East Asia

Three sources familiar with the decision told reporters that Venezuela's PDVSA, the state-owned oil company, is asking joint ventures to reduce crude production due to an "export paralysis". This will add pressure to an interim government struggling to hold on to power. These include?shutting down oilfields and well clusters, as the stocks onshore increase. The company also runs out of diluents needed to mix Venezuela's heavy crude before shipping. Caracas is currently in a political crisis, under an interim government. This comes after U.S. troops rescued President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday. Oil exports from the OPEC nation, which are its'main...

Two oil tankers?have made their way to Venezuela recently and other are navigating to the country. This is a sign that?state-run PDVSA has been trying to increase floating storage to keep selling crude despite a U.S. Blockade which has?reduced to a minimal exports. As part of a campaign to put pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, U.S. president Donald Trump announced this month a blockade against all vessels sanctioned by the U.S. government that enter or leave Venezuelan waters. This U.S. action has reduced oil exports to half their level in November. The U.S. seized two full cargoes Venezuelan oil,...

Three traders reported a record discount of $7 to $8 per barrel for Russian ESPO blend crude delivered in Chinese ports in January compared to?ICE Brent, due to the pressure from Western sanctions on this?grade. The deeper discounts have revived interest in buying, especially among China's independent private refiners known as "teapots". Earlier in December, ESPO discount prices at Chinese ports ranged from $5 to $6 per barrel as refiners stayed out of the market following harsh Western sanctions against Russian oil majors Rosneft, and Lukoil. Beijing has issued new import quotas and cheaper barrels to lure private refiners back...

The Gulf's major stock exchanges eased early on Tuesday as lower crude prices and concerns about oversupply and sluggish demand dominated the geopolitical tensions following the U.S. announcement that it would sell Venezuelan oil. Oil prices, a key factor in the Gulf financial markets, fell as traders weighed geopolitical risk against fundamentals that were bearish. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dipped 0.1%, mainly due to a 0.6% drop in oil giant Saudi Aramco as well as a 0.1% decline in Al Rajhi Bank. Dubai's main stock index fell 0.3%. Toll operator Salik?Co lost 0.6%, and top lender?Emirates NBD saw a 0.5%...

Uber and Lyft have teamed up with Chinese technology company Baidu in order to test self driving taxis in the UK by 2026. They are the latest ride hailing platforms to team up with self-driving car firms. Robotaxis is expected to become a safer form of transportation that reduces operational costs through reducing the reliance on drivers, and by optimizing routes using real-time data. Robotaxi services are being tested in several cities and countries, including robotic food delivery, daily travel and last-mile logistics. Here are some of the most significant robotaxi trials, tests and operations worldwide: UBER, LYFT, AND BAIDU...

Vietnam started building several large infrastructure projects on Friday, including five stations for a railway system connecting it to China, according to the government. The 'Southeast Asian Manufacturing Hub has been 'increasing public?investments, as one of its main drivers of economic growth. It is aiming for above 8% this year and over 10% in 2026. The government announced that the 391 km (243 miles) railway will cost?203.2 trillion Dong ($7.72billion). It will start in the border city Lao Cai and pass through Hanoi, before arriving in Haiphong. Haiphong is home to the largest seaport in north Vietnam. The government announced...

Noura Al-Mashaan, Minister of Public Works in Kuwait, said that Kuwait will sign a deal with China Communications Construction Company next week to 'complete the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port Project. According to the official journal, the 'Central 'Agency for Public Tenders has approved a contract on December 1, between the Ministry and CCCC for the engineering, procurement, and construction of port’s first phase. A government document seen by revealed that the contract is worth 1.219 billion Kuwaiti Dinars ($3.97billion). Al-Mashaan, a Kuwaiti news agency, said that the prime minister would?attend the ceremony of signing with the Chinese side. Mubarak al-Kabeer Port,...

According to traders and LSEG's ship-tracking data, Sibur, Russia’s largest producer and supplier of liquefied gas, delivered a.first cargo to China via the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga. Sibur mainly supplies LPG to Turkey. However, the demand for LPG has declined by?5%-6% per year, according to traders. Algeria and the U.S. also dominate its market. A trader commented that it was becoming increasingly difficult to export additional LPG volumes to Turkey. According to LSEG the large gas?carrier Pacific Moon has arrived in the Chinese port of Quanzhou, located in?the southern Fujian area at the end November. According to industry sources,...

