Asia

The price differential between Urals and Brent for December arrived in India on Thursday, as the flagship blend of Russia was traded at its steepest discount in over a year. This is due to new U.S. sanctions against Russia's top oil producers. The price difference for Russia's flagship Urals oil in Indian ports has widened from $2 to $4 per barrel under Brent for December arrival. This is the largest discount in about a month. According to estimates and shipping and trading sources, Russia's oil imports to western ports will decrease in November due to higher refinery runs but remain...

CMA CGM reversed its decision to suspend cargo shipments into Mali due to safety concerns and fuel shortages, the French group announced on Thursday after a meeting the authorities. Early in September, the al-Qaeda-linked militant 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 stated in an email that "overland transportation has been severely impacted by security challenges and fuel shortages, in terms of transit times and costs." CMA CGM decided to continue its...

Metropolis Technologies has raised $1.6 Billion in new capital for its expansion into other sectors, such as retail, gas stations and restaurants. This funding round includes a $500,000,000 Series D equity round, led by LionTree. The company was valued at $5 billion. SoftBank Vision Fund and Vista Equity Partners were also involved in the round. Los Angeles-based company secured a syndicated $1.1 billion term loan led J.P. Morgan and backed by cashflow from its parking operations. In an interview, Chief Executive Alex Israel stated that the new capital would be used to hire and accelerate technical talent, speed up product...

AD Ports Group, based in Abu Dhabi, announced on Thursday that it had signed an agreement to purchase a majority stake in a container port in Syria's major commercial port for $22million. This is the latest indication of how Syria continues to attract investment in its efforts to rebuild. AD Ports, a joint venture with the France-based CMA CGM Group shipping company, will purchase a 20% stake at the Latakia International Container Terminal. The terminal is the dominant trader of agricultural and industrial products, handling 95% of Syria’s container volume. Syria is looking to raise money from international investors to...

Two industry sources reported on Thursday that Russia's second largest oil producer, Lukoil has begun diverting Caspian Oil flows from Baku, the Azeri capital, to Makhachkala, the Russian port, to combat Western sanctions. According to one source, the Russian flagged tanker Lady Leila is expected to arrive in Makhachkala later on Thursday with a cargo 5,000 metric tonnes of crude oil from Lukoil’s Korchagin Oilfield located in the Caspian Sea. Last month, the United States and United Kingdom imposed sanctions against Russia's second largest oil company. This has complicated its normal operations. Lukoil shipped its oil from Caspian Sea fields...

Three sources familiar with this matter confirmed on Thursday that the Volgograd refinery of Russian oil giant Lukoil has stopped operations following a drone strike by Ukrainians. Since several months, Ukraine has been attacking Russian oil refineries and depots. Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes have also targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure in a conflict that is now approaching its fourth anniversary. The primary processing unit CDU-5 with a daily production of 9,100 tons or 66.700 barrels a day, a fifth of total plant capacity, and a hydrocracker that can produce 11,000 tons a day, were both damaged in the attack. Lukoil has not...

The Norwegian Police announced on Thursday that they have closed their investigation into the suspected sightings of drones in Oslo Airport in September. They cited insufficient evidence to prove that drones were present. Oslo and Copenhagen airports were closed for several hours between September 22 and 23 after drones reported in the area caused the closure of the airspace. In recent months, drones have caused significant disruption in Europe. They forced the temporary closure of airports across several countries. Some officials blamed these incidents on Russian "hybrid war". Moscow denies any involvement in the incidents. Norwegian police confirmed that they...

Metropolis Technologies has raised $1.6 Billion in new capital for its expansion into other sectors, such as retail, gas stations and restaurants. This funding round includes a $500,000,000 Series D equity round, led by LionTree. The company was valued at $5 billion. SoftBank Vision Fund and Vista Equity Partners were also involved in the round. Los Angeles-based company secured a $1.1billion syndicated loan led by J.P. Morgan backed by cash flow from its parking operations. In an interview, Chief Executive Alex Israel stated that the new capital would be used to hire and accelerate technical talent, speed up product development...

