Europe

Alstom, a French train manufacturer, announced on Friday that it received a $2.45 billion order from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority for M-9A railcars to be supplied to the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Railroad. Alstom announced that the contract, which MTA announced in June, would be booked during the second quarter 2025/26 fiscal years. MTA announced last month that Alstom pilot railcars would be delivered by 2029, and will enter service on Long Island Rail Road as passenger cars in 2030. It added that all 316 railcars included in this order would be delivered by the...

A newspaper advertisement published on Wednesday showed that Travel Food Services, a restaurant operator at airports, had set a price range of 1,045 to 1,100 rupees as its initial public offering. This follows the blockbuster IPO by HDB Financial Services. Travel Food Services' price range values it at 144.8 billion rupies ($1.69 billion), at the top end. The company plans to raise 20 billion rupies ($233.49m) through a three-day stock sale starting July 7. Kapur Family Trust will be the only shareholder to divest its shares. The Trust did not disclose if it would divest its entire shareholding. Travel Food...

The failure of an electrical substation component that was not properly maintained caused the fire at Heathrow Airport in March, according to Britain's National Energy System Operator. Ofgem, Britain's energy regulator, said that it had launched a formal enforcement investigation into National Grid Electricity Transmission in response to the findings of the report. The Heathrow airport closure on March 21, the busiest in Europe, cost airlines tens and millions of pounds. It also left thousands of passengers stranded. The incident also raised concerns about the resilience and stability of Britain's transport infrastructure. The National Energy System Operator's report stated that...

Here are some company news and stories that could impact the markets in France and Benelux or even individual stocks. ADP Airport Operator ADP has confirmed its targets for 2025. Ageas, a Belgian insurer, has acquired Saga Underwriting Business. Bloomberg reports that AIRBUS, a French aircraft manufacturer, has delivered 60 aircrafts to date. ARGAN Commercial landlord Argan has confirmed its financial targets for 2025. COLAS Bouygues subsidiary Colas won a contract for the renovation of a road in Alaska. FRANCE/POLITICS - French Prime Minister Francoise Bayrou has survived a no-confidence vote in the French parliament, Tuesday. The far-right National Rally...

The mining giant BHP Group announced on Wednesday that it had signed contracts with China’s COSCO Shipping to charter two Newcastlemax bulkers powered by ammonia and dual fuel. Two vessels will be delivered in 2028, and chartered for five years. The vessels will be primarily used to transport ore from Western Australia into Northeast Asia. These vessels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent and up to 95 per cent on a per-voyage basis compared to a conventionally-fuelled voyage, if they run on lower or low-to-zero GHG emissions ammonia, according to BHP. As part of its...

The company's Tuesday records revealed that Nasim Bahr Kish (an Iranian firm) which holds a controlling interest in Russia's Astrakhan Port has made an offer to buy the remaining shares. This includes a 25% share owned by the Russian government. Astrakhan Port is a port in Astrakhan, a city located in southern Russia. This move highlights Tehran's growing involvement in Russia’s export infrastructure, as both countries strengthen their economic ties while under Western sanctions. Kommersant, a Russian newspaper, broke the news first. The Iranian firm would gain full control of one of the most important Caspian Sea Terminals used to...

Sources in maritime security said that a limpet mine could have been responsible for the blast which damaged a Greek oil tanker off the coast of Libya last week. This is the fifth incident in recent months to affect commercial shipping in this region. On Monday, TMS, the Greece-based operator of the Marshall Islands flag tanker Vilamoura, said that the explosion occurred in the engine-room of the vessel as it was leaving the Libyan port Zuetina to head to Gibraltar on 27 June with 1,000,000 barrels of oil. Four maritime security sources stated that a limpet-mine was the likely cause...

The air traffic controller in Italy, Enav, said that flights in northwestern Italy were delayed by two hours on Saturday because of a malfunctioning radar transmission system in Milan. In a Sunday statement, the company announced that new departures and entry into the airspace covered under the system would be halted between 8:20 pm and 10:20 pm (1820-2020 GMT). The capacity was gradually restored, returning to normal at midnight. Enav activated a satellite emergency system to ensure safe management of existing flights in the air during the incident. Then, new air traffic was halted in accordance with international safety standards....

Heathrow Airport in Britain raised its revenue expectations for the year on Friday, following better than expected demand for long-haul flight demand amid a rebounding leisure market. In 2025, the airport, which is Europe's busiest hub, will generate revenues of 4,96 billion pounds (3,61 billion pounds) - a significant increase over previous estimates of 3,57 billion pounds. The easing of inflation and rising living costs has stimulated an increase in travel demand. However, the geopolitical and economical uncertainties in the Middle East as well as the United States continue to make the market challenging for leisure providers. Heathrow has said...

Sources in the shipping and insurance industries said that the cost of shipping to the Gulf has dropped over the last two days following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran. However, rates may rise if tensions continue to increase. Concerns were raised that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, through which 20% of the global oil and gas supply flows. There was also a fear that oil prices could rise to $100 per barrel. Supertankers that can transport 2 million barrels per day of oil saw their shipping rates more than double in the week...

