Latest News
-
Embraer CEO: US tariffs may have pandemic effect on the planemaker.
According to its CEO, the 50% tariff that U.S. president Donald Trump intends to impose starting in August on Brazilian exports could have a similar impact on revenues as the COVID-19 epidemic. The Chief Executive Francisco Gomes Neto said to reporters that tariffs may lead to order cancellations, delayed deliveries, reduced investments, and job cuts. They could also generate an additional cost of $9 million for each airplane exported to the U.S. Embraer is the third largest planemaker in the world after Airbus. The U.S. accounts for 45% of commercial jet exports, and 70% of executive jet exports. Gomes Neto stated that "given the importance of this market, if we continue to implement this (tariff plan), we will see a similar impact as COVID-19, in terms of a decline in revenue for the company." He said that a 50% tariff on commercial jets would be like a trade embargo, particularly for Embraer’s E1 narrow body aircraft, which would make shipments to U.S. carriers "unfeasible." The executive insisted that no orders had been cancelled so far. Embraer shares listed in Sao Paulo, which had been up around 3% in the morning, were volatile after Gomes Neto made his remarks. The gains were erased, and then the stock ticked back up by 1%. (Reporting and writing by Gabriel Araujo, editing by Brad Haynes and Kylie Madry; Andre Romani is the writer; Brad Haynes is the editor)
-
Air India resumes international flights after the June crash
Air India announced on Tuesday that it will partially restore the international flight schedule which was reduced following the crash of its flight last month, in which 260 people were killed. Air India, as part of its restoration program, will begin a three-times weekly service between Ahmedabad (India) and London Heathrow (England) from August 1, replacing the current five-times a week flights between Ahmedabad (India), and London Gatwick. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was bound for London via Ahmedabad in India, began to lose thrust shortly after takeoff and crashed on June 12, 2012. The plane crashed on June 12 after losing thrust. All but one person on board, and 19 people on the ground, were killed. Air India reduced certain international flights after the crash, as part of a'safety pause' that allowed the carrier to conduct additional precautionary inspections on its Boeing 787 planes. Air India announced that partial service will be restored starting August 1 and full service is planned to resume on October 1, 2025. Air India reduced its flights to certain destinations in Europe and North America as part of a partial resume. Air India has reduced the frequency of flights from Delhi to Paris, which was previously 12 times per week. This reduction took effect on August 1, 2009. The number of flights on the Delhi-Milan routes has been reduced from four to three per week. According to the airline, flights between Mumbai and Delhi have been reduced to six weekly departures from seven previously. (Reporting and editing by Nishit Navigation; Pooja Deai)
-
Portugal expects that large non-EU carriers will also show an interest in TAP
Luis Montenegro, the Prime Minister of Portugal, said that Portugal expects to attract large airlines from both within the European Union as well as outside the bloc due to its untapped potential. Portugal has relaunched its long-delayed TAP privatisation on Thursday. The aim is to sell a stake of 44.9% to a company that can bring scale and global competitiveness to the airline, while also offering an additional 5% for TAP staff. In the last year, three major European airlines, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM as well as British Airways owner IAG have met with the government to discuss TAP. Air France-KLM confirmed its interest in the process after Thursday's announcement. It said it "will take part once all details have been released". Montenegro also said that he expected non-EU carriers would express interest. However, he did name any potential bidders. He said at a press conference that TAP integrating "into larger group with greater capacity to create synergies has untapped potential which is very positive, appealing and valuable". The Portuguese flag carrier’s sale model allows an airline to partner up with private investors or investment funds, and then submit a bid together. The government is keen to keep and even expand its links with Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African nations, and the United States, as well as its hub in Lisbon. Montenegro stated that Portugal also wishes to increase the airport capacity of the cities of Porto and Faro as well as the autonomous regions Madeira and Azores.