According to LSEG and market sources, Russia's seaborne gasoil and diesel exports dropped 4% from September to 2.37 million metric tonnes, due to seasonal and unplanned refinery shutdowns that reduced fuel production. Market sources reported that exports of ultra low-sulphur fuel via Primorsk fell 5.7% on a month-to-month basis to 0.906 millions tons. LSEG data shows that Turkey remained the top buyer of Russian gasoil and diesel, with imports increasing 1%, to 1.0 millions tons. The shipment to Brazil dropped 73%, to 74,000 tonnes. According to LSEG, Brazil increased its diesel imports due to the shrinking Russian supply. Brazil imports...

Emirates Group announced on Thursday that its net profit grew by 13% to $2.9 billion for the six-month period ending September. The company cited a strong and consistent travel demand in all regions, which boosted their airline's business. The Gulf carrier is continuing to recover from the pandemic and consolidating Dubai's status as a global hub for aviation. In a press release, Chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum stated that "global demand for air travel and travel services have been buoyant despite geopolitical events in some markets and economic concerns." Emirates Group plans to increase capacity with...

U.S. president Donald Trump has targeted China as his top economic rival with a cascade on tariffs that are worth billions of dollar. He is trying to reduce a trade surplus, bring back lost manufacturing and cripple fentanyl traffic. In reverse chronological order, here are the key events of this year in U.S.-China Trade War: November 5 - Beijing suspends all retaliatory duties on U.S. goods imports until November 10, including farm products at up to 15%. However, it keeps 10% levies as a countermeasure to Trump's "Liberation Day tariffs". China is easing measures against U.S. companies and reducing tariffs...

MSCI, the index provider, announced late Wednesday that it will include four India-listed firms, including Fortis Healthcare, Paytm and fintech company Paytm, in its Global Standard Indexes, as part of a quarterly review, effective November 24. Siemens Energy India and GE Vernova T&D India, two power companies, are also joining the index. Nuvama estimates that the inclusion of four Indian stocks into MSCI's Global Standard Indexes will attract a total of $1.46 billion in inflows. MSCI indexes are key benchmarks used by global investors. They manage approximately $18,3 trillion in assets. Even small changes in the index composition can have...

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...

Three sources with knowledge of the matter said that Trafigura had delivered large quantities to London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses in Malaysia to take advantage of a financial agreement. Sources said that they did not know the details of the deal, which could have been incentives or rent deals. Trafigura has declined to comment. On October 30, the LME-registered warehouses at Port Klang in Malaysia saw an increase of nearly 100,000 metric tonnes in their stock of aluminium. The total now stands at 366,850 tonnes. Sources said that Trafigura had put the majority of this aluminum on LME warrants, which are...

Aquilius Investment Partners, a Singapore-based company, announced on Monday that it had raised $1.1 billion to fund its second Asia Pacific Real Estate Secondaries Fund, making it the largest in the region. According to Preqin, secondaries, where investors purchase existing stakes in funds, are the fastest-growing alternative strategy globally. Data provider predicts that global alternative assets will reach $29.2 trillion in 2029. Secondaries are projected to grow at the fastest rate of 13.1% per year through 2029. This is due to slow exits and increasing private wealth demand. Aquilius announced in a press release that the fundraising included over $750...

The London Metal Exchange said Thursday that it intends to set permanent rules imposing restrictions on members who have large positions in contracts near them due to low inventory levels. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd., the world's largest and oldest market for industrial metals which is owned, placed temporary restrictions on June following a spike in premiums for copper contracts near by. LME stated that these measures were implemented in response to a low-stock situation combined with large positions in nearby dates. This had led the LME Special Committee to instruct market participants to reduce their large on-exchange position....

