Latest News
-
Andy Home: The ROI-Congo pivots to the west under cover of cobalt control
Cobalt ambitions of the Democratic Republic of Congo are becoming more and more apparent. Export restrictions were used by the world's biggest producer of the strategic metal used in everything from stealth bombers to mobile phones, to "drain" the market and raise prices. Kinshasa, as it gains more control of its cobalt industry, is also trying to lessen its reliance on Chinese operators, and pivot toward the West, particularly the United States. The rebalancing is accompanied by new attempts to integrate the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), a minefield of ethical issues for Western cobalt purchasers, into official sector. MOVING MARKETS Congo has restricted cobalt exports from February of last year. A full ban was replaced by a quota-based system in October. Shipments only started picking up again early this year due to teething problems with the new administrativesystem. China's import numbers are still very low. According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics which collects customs data, the largest buyer of Congolese Cobalt imported only 5,000 metric tonnes between January and April. This is down from nearly 200,000 tons during the same period in 2025. Stocks accumulated in previous years due to Congolese excess production cushioned the supply shock until recently. Cobalt prices have been flat so far this season, but at $26.00 a lb they are more than twice as high as before Congo stopped exports in early 2018. Supply chain tension is increasing. The price of cobalt hydrxide, which is the form in which the metal was shipped by Congo has continued to rise, and it now trades at a level that is equal or even higher than the metal price. According to Ying Lu of Project Blue consultancy, this price?inversion is reshaping supply chains as refineries use more metal in order to produce sulphate - the type cobalt that battery manufacturers use. This may not just be a passing trend. Project Blue says that this shift in pricing "suggests the market is charging a premium for cobalt units originating from the DRC". Securing Access As U.S. investments begin to flow into Kinshasa, China's refiners will find it more difficult to secure access to Congo cobalt. The Congo's mineral wealth, especially cobalt, was the foundation of the?U.S. brokered deal last June with Congo and Rwanda that ended years of hostilities. Recent announcements indicate that the deal is beginning to work. Virtus Minerals is a U.S. critical minerals platform that bought privately-owned Chemaf Copper and Cobalt Mines in May. It aims to resume full operations following years of uncertainty. The Congo's Entreprise Generale du Cobalt has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Trafigura, a trading house in the United States and EVelution for the supply of the latter's new proposed cobalt refinery. The Lobito Atlantic Railway is another U.S.-backed project that links the Congolese Copper Belt with the Angolan Port of Lobito. Western operators have a new alternative to the Chinese-backed TAZARA rail, which carries goods to the Tanzanian port Dar es Salaam. ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANAL ARTISANALL 'GOLDSTANDARD' EGC must ensure that ASM it provides to its Western partners are ethically pure. Illegal mining in Congo, and often under dangerous conditions, casts a shadow on the market for?cobalt. Kinshasa tried to integrate its shadow mining industry before, but with limited success. A new venture between EGC and Mercuria, a trading house, aims to create a "Gold Standard" for responsible ASM mining of cobalt at the Kasulo Mine site. If Congo is to reduce its dependency on China by opening up new markets in the United States, it must assure Western consumers that they are not purchasing "blood cobalt". More Power The events of this year have conspired together to increase Congo's influence over the cobalt markets even further. Sherritt International’s Canadian refining operation is under serious scrutiny after the latest round of U.S. Sanctions forced the company's joint venture operations in Cuba to be discontinued. Ambatovy's nickel-cobalt operations are being sold to a new owner after they were destroyed by a cyclone that hit Madagascar in February. The nickel refineries in Indonesia, another non-Congo cobalt source, are under pressure due to reduced mining quotas, and the difficulty of obtaining?sulphuric acids, which many require for their processing. Congo is a country that already produces 70% of the world's mine supply. This power is being used to redefine not only the cobalt markets but also the strategic position of the country in the global race for critical minerals. Andy Home is a columnist at. This column is great! Check out Open Interest, your new essential source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
-
Kenya signs $1.2 Billion deal with Chinese firm for Nairobi Airport expansion
Davis Chirchir, Kenya's Transport Minister, announced on Tuesday that the government of Kenya has signed a contract with China Road and Bridge Corporation for an expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The agreement is worth 154.2 billion shillings ($1.2 billion). East African nation plans to?triple the capacity of the?Nairobi Airport from 7.5million passengers per year to 22million. The project was previously stopped last year when Kenya cancelled an agreement with India's Adani Group for 2024 following the indictment of its founder?in the United States. Chirchir posted on his X page that the project scope included the construction of a terminal building, modernization of the existing infrastructure and improvement of the airside and 'landside operations. Kenya aims to maintain its position?as regional aviation hub, as countries such as?Ethiopia? and Rwanda?invest heavily in the construction of new airports to attract airlines?and travellers? Last week, Chirchir stated that the government had appointed Africa’s Trade and Development Bank and?Africa Finance Corporation as the financial agents for the project.
