Latest News
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Old Dominion misses its second-quarter estimate amid freight recession
Old Dominion Freight Line, which operates in a long-term freight downturn, reported its second-quarter profit and revenue below Wall Street expectations on July 30. The U.S. trucking sector is struggling with low volumes, persistent overcapacity and low rates, as a result of the recessionary phase that began after the post-pandemic boom in 2022. Experts predict that the freight recession will continue through the second half. As the industry struggles to cope with the changing global macroeconomic climate, extra capacity is slowly leaving the market. Old Dominion says that the slow growth of domestic industrial production also has a negative impact on carrier results. Before the bell, shares of Thomasville's less-than truckload carrier (LTL), which serves companies in the manufacturing, retail, automotive, and healthcare sectors, fell 4.4%. LTL companies operate by transporting multiple shipments for different customers in a single truck. These shipments are then routed via a network service centers where they are transferred onto other trucks that have similar destinations. Operating expenses as a percent of revenue have increased to 74.6%, up from 71.9% one year ago. An increase in the operating ratio indicates an increase in cost, and therefore lower profitability. Total revenue for the company fell by 6.1%, to $1.41 Billion in the third quarter. Profit per share fell by 14%, to $1.27. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, analysts on average expected revenue of 1,42 billion dollars and profit per share of $1.29. (Reporting and editing by Pooja Deai in Bengaluru, Abhinav Paramar from Bengaluru)
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IndiGo's first-quarter earnings are lower due to currency losses
Interglobe Aviation (the operator of IndiGo) reported a decline in its first-quarter profits on Wednesday. The company was hit by escalating forex losses as well as softer growth due to border tensions between India & Pakistan. India's largest carrier by market share posted a profit for the quarter ending April-June of 21.61 billion rupies ($247.2m), down from 27.27 bn rupies a year ago. The total expenditure rose by 10% and foreign exchange losses increased by more than double. Analysts say the carrier's success has been attributed to a combination of factors, including increased incomes, sustained travel demand post-pandemic, and continued network and fleet expansion. Booking cancellations in April and may following the border conflict between India, Pakistan and Afghanistan impacted the quarterly revenue growth. In June, following the political unrest in India, a rival airline Air India's plane crashed in Ahmedabad, killing 260 people. This caused flying anxiety in many Indians. Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive of Pieter Elbers Aviation said that the June quarter was marked by external challenges which created headwinds in the aviation sector. In terms of available seat kilometers, the company's capacity for the first quarter grew by 16.4% compared to last year. In May, the firm projected a growth of "mid teens percentage range". IndiGo was able to cushion a 5% decline in yields. Yields are the average amount of money earned per passenger, per kilometre. IndiGo shares closed down 0.3% ahead of the results.
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India Aviation Watchdog Finds 263 Faults in Indian Airlines' Annual Audit
India's aviation regulator announced on Wednesday that it found 263 safety-related mistakes at the country's airline companies, including 23 at IndiGo, the largest carrier, and 51 at Air India, the second largest. This was part of the regular audit conducted by the agency every year. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that the audits were conducted in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization requirements as well as global best practices. The DGCA found 51 safety lapses in Air India's July audit. These included lack of training for some pilots as well as the use of simulators that were not approved. The audit had nothing to do with the Boeing 787 crash that claimed 260 lives in Ahmedabad last month. Air India's budget carrier, Air India Express, was also cited by the DGCA as having 17 deficiencies. The regulator discovered 25 mistakes at Air India Express. Air India Express is the budget airline. Akasa Air has not yet been audited. The regulator did no specify what type of violations were found, but divided the list into "Level II", or other non-compliances. The DGCA reported that 19 "Level 1" breaches had been found by Indian airlines. Reporting by Abhijith Ganahapavaram, Editing by Kim Coghill
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Ukraine's farming unions raise barley exports from China
The UAC, a farming union, said that Ukraine exported 140,000 metric tonnes of barley in July so far and will likely ship between 350,000 and 400,000 tons in the month of August. "China has contracted 500,000-555,000 tons of barley (for July-August). UAC's weekly report stated that another 350,000 to 400 tons of barley still needs to be shipped by August. The total volume of barley exported for the months of July and August was 770,000 tonnes. Barva Invest, a Ukrainian analyst, said that Chinese companies had contracted to purchase up to 700 000 tons of barley from Ukraine in 2025. Ukraine is one of the largest barley producers and exporters in the world. Beijing has certified it to supply barley for Chinese markets. According to the Ukrainian grain traders' union UGA, China will be the largest importer of Ukrainian barley for the 2023/24 crop season. The volume of imports is 702,000 tons. (Reporting and editing by David Goodman.)
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Minister says that Turkey will begin supplying natural gas to Syria on August 2.
Alparslan Bayraktar, Energy Minister at the state-owned Anadolu News Agency, said that Turkey will begin supplying Syria with natural gas as of August 2. Azerbaijan will also be involved in exports through Turkey's Kilis Province. Ankara has become the main foreign ally of the new Syrian Government. It is also positioning itself as a key player in Syria’s reconstruction. In May, during a trip to Damascus, the Turkish Energy Minister Bayraktar said that Turkey would supply Syria with 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, along with 1,000 megawatts. In a statement made this month, he said that SOCAR of Azerbaijan could also be a part of the project. He said that the gas would also help Syria meet its electricity requirements, and would be used to produce electricity in Syria's existing power stations. He said that "we made a swap deal with Azerbaijan and the gas from Azerbaijan is going to be exported via Kilis, Syria, to Aleppo." Qatar will also be involved, he added, in terms of finance, and on Saturday, the ministers of all three countries will mark the beginning of the gas flow. He added, "With the 6,000,000 cubic metres of natural gas we plan to send to that country, we'll be able produce 1,200 Megawatts of electric power." Bayraktar stated that Ankara will also supplement this with 500 megawatts to help Syria's energy needs.