-
Steyr Automotive, Austrian company, wins order for large electric trucks from Chinese firm
Steyr Automotive, Austria's electric truck manufacturer, announced on Tuesday that it has received an order from China's SuperPanther to produce electric trucks in Europe for its sale. Chinese automakers are expanding in Europe. They are betting on their low prices and advanced technology, to penetrate a market that is traditionally dominated only by European and American brands. This expansion has stoked tensions in trade between Brussels and Beijing. There is also a dispute over EU tariffs imposed on EVs made in China to protect European producers. China can avoid tariffs on its models if they are manufactured in Europe. Steyr and SuperPanther have signed a production agreement for electric trucks. No financial details have been disclosed. Oberösterreichische Nachrichten, a local newspaper, reported that Steyr could be producing thousands of electric trucks on the European market by 2021 after it was purchased from Germany's MAN. Steyr said that the tractor units would be produced with two axles as it is in Europe. This contrasts the three-axle SuperPanther model manufactured in China. The Austrian company said that SuperPanther will sell up to 16,00 electric trucks in Europe before 2030, and that production of the vehicle will begin next year. SuperPanther didn't immediately respond to a request from for comment. Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz Goerlich and Paolo Laudani, editing by Barbara Lewis
-
Tesla's robotaxi service expands as Alphabet Waymo gains speed
Alphabet Waymo robotaxis drove more than 100,000,000 miles without a driver, and doubled the mileage in just six months. The company is accelerating deployment in U.S. Cities amid increasing competition. Waymo is expanding its service as Tesla expands their self-driving cab service. This follows a recent small test with a few Model Y SUVs on a restricted area in Austin, Texas. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that Tesla will launch the service in several U.S. Cities by the end 2025. However, Waymo has been slowly expanding its service with around 1,500 cars for many years. The service is available in San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles and other Bay Area cities. Saswat Pantigrahi, Waymo’s chief product officer said, "Reaching the 100 million fully automated miles represents years' worth of methodical progress that is now accelerating to rapid, responsible scale-up." As we continue to expand our service, we will face new challenges. Waymo has logged 71 million miles of autonomous driving as of March. This is up from 50 millions miles at the end 2024, and 25 million during July 2024. It completed its first mile in January 2023. The commercialization of autonomous vehicles is more difficult than expected. High costs, strict regulations, and federal investigations have forced many to close down, including General Motors Cruise. Amazon's Zoox is one of the few remaining competitors. It tests a vehicle that does not have manual controls, such as a pedal or steering wheel, and it plans to launch its commercial services this year in Las Vegas. Waymo, the U.S. company that operated unmanned taxis for paying passengers before Tesla launched its robotaxi last month was the only one. After collisions, federal agencies have launched investigations into Waymo and Tesla as well as recalling Zoox and other vehicles. Musk, despite multiple traffic problems and driving errors as Tesla teetered into the robotaxi industry after years of broken promises, expanded the service area to Austin and announced last week that it will roll out its services in the San Francisco Bay Area in two months. Waymo announced in March that it plans to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Washington, D.C., next year. It has applied to operate autonomous vehicles with a trained specialist at the wheel in Manhattan. Robotaxis, which began as a small Google project for self-driving cars in 2009, and were spun off seven years later, cover over two million miles a week. By May, the company had completed more than 10 millions autonomous trips. This is up from the 5 million trips it was expected to complete by the end of 2024. (Reporting and editing by Himani Sarkar in San Francisco, with Abhirup Roy reporting from San Francisco)
-
Trump's threat of sanctions looms on Russian oil exports towards China, India and Turkey
U.S. president Donald Trump has threatened to impose sanctions on buyers of Russian products unless Russia agrees to a peace agreement over the conflict in Ukraine. This could complicate Moscow's oil exports to China, India, and Turkey. RUSSIA'S GRADES AND PORTS OF OIL According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Russia's revenues from crude oil and petroleum products sales in June fell by nearly 14% compared to a year ago, to $13.57 Billion. The IEA reported that Russia's crude production remained stable last month at 9.2 millions barrels per daily (bpd), and crude loadings stayed at 4.68million bpd. The IEA reported that its exports of oil and petroleum products fell by 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 2.55million bpd. Russia exports Urals oil, Siberian Light oil and CPC Blend oil grades through its western ports such as Primorsk Ust-Luga, and Novorossiisk. The port in Murmansk, located in northern Russia, also loads smaller quantities of Arctic oil and ARCO grades as well as Novy port grades. Russia exports the ESPO Blend and the Sokol & Sakhalin Blend, both from Sakhalin Island in the Pacific. Pipelines connect Russian oilfields with China and European nations. Only Hungary and Slovakia still buy oil from Russia as part of the exception to European Union sanction. Russia provides its oil pipeline network to transit oil from Kazakhstan to its ports, and via the Druzhba pipeline to Germany. Russia exports oil to Belarus, which is home to two major refineries. MAIN BUYERS China is the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil. This is mainly due to the