European prosecutors have discovered a criminal conspiracy involving fake documentation of Chinese imports into Europe via the Greek port of Piraeus. This scheme defrauded the authorities of approximately 700 million euros (820 million dollars) in lost VAT and customs revenue. In a Thursday statement, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said that the investigation was conducted by 14 EU member countries, and included raids in Greece and Spain as well as France and Bulgaria. During more than 100 searches of offices and other locations, on Wednesday, ten suspects including two customs agents were arrested. In the Port of Piraeus law enforcement...

The British outsourcing company Serco announced on Thursday that its North American market will drive organic growth during the first half 2025. This is due to a large volume of contracts in defence won last year. Serco, a company that provides government with services in the areas of security, immigration and health, and defence, has been positioned to profit from geopolitical tensions as countries increase their defence budgets and strengthen their security and military services. Serco has grown its defense business to around 40% of the total revenue, following the acquisition of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Training and Satellite Ground Network...

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...

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...

Ireneusz Fafara, the chief executive of Orlen's Czech refinery, said that after June 30th, it will no longer purchase Russian oil. Orlen said that the contract with Rosneft to supply Russian oil to the Litvinov Refinery in Czech Republic is the last contract linking it to Russian oil. Fafara said at a press conference that "we freed Central Europe today from Russian oil." In April, the Czech Republic announced that it was becoming Fully independent The completion of the capacity upgrades of the TAL pipeline from the west has resulted in the first time ever that Russia will be able...

Calculations based on two sources indicate that Russia's daily oil output from its western ports is expected to be 1.93 million barrels a day in July. This is a slight decrease from the plan for June, due to an anticipated increase in refinery runs. Daily oil loadings in Russia from Primorsk and Novorossiisk, as well as from Kazakhstan's KEBCO, and Siberian Light grades of oil, will decrease by 3% from this month. According to calculations based upon data from industry sources, the offline primary oil refinery capacity of Russia is expected to fall by 3.7% from June to 3,21 million...

A document published on Friday revealed that Germany may change its foreign trade laws to prevent the Nord Stream 2 company from being takenover. This is part of Berlin’s efforts to stop any resumption in Russian gas imports. Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, Germany has been looking for alternatives to cheap Russian gas. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would ensure that Nord Stream 2, a project the country had once backed, wouldn't go into operation. However, the country currently has no legal way to stop the sale of assets owned by Russian giant Gazprom. The Nord...

Two industry sources said that Kazakhstan's Tengizchevroil exported 100,000 metric tonnes of oil to Germany via Russia's Druzhba pipe last month, as it ramped up production. TCO is 50% owned by Chevron, 25% by ExxonMobil, 20% KazMunayGaz, and 5% Lukoil. Tengiz is the largest oilfield in Kazakhstan. The consortium declined comment. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is Kazakhstan's primary oil export channel. It ships around 80% via Russia's Black Sea Terminal. The world's biggest landlocked country, however, is trying to diversify its routes of export. Chevron announced in January that it had started a $48 billion expansion at Tengiz. This is...

Tanjug News Agency reported that the United States had postponed its sanctions against NIS, a Russian-owned Serbian Oil Company for a forth time. NIS has secured three waivers so far, with the last expiring later this Friday. NIS, which has a majority ownership by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom in Pancevo (just outside Belgrade), operates Serbia's sole oil refinery. The plant has a capacity of 4.8 millions tons per year and can meet the majority of Serbia's oil needs. The sanctions could threaten its crude oil supplies. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed initial sanctions on...

Transneft, Russia's oil pipeline monopoly, has seen its oil flow continue to fall this year despite the OPEC+ agreement and technological challenges. This was confirmed by Maxim Grishanin on Friday. He also stated that due to the decline in turnover, the revenues would not reach the level typical of the last 10 years until 2030. Transneft, which operates 67,000-kilometre-long (42,000-mile) oil pipeline network, handles more than 80% of all the oil produced in Russia. Transneft CEO Nikolai Tokarev stated that the company will ship 447 million metric tonnes (around 8,94 million barrels of oil per day) in 2024. This includes...

Senior executives from Siemens Energy said that the company expects to begin production in the United States of large industrial power transformers by 2027. The factory can be expanded if import tariffs and demand remain high. Siemens Energy generates more than a quarter of its revenue in the U.S., where around 12% its 100,000 employees work. It also runs several production facilities that produce everything from gas and wind turbines to components for electricity grids. Siemens Energy board member Tim Holt stated that more than 80% (of the so-called "large power transformers" or LPT) - components bus-sized needed to convert...

The UK has rejected a Moroccan renewable energy project worth 25 billion pounds ($34.39billion) that would have used wind and solar power from the Sahara for up to 7 million UK households. The British government said that it believes domestic projects can offer greater economic benefits. Michael Shanks, minister of energy at the UK's Department of Energy, said in a written message to parliament that the government had concluded it was not in the UK's national interest to consider further support for the Morocco UK Power Project. The project, he said, did not align with the UK government's goal to...