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China's crude oil imports in August fell 23.4% year/year
According to?customs data?released?on?Tuesday, China's crude?imports were?down?23.4% from the same period a year earlier. Data showed that oil imports for August were 37.93 metric tons or 8.93 million barrels a day. China's crude oil imports from January to August?fell by 14.6%, reaching 320.9 million metric tonnes. China's?natural gas imports in August, including LNG, were 10.33 million tonnes, down 12.9% compared to a year ago. Natural gas imports in the first eight-month period were 78.23 millions tons, a 4.4% drop on an annual basis. Exports of China's refined oil products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and kerosene, reached 6.01 million tonnes in August, up 12.7% on the year and 29.0% on the month. China's refined product exports in the first eight months totaled?34.24 millions tons, down by?9.6% compared to?the same time last year.
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Maguire: Southeast Asia is a key driver for China's clean tech exports.
Southeast Asian nations are the key drivers behind China's clean energy export boom. The region has made record purchases this year of grid equipment, clean power generation components, and electric vehicles. According to Ember, the energy think-tank, ASEAN countries have spent over $20 billion in total on clean-tech Chinese products by?2026. This total is 50% higher than the same period last year. It has?solidified Southeast Asia as the largest Asian market for Chinese clean-tech components. Southeast Asian demand is important because while Europe was the main destination for China's exports of clean-tech products in recent years ASEAN represents the next frontier. It could provide Chinese exporters with a demand boom lasting for years. BROAD BASED DEMAND ON CHINA’S DOORSTEP ASEAN is demanding a wide range of clean-tech products from China. The year-to-date purchase of solar panels, batteries, grid components and heating and cooling systems has all reached record levels. This wide-ranging demand is a positive development for Chinese exporters. They have relied heavily on advanced economies over the past few years, but they are now facing increasing trade tensions with Europe and North America which could slow down future growth. As electricity consumption, industrial activity, and energy investment all increase, the demand for Chinese-made products will also continue to grow. The economies of the region continue to urbanize at an increasing rate, industrialize more and digitize. The governments are increasing renewable energy capacity, expanding the power grids, encouraging electric vehicle adoption, and strengthening domestic manufacturing. Solar panels, batteries and EVs are all products that China produces in unprecedented quantities. Southeast Asia has become a major market for?China's clean tech output, at a moment when the access to certain developed markets is uncertain. SOLAR SHINES Export data for solar systems is one of the most obvious examples of Southeast Asia's importance for China's manufacturers. ASEAN countries have collectively spent $4.1 billion on solar panels made in China so far this season, which is a 90% increase from the same period of 2025. ASEAN accounts for 57% (of China's total exports of solar products across Asia), making it a crucial market for the solar industry. Philippines, Malaysia Indonesia and Vietnam are among the top buyers. They have nearly doubled their solar imports in 2026, compared to a year ago. The region spent just over $7 billion on energy storage batteries and about $1.6 billion on grid component imports. The region imported EVs worth $6.3 billion, and spent an additional $1.2 billion on heating and cooling systems. WORSE IMPACT Demand for clean energy components is increasing across Southeast Asia, and this has implications beyond China's manufacturing base. The trajectory of emissions will be increasingly shaped by economies in development with increasing populations, expanding industries and rising electricity needs. Southeast Asia, which has a population of around 700 million people, is the fastest growing economic bloc in the world, with an annual GDP growth rate of about 5%. According to Ember, the economic growth requires a?constantly increasing power consumption. Coal currently makes up a large part of the power mix in this region. But every shipment of solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles (EVs) and grid equipment to Southeast Asia could accelerate the deployment of low-carbon energy systems in one of the fastest-growing regions of the world. Clean-tech is no longer just about the place where products are manufactured. The story is not only about where products are made, but also how they are used. Southeast Asia, by this measure, is one of the key regions in the global transition to energy. Clean-tech imports from China are growing faster than global markets. The share of Asian demand is increasing. Its appetite spans all major segments of the clean energy economy. Southeast Asia is a key region as China looks for markets that can absorb its massive clean-tech production. You like this column? Check out Open Interest, your new essential source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, X and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
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Poste Italiane increases Telecom Italia's offer and waives the threshold condition
Poste Italiane, an Italian financial conglomerate, increased the value of its takeover bid for Telecom Italia by EUR550 million on 'Monday. In a press release, the state-controlled group announced that it would increase its bid per share?by EUR0.30 up to EUR1.97 and, for the first, offer equity, 0.218 newly issued Poste shares, for every share of Italy's ex-phone monopoly. Poste also waived its condition that it must receive 66.67% of all outstanding shares. The offer period expires on Friday and the take-up rate has been low. Calculations based on bourse data show that Poste Italiane has secured Telecom Italia's shares, which accounted for 25% of TIM's capital as of Monday. Poste's bid was launched?in?March, as part of an initiative to create a?national champion in digital infrastructure and services. Poste announced that it would offer an aggregate maximum?cash component? of EUR3,36 billion ($3,90 billion).