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Logitech: Production shift to China reduces tariff impact
Hanneke Faber, the chief executive of Logitech International, said that they are making progress in moving their production lines from China to reduce any impact from U.S. duties on computer peripherals. In April, the changes were announced to reduce the impact of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. These duties currently range between 20% and 30% for the Logitech keyboards and mice that are made in China. Faber said after Logitech announced its Q1 2026 results that "we stated in April that we were at 40 percent of products bound for U.S. coming from China, and by the year's end we will be at 10 percent." She added, "We're a bit better than 30% right now. We are on track." She said that the shift of production lines from Malaysia to Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan did not lead to an increase in material costs. (Reporting and editing by John Revill)
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Microsoft restores service to Russia-backed Nayara Energy
Microsoft has restored its services to the Russian-backed Indian refiner Nayara, Nayara’s lawyer said in a New Delhi Court, just days after it terminated services because of European Union sanctions. Nayara has been forced to scale back operations at its 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery for lack of sufficient fuel storage and vessel owners' demand to end their contracts after it was hit by the EU's latest sanctions. Microsoft has suspended its service following the EU's new round of sanctions against Russia, its energy sector and Nayara. Nayara is majority owned by Russian entities like oil giant Rosneft. Nayara approached a New Delhi Court to order the restoration of Microsoft services. It claimed that its employees could not access company emails or data for their day-today operations. Nayara’s lawyer informed the judge on Wednesday that "the matter has been resolved", as Microsoft had restored services to Nayara. Microsoft has confirmed that it has restored Nayara Energy's services in a press release. Microsoft also added, "We are in constant discussions with the European Union regarding service continuity for the Organization." Rosneft, the Russian oil giant, owns 49.13% of Nayara, and a consortium led by Italy's Mareterra Group, and Russian investment group United Capital Partners, also holds a similar share. Nayara runs India's largest refinery and third-largest retail fuel outlet at Vadinar, in western Gujarat. As reported previously, Nayara turned to the Indian company Rediff.com for communication between its employees after Microsoft's services were discontinued. Reporting by Arpan chaturvedi Editing done by Eileen Soreng, Frances Kerry
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Kazakhstan and Turkey discuss an increase in oil exported via BTC
The press service for the president of Kazakhstan said that the two leaders discussed a possible increase of oil exports from Kazakhstan via the Baku, Tbilisi and Ceyhan (BTC), oil pipeline. The statement did not provide any additional information. "The delegations talked about issues of energy cooperation, including the prospects for increased exports via Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan oil pipe." Tokayev visited Turkey to attend a high-level meeting of the strategic cooperation council between Turkey and Russia. The agenda included cooperation on power generation, agriculture, and mining. According to state statistics, Kazakhstan increased its oil exports via BTC by 12% in the first half 2025 compared to last year's same period to 785,000 tonnes (34,000 barrels per days). Oil is transported to Baku via tankers from Aktau through the Caspian Sea. This port would need to be upgraded to increase export levels. The quality of the crude oil that enters the BTC pipeline also limits the amount of oil exported via BTC. In its development plan for the period up to 2029, Kazakhstan considered the construction of a transcaspian oil pipeline as well as marine terminals along the Kazakh and Azerbaijani coastlines of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked nation in the world. Its main source of income is oil exports. The two main routes to export its oil to the international market pass through Russia, to its Black Sea or Baltic ports. Statisticians state that the share of Kazakh oil exported outside Russian ports was just 5.9% in the first six months of 2025, and this percentage remained the same as it was in 2024. Tokayev has called for a rise in oil exports to bypass Russia by 2022. Kazmunaigaz, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and the Tengiz Oil Field in Azerbaijan signed an agreement to transport 1.5 million tonnes per year of oil from the Tengiz field to BTC.
The discount on Russian Urals oil sent to India has been the lowest since 2022.
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 than alternative oil.
The traders reported that spot discounts for Urals crude for cargoes arriving to India in August were reduced to an average of $1.70-2 per barrelle to Brent dated on delivery ex ship (DES) basis, down from $2.50 to $2.50 a barrel for Brent dated on DES basis for July.
This is the smallest discount on Urals oil cargoes compared to Brent dated in Indian ports, since the Ukraine War broke out in the year 2022.
Since April of this year, the Russian oil grade has traded at a price that is largely below the $60 price per barrel cap set by the West. This allows Western companies to offer shipping and insurance services for the barrels.
The traders stated that the high demand for Urals oil in India and Turkey - the two biggest buyers of this grade - is supporting the price.
LSEG data shows that Turkey's imports from Russia of Urals crude reached their highest level in June since May 2024, due to healthy refinery margins as well as seasonal demand for motor gasolines.
In July, the Urals oil loadings will decline from June due to increased refinery production in Russia.
The Russian oil supply will also decline in August due to a planned shutdown of the Sakhalin-1 Project, which exports Sokol Oil.
India is the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil after Moscow diverted energy away from the European Union which imposed an import ban in late 2022.
Sources claim that several Indian refineries, which normally purchase Russian oil at the spot market, will not receive enough Urals oil to deliver in August. India is looking at building three new strategic reserves of oil to increase its emergency stockpile, and improve energy security.
The deal signed between India's largest refiner Reliance Industries and Russian oil giant Rosneft in 2013 saw large volumes of Urals oil shipped to India. This has limited the amount of crude oil available on the spot market.
(source: Reuters)