ANE (Cayman), a Chinese-based transport and delivery services company, said Tuesday that a consortium including its largest shareholder Centurium Capital and Temasek, had offered to buy it out. The deal valued the group at HK$14.33bn ($1.84bn). Shareholders can choose between a cash payment of HK$12.18 for each ANE share, an alternative share, or a mix of both. The cash consideration represents a premium to the last closing price of the company on October 24, which was 29.6%. Centurium Capital owns around 24.32% ANE shares. Temasek, True Light and other investors do not hold any ANE shares. ANE had earlier this...

United Parcel Service on Tuesday forecast revenue for the fourth quarter above Wall Street estimates, relying on price increases to offset a soft demand from business-to-business in the U.S. The company estimated revenue at about $24 billion. According to LSEG data, analysts' average quarterly revenue was $23.8 billion. In premarket trading, shares of the company rose 12%. The largest parcel delivery company in the world reported a net profit of $1.48billion, or 1.74 cents per share for the three-month period ended September 30. This compares to $1.50billion, or 1.76 cents per share a year ago. UPS and FedEx have seen...

Interfax reported Friday that Russian Railways, the state-owned railway company in Russia, plans to cut management positions as it faces lower freight volumes, and a general slowdown of the Russian economy. The Russian industrial giants - from automakers and railways to producers of metals, coal and cement - are suffering due to a weakening demand at home, low cost Chinese imports, rising interest rates, and shrinking markets. Sources say that Russian Railways (which employs 700,000 people) has already asked its central office staff to take 3 unpaid days per month. Other Russian companies such as carmaker Avtovaz and cement maker...

ANE (Cayman), said that it received on Friday a conditional offer from a consortium, including Centurium and Temasek, for a potential take-private transaction which could lead to the delisting of ANE from Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In a filing to the stock exchange, the Chinese transport and delivery company stated that an indicative proposal had been submitted on 17 September. It involved Centurium Capital which owns approximately 24,422% of ANE shares and entities related to Temasek, True Light Capital and other companies. After trading was resumed after the announcement on September 18, shares in ANE fell 12%. According to the...

Wall Street fell on Thursday as signs of weakness among regional banks frightened investors who were already on edge due to the U.S. - China trade tensions. Zions Bancorporation shares fell after the regional lender disclosed an unexpected loss in two loans made to its California division. This added to investor anxiety about hidden credit pressure as lenders navigate economic uncertainty while interest rates are still relatively high. Western Alliance's slump also fueled concerns about regional banks after it announced it had initiated a lawsuit for fraud against one of their borrowers. Investors were watching the S&P 500, which recently...

Silver, which flooded the United States in the early part of this year because of fears about tariffs on imports, is likely to return to London's physical market where shortages of metal have driven the spot price over U.S. Futures. Silver was shipped to the United States by traders who wanted to avoid possible tariffs. This is because it was included on a list of critical minerals for the United States in September. The move is part of an effort to secure domestic supply chain for key metals. Silver spot was around $50.10 an ounce Friday after reaching a record...

Transnet's CEO announced on Thursday that a South African court had ordered China's CRRC E-Loco, which has been in a long-running dispute with Transnet, to release locomotive parts it had refused to provide. This decision is a boost to the plans of Transnet to improve its performance. Both parties are involved in a legal battle after Transnet halted 1,064 locomotives supplied by four original equipment manufacturers, including CRRC E-Loco. Transnet claimed that contracts for 2014 worth $54.4 billion rand (3.18 billion dollars) were illegally awarded by previous company leadership. Transnet reported that in 2023 161 locomotives provided by CRRC E-Loco...

IKEA acquired U.S. logistic technology firm Locus on Tuesday. The Swedish furniture retailer claimed that the deal would improve its delivery to customers, as it expands online sales. This acquisition is part of a $2.2billion push by Ingka Group - the largest global IKEA franchisee - in the U.S., where it is competing with Wayfair and Walmart, and also has to contend with increased tariffs on imported goods that increase its costs. IKEA refused to reveal the value of the transaction. Locus' most recent funding round, in 2021 was reported to have valued the company at $300 million. IKEA claimed...