Commodity traders Trafigura and Prateek Gupta, both Indian businessmen, told London's High Court that they had failed to prove their employees knew about or participated in a $600,000,000 metals fraud. This was as lawyers made final arguments in the long-running case. Gupta’s lawyers countered that?unusual trade practices indicated Trafigura employees devised the scheme underlying the dispute. This involved substituting low-value metals or nickel for cheap ones. Trafigura of Geneva, which sued Gupta in court more than two year ago, has insisted that no employees were aware of the fraud before cargo inspections, scheduled for November 2022, Gupta alleged that Trafigura...

The Russian Urals crude differentials remained unchanged on Wednesday. Kazakhstan, however, diverted some oil from the Caspian pipeline consortium?pipeline?in December due to a decrease in the route’s capacity. Kaztransoil, the oil pipeline operator in Kazakhstan, announced on Wednesday that the country would divert certain volumes of oil from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium network damaged to other routes such as China. Kazakhstan will increase its oil supplies to Russia and the Baku, Tbilisi, Ceyhan pipeline by 58,000 tonnes this month as compared to initial plans. A source in the industry said that a drone strike by Ukraine on a Black Sea...

The EU antitrust regulators warned that the BlackRock-MSC bid to buy CK 'Hutchison terminal in Barcelona port may lead to "higher prices" or a reduction in 'quality' of container terminal services. They opened a full investigation on Wednesday. The EU could force the two countries to make concessions in order to address "regulatory concerns". Terminal Investment Limited Holding, a subsidiary of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company based in Switzerland, and BlackRock, will acquire joint control over Hutchison’s terminal at Barcelona Port. The port is the main deep-sea gateway to and from Barcelona, as well as connecting with traffic from and to...

Officials said that an anti-graft committee in Nepal charged 55 'officials', including five ex-ministers and a Chinese contractor, with?corruption? in the construction of a Chinese funded airport in western Nepal. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed the case on Sunday at the Anti-Corruption Special Court, accusing the officials and the Chinese company of illegally?inflating the costs of building the Pokhara International Airport to more than $74 millions. Yagya?Regmi is the assistant spokesperson for the Special Court. She said that CIAA demanded that the inflated cost of?the project be repaid by the accused. This included China CAMC...

Equity investors looking for a smooth ride through 2026 may want to consider increasing their exposure beyond the artificial intelligence euphoria. Opportunities could be hidden in plain sight. Investors should be cautious. The valuations of U.S. equity are stretched. The Shiller price-earnings for the S&P 500 is above 40, which is very close to the levels during the dot-com boom in the 1990s. Markets have become 'highly concentrated. Goldman Sachs analysis shows that the five largest U.S. tech companies, Nvidia Apple Alphabet Microsoft and Amazon, have a combined value greater than?the Euro STOXX?50. This includes Britain, India Japan and Canada...

The federal government of Brazil plans to auction off the massive Tecon '10 container terminal at Santos Port in the first half of March, said Minister of Ports and airports Silvio Costa Filho on Friday. He said that more than 10 bidders have expressed interest in the auction, including the Philippines-based ICTSI, JBS, JSL and unnamed 'Arab investors. The Minister said that the minimum bid price will be below?6.4 billion (about $1.19 billion), the amount of money the winning bidder must invest to build and run the terminal. Roberto Lopes confirmed that the Rio Brasil Terminal, controlled by ICTSI will...

Data from the London Metal Exchange showed that, in November, the share of copper made in China among all available stocks increased. A favorable price arbitrage encouraged Chinese exports. The percentage of copper stock that is available or on a warrant The data revealed that the percentage of - of Chinese Origin in LME Warehouses had increased to 85% by the end of the last month from 82% at the beginning of October. A LME warrant is an ownership document. The absolute amount of Chinese copper stocks on the LME rose to 130,225 tonnes at the end last month from...

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...

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...

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...