direct pipeline connections with Russian fields: the Skovorodino Mohe oil pipeline and Kazakhstan's Atasu Alashankou oil pipe enter the country, while the remaining oil purchased by Chinese refineries via sea. China imports about 2 million bpd from Russia – mainly ESPO Blend and Sokol Blend as well as some Urals, Arctic and Arctic oil. According to calculations, that's around $130,000,000 per day. Energy companies CNPC and Sinopec as well as independent refining units are the main buyers. India is Russia's second largest oil buyer and its main buyer of Urals oil. India also buys ESPO Blend, Sokol, and Arctic grades of oil from Russia. According to Kpler ship tracking data, India imports about 1.8 millions bpd of Russian oil. Russian oil is used by most Indian refiners including Reliance Industries which owns the largest refinery in the world. The oil is also sent to Nayara Energy - a private refiner in which Rosneft, a Russian company, has a stake - as well as Indian Oil, ONGC and Indian Oil. According to LSEG, the third largest importer of Russian crude oil, Turkey, increased its purchases in June to a record annual level of 400,000 bpd. Turkey's increased purchases of Russian crude oil was due to the price drop of the Russian grade. Since April 1, Urals Oil has consistently traded below the $60 price cap per barrel. Turkey's STAR Refinery, controlled SOCAR in Azerbaijan, is the largest buyer of Russian crude oil, and another refiner, Tupras also purchases Urals-grade oil. OIL PRODUCTS Russia exports around 2.5 million bpd fuel products including diesel, gasoline, naphtha and fuel oil. Since 2023, Russia also has diverted its oil product sales from Europe to Asia. Moscow is the largest diesel supplier in Brazil and Turkey. It also supplies large volumes of fuels to African nations such as Ghana, Egypt and Morocco. OTHERS Moscow also exports oil and other products to countries that it calls "friendly", i.e., those with which it has continued to do business. Syria is among the buyers, along with countries like Pakistan, Cuba, and Sri Lanka. (Reporting and Editing by Sharon Singleton).
-
Namib Minerals to invest $300 million in restarting Zimbabwe mines
Ibrahima Tall, the chief executive of Namib Minerals, said on Tuesday that it plans to invest $300 million in order to restart two of its gold mines which were mothballed in Zimbabwe. Namib Minerals is the owner of three gold mines, including How Mine, currently in operation. Tall said that the funds will be used to restart production at the Mazowe and Redwing mining operations, which were halted due to economic conditions in 2018 and 2019. Namib Minerals debuted in the Nasdaq market on June 1. It was formed by merging assets owned by Metallon Corporation with Red Rock Acquisition Corporation (formerly Hennessy Capital Investment Corp.) from the United States. Tall said that production at the two mines suspended could resume in 18-24 months after Namib Minerals secures financing for their relaunch. He added that the firm was exploring different options to raise the capital required. In an interview with Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, he stated that "interest from investors has been very high." Mazowe is located north of Harare and contains 1.2 million ounces gold with an average of 8.4 grams of gold per metric ton. Redwing, which is near the border of Mozambique has 2.5 million ounces with a 3.07 gram grade. Namib Minerals How Mine in Bulawayo produced 37, 000 ounces gold in 2024. This is a 9% rise on the output of the previous year. Zimbabwe's gold mining industry, which has been struggling for years due to currency and policy volatility is now expanding production in response to the record high gold prices, and relative stability of political and economic conditions. Caledonia Mining Corp., which owns Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe, is exploring ways to raise $250 million for the construction of what could be Zimbabwe’s largest gold mine. (Reporting and editing by Nelson Banya, Joe Bavier, and CHRIS TAKUDZWA-MURONZI)
-
Israeli airline Israir purchases 20% stake in credit cards company
Israir, the Israeli airline, announced on Tuesday that it would buy 20% of a local card company for 12 million dollars. The move is part of an effort to increase its passenger base. Israir is buying the stakes from Rami Levy, a retailer and Isracard, a credit card company. SuperFly, a new credit-card from the flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines will compete with FlyCard. Israir stated that the SuperFly card would allow them to develop a deeper relationship with their Israeli customers beyond just the flight ticket. This is a strategic decision that will change the way customers view airlines. Israir has stated that it plans to issue 300,000 cards by the end 2026. "This will turn the card into an engine of growth for its larger target of flying 2,5 million passengers in the year 2026." It is a smaller competitor to El Al, and it flies mostly domestic routes as well as to Europe.
Argentina's state airline company cuts staff, paths, passenger advantages ahead of possible sale
Argentina's state airline company, Aerolineas Argentinas, is slimming down for a capacity sale, shedding 13% of its staff, cutting moneylosing domestic paths and even removing snacks formerly readily available to guests, according to sources and documents seen . The cutbacks, a lot of whose information were previously unreported, become part of a backdoor effort to cut the airline company's problem on the state and lure personal financial investment. The drive is progressing, despite the fact that libertarian President Javier Milei's strategies to privatize the company have actually generated pushback. The provider, with Argentina's blue and white colors, is a major test case of Milei's promarket reforms, which are yanking South America's secondlargest economy in a sharply various instructions after years of huge federal government. They have actually enhanced the state's finances, but stunted financial growth and pushed up hardship.