-
FT reports that Germany has scrapped plans to build F126 Frigates
The Financial Times reported that Germany is planning to scrap a multi-billion euro project to build 'F126 'frigates. This could be a major blow to Rheinmetall as it hopes to win its largest contract. The report, citing two sources familiar with the issue, said that Defence Minister 'Boris Pistorius' and other officials informed senior MPs and industry officials of their intention to abandon plans for six F126 frigates. According to a report, the?country plans to purchase eight smaller MEKO A200 frigates from rival warship manufacturer TKMS instead. A request for comment was not immediately responded to by the German Defence Ministry or Rheinmetall. Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, said that the company was preparing to sign a contract to take over the F126 program from Dutch shipbuilder Damen in the second quarter. The F126 frigates are capable of striking targets both above and below water.
-
Train service resuming after nationwide IT disruption fixed, German railway operator says
Deutsche Bahn announced in a press release that train service was restored across 'Germany early Wednesday morning after a nationwide disruption of the digital railway radio system had been resolved. A spokesperson for the company stated that "our IT experts have been working non-stop" to resolve 'the issue. They have also succeeded. Services are now slowly resuming. Earlier, Deutsche Bahn halted all trains, citing a problem with the Global System for Mobile Communications for Railways (GSM-R), the main communication device between train drivers and traffic control centers. Deutsche Bahn stated that services may still be limited and it 'would 'issue vouchers for taxis and hotels to passengers, as well as 'offering replacement transport when?possible. The cause of the incident was not disclosed by Deutsche Bahn. Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Christine Uyanik, and Christian Kraemer, Editing by Franklin Paul Jamie Freed, and Stephen Coates
-
FedEx expects revenue to rise 11% by 2026, but shares fall after margin drop
FedEx beat estimates for its quarterly profits?and projected an 11% increase in revenue by 2026. However, shares fell 5.7% after a margin drop in the core express segment. Delivery giant also predicted earnings per share between $16,90 and $18,10 for the year. It has shifted its fiscal year from May to coincide with the calendar, instead of its previous year-end. Analysts are still working on'models' that will allow them to compare the new forecast with their previous one. It also follows its June 1 spin-off of its freight trucking division, FedEx Freight. This is part of a multiyear effort by FedEx to streamline its operations and reduce costs. FedEx and UPS have to navigate the changing U.S. Trade Policies, including the ending of duty-free shipments for "de minimis", low-value e-commerce from China-linked discount retailer Shein?and Temu. This has had a negative impact on volumes. LSEG data shows that while its adjusted profit for the fourth quarter of $6.31 surpassed analysts' estimates of $5.96 but margins at its Federal Express core segment dropped to 7.7% compared to 8.4% a year ago as employee costs, fuel costs and outsourced transportation costs rose. Strong domestic demand helped boost quarterly revenue by 12.6%, to $25 billion. This was higher than the $24.04 billion expected. FedEx announced it would also buy back up to $1 billion worth of shares in 2026. Wall Street is focusing on the performance and results of FedEx's package delivery business. It is experiencing a?softness? in ecommerce, along with emerging strength? in the premium overnight business. FedEx's core segment, express, reported a revenue increase of 14%. The freight trucking division's revenue grew by 5%. Federal Express's segment operating results improved in the third quarter due to higher U.S. domestic package yields and International Priority Package yields, the company stated in a press release. Reporting by Nandan Mandyam from Bengaluru, and Lisa Baertlein from Los Angeles. Editing by Vijay Kishore.
