30% of their shipments to...

The partnership between shipping giant CMA CGM, and the tech startup Mistral AI is expected to yield rapid productivity gains. It was announced on Sunday. The partnership will see CMA CGM spend 500 million euros (550 million dollars) on AI over the next five years, and will be focused on improving customer service and logistics in shipping as well as fact-checking for its French media outlets including BFM TV. Rodolphe Saade, CMA CGM Chairman and CEO, declined to provide financial targets on return on investment in a joint interview conducted with Arthur Mensch's cofounder and CEO of Mistral. Saade, however,...

Shipping data shows that in the first few months of this year, more cars were shipped to the United States from Europe, China, Japan, and Korea than in the previous year. This is a sign that companies are loading up their shipments in advance of tariffs. According to Esgian, a data analytics company that monitors shipping routes worldwide, 33 roll on/roll off ships, designed for wheeled freight and mainly carrying new cars, left Europe in February of this year. This is up from 28 in the same month in 2024. Stian Omli said that these ships would have been able...

Boston Consulting Group's report on Thursday revealed that the European electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) have a shortfall of 250 billion euros ($293 billion). Why it is important Spain and Portugal experienced their worst power outage at the end of April. In large areas of the Czech Republic, there was an outage last week. These incidents have raised concerns over the resilience of Europe’s electricity system. The increased electrification of Europe, the growth in power consumption from AI and data centers, the integration of renewables and aging infrastructure are all contributing factors. The report didn't provide details on the subsidies...

Kerala, a state in southern India, has sued the Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company for $1.1 billion after one of their container ships sank in May and spilled fuel into Arabian Sea. The High Court of Kerala issued an Order late Monday ordering port authorities to "arrest, seize and detain" another MSC Ship anchored at the Vizhinjam Harbour in the state. This will continue until the ship deposits the required security for the claim. MSC did respond immediately to a comment request. In a May statement, the Indian government said that MSC had hired a marine service company to remove oil...

The U.N. nuclear watchdog reported that all external power lines supplying Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is occupied by Russia, were down Friday. Ukraine blamed Russian artillery for the destruction of the last powerline. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Europe's largest nuclear power plant is now running on diesel generators. It has not been operating, but it still needs power to cool its nuclear fuel. IAEA warned repeatedly of the danger of a catastrophic incident at Zaporizhzhia. This is a city located near the frontline of the Ukraine war. The six reactors have been shut down but the...

Three traders on the Urals crude oil market reported that discounts for Russian's flagship Urals crude for delivery to Indian ports in August have decreased to their lowest levels since 2022 due to high demand and a shrinking supply. Traders said that the lower supply and narrowing discounts of Russian spot barrels will force Indian refiners into looking for alternatives like United Arab Emirates Murban or U.S. West Texas Intermediate grades. The shrinking discount shows that Moscow has managed to maintain its oil sales despite Western sanctions. However, its discounted oil becomes more expensive, even though it is still cheaper...

LSEG data and traders reported that Russian Urals oil supplied to Turkey's STAR refining facility, controlled by Azerbaijan SOCAR in June, reached a record high of 800,000 metric tonnes (about 195,000 barallons per day). STAR has a capacity exceeding 200,000 bpd, making it the largest refinery in Turkey. SOCAR and Russia's Lukoil signed a long-term contract in 2023 for oil supplies. Traders said that the STAR refinery receives the majority of its crude oil from Lukoil. SOCAR did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. LSEG data shows that Turkey increased its purchases of Urals Oil in June to...

Grid operator CEPS reported that a Friday outage affected parts of the Czech National Power Grid. It said that "part of the transmission system was without voltage. The event also affected a greater part of transmission substations," adding that the cause of the incident is being investigated. CEPS confirmed that a high-voltage line in the north and east of the country had been affected by an outage. Czech Television reported the outage had affected several regions in the north and east, as well as some parts of the capital. Some areas were quickly restored to power. The DPP, the transport...

A Hong Kong court assigned an attorney to the captain of a Hong Kong registered ship accused of damaging undersea cable in the Baltic Sea. The case was adjourned to September so that the prosecution could gather more evidence. Wan Wenguo was the captain of NewNew Polar Bear container ship when he appeared before the Eastern magistrates court in Hong Kong without legal representation. The court assigned him a duty attorney. According to a Hong Kong charging document, the 43-year old Chinese national was accused of causing "criminal damages" on an underwater natural-gas pipeline and submarine telecom cable between Finland...

Ukrainian officials reported on Thursday that a Russian airstrike in Odesa, a southern Black Sea port, on Wednesday killed two people, and injured six others, including two foreigners. Odesa is the hub of Ukraine's seaports, and 90% of its exports to foreign markets are sent through it. This includes millions of tonnes each of metals and grain. "Today an Iskander rocket hit one of the docks at the Odesa port." On Telegram, Oleksiy Kuleba, the deputy prime minister of Ukraine, said that people were unloading metals from a foreign ship flying the flags of Sao Tome and Principe at the...

Authorities in West Germany said that freight shipping on the Mosel River has been halted after a passenger vessel damaged a lock. The Moselle, also known as the Moselle River in France, is a major transit route between Germany and France for grains and rapeseed. A police spokesperson confirmed that the transit was stopped after an accident damaged a lock on Wednesday between Koblenz-Trier. The spokesperson stated that vessels cannot pass through the Sankt Aldegund Lock in either direction. WSA, the river navigation authority, said that technical experts were inspecting the lock on Thursday. It was not possible to comment...

Calculations showed that the average daily supply of natural gas to Europe by Russian energy giant Gazprom via the TurkStream pipeline dropped by 18.3% from a year earlier in June due to maintenance on the infrastructure. The only remaining transit route for Russian gas into Europe is through Turkey after Ukraine decided not to renew a transit agreement with Moscow that expired in January. According to available data, the total Russian gas exports into Europe between January and June fell from 15.5 billion cubic meters to 8.33 bcm, when excluding supplies via Ukraine. According to calculations based on data provided...

According to preliminary data, LSEG, the financial firm, U.S. liquefied gas exports in June fell to the second-lowest monthly level of the year, due to maintenance work being done at some the largest export facilities. LSEG data revealed that the United States, which is the top LNG exporter in the world, sold 8,4 million metric tonnes of superchilled LNG during the month. This was down from the 8.9 MT of May, and far below the record set by April of 9.3 MT. The decrease in LNG exports is mainly due to maintenance at Cheniere’s Sabine Pass facility, which produces 4.5...

At a tension-filled shareholder meeting held on Monday, the chair of Spanish grid operator Redeia defended her company following a massive blackout that occurred in April. She also pledged to make record investments. Redeia is under fire for a major power outage on April 28, which left much of Spain and Portugal without electricity. Chair Beatriz Corredor, however, again placed the blame on power companies. Corredor, along with Redeia Chief executive Roberto Garcia Merino defended Redeia’s actions both before and during blackout, including their planning of power sources for voltage control and management of the Interconnector with France. The government's...