Reuters spoke to 10 company executives, authorities, pilots, airline company workers and union members, and saw a memo on the strategies to simplify the airline company for sale.
The drive brought in hit operating results for Aerolineas in 2024, a senior business source stated ahead of the airline's release of full-year outcomes next week. Part of that shows the double-digit decrease in personnel targeted in the earlier document seen .
Our task is to get (Aerolineas) in order, the senior source stated, adding that the carrier intended to operate more like its personal counterparts.
That method, when the time comes and the federal government allows its sale, the company is more appealing.
In July, Aerolineas made a profit for the very first time in seven years, information shown Reuters revealed. Milei, a brash financial expert, took workplace in late 2023, pledging to shake up Argentina's subsidy-heavy economy with chainsaw cuts. He has faced pushback in Congress from privatizing Aerolineas outright, however is figured out to press his strategies through. His government has actually threatened to close the airline if it can not be privatized.
Either it is shut, to cut the deficit, or it is privatized, but it will not stay in the hands of the federal government, Milei informed local radio in November. The administration claims the airline has depleted federal government coffers by $8 billion since 2008 when it was put back in the hands of the state after a previous privatization in the early 1990s under Milei's idol, then-President Carlos Menem.
The transportation secretariat delayed remark to Aerolineas, which did not respond to requests for comment.
' LABOR IS OUR ONLY WEAPON'
The procedure to simplify the company involves cutting loss-making paths, freezing wages, using buyout programs and shedding agreement employees, six airline staff members informed Reuters. Even a modest food offering for guests dealt with the chopping block.
The airline company has actually cut its in-flight snack alternatives, conserving the firm more than $500,000 a year, the senior airline source stated, as the company took a cue from American Airlines which notoriously cut an olive from each salad served in very first class in the 1980s to lower expenses.
Aerolineas now provides just one dessert in executive class and has actually cut a cereal bar for economy guests, the senior business source added.
Unions and Milei's political opponents have actually fought back, with protests at significant airports damaging flight in current months, causing flight cancellations and delays. In December, Buenos Aires province's opposition guv said he would oppose any attempt at privatization.
Our labor is the only weapon we have, stated veteran Aerolineas pilot Juan Pablo Mazzieri, who sports a tattoo of the airline company's logo design, an Andean condor, on his shoulder. We don't. like doing it, but we're going to cause delays and. cancellations.. Milei argues that the carrier needs to end up being more competitive. His administration looked to deregulate the sector, enabling. inexpensive providers to increase operations and press an open skies. policy to enable foreign competitors to enter the market.
COURTING SUITORS
Milei has actually promoted selling off Aerolineas in one go. Undoubtedly, the company's CEO, Fabian Lombardo, told local radio that. a number of international airline companies had expressed interest. So far. those talks have remained informal, sources stated.
The only competitor to openly state interest is holding. business Abra Group, which manages Colombia's Avianca and. Brazil's Gol.
Abra is still conducting due diligence, and it stays. uncertain what an acquisition of Aerolineas would appear like,. Abra's chief industrial officer, Joe Mohan, informed an industry. conference in Dallas in November.
Aerolineas could be a tough sell, analysts cautioned. It would be much easier for someone to accompany a percentage. ( stake), the Aerolineas senior source said, pointing out the strategies of. German airline company Lufthansa to acquire a 41% stake in. Italian state provider ITA.
Still, Aerolineas has yet to bring banks and advisers on. board, according to the source, due to the fact that it requires more clearness on. the federal government's strategy.
Milei's Plan B might be offering the airline to its. employees, ridding him of both the firm's monetary headache and. its employees, whom he thinks about combative. Aerolineas states the. labor conflicts have actually cost the carrier millions of dollars.
The company has cancelled worker perks, such as payment. for commuting time, complimentary flights, dollar-based bonus offers and additional. vacations - which were all coming at the expenditure of poor. Argentines, according to the government.
A number of union leaders, however, state workers taking over the. firm was a non-starter.
The unions argue Aerolineas serves a social purpose beyond. its balance sheet, in a country that is 5 times the size of. France and which extends from the Antarctic to tropical jungle. in the north. Its cities are far-flung and transport links are. limited.
Since the start of the cuts, that included a government. aid on aircraft tickets, domestic travel in Argentina has. fallen 9%, information shows.
We're seeing nearly half the variety of flights we did a. year earlier, said Marcelo Austi, an Aerolineas gate representative at. Buenos Aires' regional Aeroparque airport. That's a massive. distinction..
(source: Reuters)