-
FedEx expects a 11% increase in revenue by 2026 after strong fourth-quarter profits on pricing
FedEx, a global delivery company, said that it expects its revenue to increase?about 11 percent and earnings per share to be in the range of 16 to 18 dollars. This comes after reporting on Tuesday a higher profit for the fourth quarter, helped by increased rates. FedEx's fiscal year has been aligned with the calendar. The fiscal year of FedEx ended on May 31, previously. This comes just weeks after FedEx Freight was spun off on June 1, as part of a multi-year effort to streamline its operations and reduce costs by billions of dollars. FedEx reported an adjusted profit per share of $6.31 for the quarter ending May 31 compared to $6.07 one year earlier. The quarter's revenue increased 12.6%, to $25 billion. This was largely due to strong domestic demand. FedEx and UPS are navigating the evolving U.S. Trade Policies, including the end of U.S. Duty-Free, "de minimis", low-value e-commerce from major China-linked discount retailer like Shein and Temu. This has had a negative impact on volumes. Wall Street is focusing on the performance of FedEx's package delivery business. It is still experiencing a softness in ecommerce, while gaining strength in its premium overnight business. FedEx's core segment, express, reported a 14% increase in revenue. The freight trucking division's revenue increased by 5%. Federal Express' segment operating results have improved in the last quarter, due to higher U.S. domestic package yields and International Priority package returns," the company stated in a press release. The world's biggest?air cargo operator reported an increase of?66% in fuel costs during the third quarter. It has a fleet of 391 turboprops and 391 cargo planes. (Reporting from Nandan Mandayam, Bengaluru; Lisa Baertlein, Los Angeles; editing by Vijay Kishore).
-
El Nino could increase gas exports from Argentina to Brazil according to OLACDE's executive
A representative of the 'Latin American and 'Caribbean 'Energy Organization' (OLACDE), said that the El Nino phenomenon could cause Argentina's natural-gas sales to 'Brazil' to increase in the spring months in the Southern hemisphere. A strong El Nino will increase rainfall and frequency in Argentina. This would allow for greater use of hydroelectric power plants. The phenomenon will cause drought in western Brazil. This will require more natural gas to produce electricity at thermal power plants. Guido Maiulini of the strategic advisory department told Friday that Argentina may be able to export surpluses due to El Nino's impact on the Parana River. OLACDE is a regional organisation of 27 countries. Maiulini didn't estimate the amount that?gas sales, which are currently done ad-hoc, could increase. For the first time last year, Argentina exported gas to Brazil through Bolivian pipelines from its Vaca Muerta shale. REGIONAL GAS MARK Argentina is developing Vaca Muerta, located in the western part of the country. This area holds the second largest unconventional gas reserves worldwide and the fourth largest oil reserves. According to OLACDE a greater regional integration of gas is possible due to Vaca Muerta’s unconventional?resources? and?unmet demands in certain markets. OLACDE estimates that expanding regional trade would require an investment of $18 billion for infrastructure in 'Brazil and Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay. This includes a new gas pipeline connecting the Argentine province Santa Fe with 'Brazil Porto Alegre' and modifications to an existing pipeline linking Argentina to Bolivia. Maiulini said Argentina is currently negotiating with Brazil new gas export deals using pipelines located in Bolivia. (Reporting and writing by Eliana Razewski, Leila Miller, Editing by Rod Nickel).
-
UN agency: UN evacuation plan for ships stranded in Gulf underway
The United Nations shipping agency announced on Tuesday that an evacuation plan is in place to allow hundreds of ships with 11,000 seafarers stuck?in?the Gulf to sail through the Strait of Hormuz. This follows the agreement between Iran and the U.S. to end hostilities. A spokesperson for the United Nations said, "We've started to contact the ships in order to begin the evacuation." The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) spokesperson said that the evacuation would begin as soon as possible. The IMO stated that it had?secured the necessary safety assurances and verified conditions for safe sailing. In a press release, IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez stated that "this?large-scale?operation will be carried out closely in cooperation with Iran and Oman as well as all other coastal'states' in the region. The United States, too, are involved." Oman's Defence Ministry said in a separate advisory that the evacuation process, under the IMO Plan, which has been discussed for months, would be phased. It said that "given the elevated collision risk in the current climate,?a gradual and managed evacuation of vessel traffic was required." The Omani Ministry said that the "so-called Traffic Separation Scheme" was not safe to use at the moment and two temporary routes north and south could be used as evacuation routes. The advisory from the Ministry stated that "parties coordinated by IMO will contact each vessel individually to inform them of the?transit date they have been assigned." The scheme adopted by the IMO in '68 established routes through Iranian - and Omani waters. The waters surrounding Hormuz are a major risk due to floating mines. (Reporting and editing by Gareth Jones, Andrew Cawthorne and Jonathan Saul)
What disturbances have been reported after the global tech blackout?
A worldwide tech outage that appeared to be associated with concerns at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and Microsoft impacted operations at airports, airline companies, banks and media outlets on Friday.
Here is a list of disruptions that have actually been reported across sectors:
AIRPORTS, AIRLINES
Airports and airline companies around the world alerted of delays and cancellations or changed to manual check-ins, with some halting flights.
- Berlin airport temporarily halted all flights, a. spokesperson informed . Lufthansa's Eurowings stated. it was stopping domestic German flights as well as flights to and. from Britain up until 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).
- Spanish airport operator Aena reported a. computer systems event, while Lisbon airport, Portugal's. biggest, also experienced disruptions. Amsterdam's Schiphol. Airport and Brussels airport were also apparently affected.
- Leading Dutch airline KLM stated it could not manage. flights on Friday and had actually suspended most of its operations. Air. France, KLM's parent business, likewise stated its operations were. interfered with.
- Turkish Airline companies was experiencing issues with ticketing,. check-ins and booking, it stated in a post on X. Budapest Airport. said a number of airline check-in systems were out of operation.
- Major U.S. carriers consisting of American Airlines,. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines stopped. flights on Friday early morning, pointing out interaction problems. American. Airline companies later stated it had re-established operations. Frontier. and Spirit, too, canceled regulations to ground airplanes.
- Ryanair stated it had actually canceled a little number of. flights.
- An SAS representative said the Scandinavian airline company was. anticipating hold-ups.
- Qantas, Australia's national airline, and Sydney. airport said aircrafts were postponed but still flying.
- Swiss air traffic control business Skyguide stated it had. momentarily decreased Swiss air traffic capability by 30%.
- Roughly 90% of flights at London Gatwick Airport and. London Stansted Airport had actually been postponed or canceled.
- Indian carriers including SpiceJet, Indigo,. Akasa Air, Vistara, Air India and Air India Express were likewise. experiencing issues on Friday.
- Philippines' Cebu Air stated it was dealing with. technical issues and system downtime due to the Microsoft. failure.
FINANCIALS
- JPMorgan Chase & & Co said that the majority of its. ATMs were running generally and that the bank was working to. bring back service to the staying ATMs.
- Australia's biggest bank, Commonwealth Bank, stated. earlier issues impacting PayID immediate transfers had actually been. resolved. Services consisting of Netbank, the CommBank app, CommBiz,. merchant payments and ATMs were available.
- Several significant oil and gas trading desks in London and. Singapore were struggling to perform trades, 6 industry. sources told . The Singapore Exchange stated some services. including its rate feed web service were temporarily affected.
- Macquarie Capital was not able to supply liquidity for. unexpired warrants on HKEX.
- Providers of South African lenders Capitec Bank. and Absa were completely restored after experiencing. interruptions.
- London Stock market Group's's Workspace news. and data platform suffered an interruption that affected user access. worldwide, triggering disturbance across financial markets. It said. in a client memo that technical problems on FX area and forward. rates had actually been dealt with and services brought back.
- Some brokerages in India were facing technical. troubles, traders at the brokerages told .
- German insurance provider Allianz stated it was experiencing. a significant outage that was affecting staff members' capability to log on. to their computer systems.
- Some German banks were facing disruptions, a spokesperson. for the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft monetary market association. stated on Friday, without offering details.
- Barclays stated its Smart Financier digital. investing platform had actually been impacted.
- Brazilian lending institution Bradesco stated its digital platforms were. not available on Friday.
MEDIA
- Britain's Sky News resumed broadcasting after an. hours-long blackout, however was operating at minimal capacity and. without much of its normal services.
- Australia's state broadcaster, ABC, said it was. experiencing a significant network outage, without giving a reason.
- Routine programming at Sky News Australia was interrupted.
EMERGENCY SITUATION SERVICES, HEALTHCARE
- England's National Health Service said reservations of. doctors' visits and client records were disrupted, but. emergency services had not been impacted.
- Several medical facilities in the Netherlands had to scale down. their operations, Dutch press company ANP reported.
- Victoria state police in Australia stated some internal. systems had been hit, however emergency services were running. normally.
- Copenhagen's fire department said on X it was experiencing. issues getting instantly transmitted fire alarms, and. urged people to call 112 in case of a fire.
- 2 hospitals in the northern German cities of Luebeck and. Kiel canceled optional operations scheduled for Friday.
- Non-profit hospital chain Mass General Brigham stated the. outage impacted a lot of its systems. Due to the intensity of the. concern, it canceled all formerly scheduled non-urgent. surgical treatments, treatments and medical gos to for the day.
- Quest Diagnostics stated its client services and. consumer contact teams were operating with reduced capacity and. clients might experience longer waiting and service times.
- Lab provider Labcorp stated the failure. was impacting some of its service systems, call center. operations and results delivery, including doctor and client. portals.
- Hospital operator Providence stated it brought back a key. performance allowing nurses, doctors and caretakers to. access patient records and carry out clinical documentation, however. other scientific applications and workstations were still. affected.
SHIPPING, LOGISTICS
- Maersk stated the blackout impacted a few of its. run terminals, however all were back in operation within a few. hours.
- FedEx Corp said that its network was now operating. across the globe after it faced significant disruptions due to a. around the world IT failure experienced by a third-party software. vendor. Competing UPS also warned of potential shipment. delays.
- Railroad operator Union Pacific said the. CrowdStrike software application failure had differing levels of impact. across its network, however backup protocols helped it interact. with its teams and dispatchers. It later said its network was. open to organization.
OTHERS
- Important facilities in Germany had actually been affected, an. interior ministry representative said.
- New Zealand's parliamentary computer systems were. affected, according to Rafael Gonzalez-Montero, head of the. parliamentary service.
- Australia's Telstra Group was dealing with disruptions. to a few of its systems, a representative for the telecom firm informed. .
- The Baltic Hub container terminal in the Polish city of. Gdansk stated it was struck by the worldwide outage in Microsoft systems. and was working to resolve the problem.
- The Paris Olympics arranging committee said the cyber. interruption was slowing its operations, however the effect was restricted. and ticket sales were unaffected.
- The United Arab Emirates foreign ministry said its. electronic systems were functioning usually again.
- Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker, stated it. briefly stopped production and despatch operations. It resumed. operations and did not expect a material impact from the. event.
- Port Houston said two of its terminals experienced system. failures as part of the worldwide tech interruption. All systems were. later on up and running.
- U.S. telecom huge Verizon initially stated international. IT problems might impact some of its services and store. operations could be restricted, however its network was not impacted.
- Soccer club Manchester United said on X that it. had to delay an arranged release of tickets.
- Starbucks said its mobile order-ahead and pay. features were briefly down due to a worldwide tech failure.
- North American pipeline operator Enbridge stated it. did experience some effects to organization applications as an outcome. of the CrowdStrike software upgrade.
(source: Reuters)