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Airbus deliveries at the end of August rose by 9%
Airbus jet deliveries increased 9% in the first eight-months of 2026. The European planemaker is 'broadly on target' to meet its yearly quota, but it still has some catching up to do with the A330 after a production snag. Airbus announced in a monthly bulletin it delivered 475 jets between January and August. This is up from the 434 that were delivered in the same period last year. The total included 57 deliveries during August. The France-based company released data showing that deliveries of the A330 wide body jet resumed in August with one handover, after they had been suspended for two months in June and July due to the discovery of an A330 tail segment containing a lost tool. Airbus has delivered 11 A330s this year, a 31% decrease. Delivery of the A320 family narrowbody, which is considered to be the benchmark for all other aircraft in its class, increased by 11%. The company targets 870 deliveries by 2026, up 10% from last year's 793. In August, the?planemaker shipped 67 aircraft including eight A350F cargo planes to an unnamed customer. So far this year, the company has sold 1,157 aircraft or 1,091 when cancellations are taken into account.
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Bloomberg News reports that Europe's largest mobile operators are in discussions for a satellite-to-mobile venture.
Bloomberg News reported that?Telefonica, Orange, Vodafone Group, and Deutsche Telekom are in early talks to create a consortium for bidding on satellite spectrum, and offering direct-to mobile services. The report said that a group of 'carriers' would bid together for a?share of the 2 gigahertz airwaves the European Union has proposed to reserve for a?local operator. This plan is aimed at increasing the sovereign satellite capability. Bloomberg reported that no final decisions have been made about the consortium's bid or its plans. Vodafone and Orange refused to comment while Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica?did not immediately?respond?to requests for comments. The project would be a European rival to Elon Musk's Starlink on the continent and would align with the European Union's push to develop'sovereign satellite communications capabilities'
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NTSB updates on fatal Amazon Prime Air cargo plane accident in Miami
The US National Transportation Safety Board announced in a X post that it will be holding a press briefing on Monday at 2:00 pm EDT (20:00 GMT) to provide the latest information about the deadly crash of an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane at Miami International Airport on Sunday. Prime Air Flight 7598, which was heading to the east, overran the diagonal runway of the airport shortly before 2 pm EDT. It struck several vehicles and killed 5 people. Five others were injured, three in critical condition. The crash trapped the pilot and copilot in the plane, according to?Miami Fire Chief Ray Jadallah. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said that more than 60 units of rescue and 200 personnel responded. Jadallah said that emergency personnel were still dealing with the fuel leak as late as Sunday afternoon. In a Sunday afternoon post on X, the NTSB announced that they had "launched a Go Team" to investigate this accident. The airport immediately halted flights after the accident, but flights were resumed on Sunday evening. The incident had lingering effects for passengers flying into Miami. FlightAware, a flight tracking website, reported that by noon EDT Monday, the average delay of inbound flights was more than five hours. 232 flights were canceled over the previous 24 hours. Flightradar24, a flight tracking service, reported that the plane was a 32 year old Boeing 767-300 freighter, which had been used as a passenger aircraft by various airlines from 1994 until 2015. Photos taken after the crash show the jet with its nose down and tail up. The right side of the aircraft had what looked like scorch marks. Flightradar24 reported that the plane had been traveling at 112 knots when it left the runway.
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Hapag-Lloyd to improve $4.2 billion bid on Israel's ZIM
Hapag-Lloyd said that it is working with Israel to improve its $4.2 billion cash offer for ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, which the German shipping company announced on Monday. The proposed deal was met with 'heavy' opposition in Israel. This included 'ZIM's employees, Defence Minister Israel Katz 'and other government officials who claim that the transfer of Israel's shipping operations to a foreign firm undermines Israel's national security. Hapag-Lloyd's CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said, "We have developed an improved proposal to strengthen Israel's maritime independence and security." Habben Jansen said in a press release that "the revised proposal" will ensure Israel's access to important shipping routes including those from Asia. Hapag-Lloyd - which aims to be the fifth largest shipping group in the world - said the deal would create ZIM - a container shipping company that is owned by the Israeli private equity fund FIMI. In a similar deal, FIMI intends to?acquire a business that has 16 vessels carved from ZIM which secures 'direct global maritime links for?Israel via a new company named ZIM Israel. Hapag-Lloyd stated that it held several rounds of meetings, including with officials from the Israeli economy, finance and defense ministries to "revise structural elements of this proposed acquisition". The proposal is expected to go before the Israeli cabinet at the end of the month. Israel has a "golden stake", which gives Israel special ownership rights over ZIM. Habben Jensen stated that the agreement would also prevent foreign interference with the transport of Israel's sensitive goods, which is a "significant improvement" over the existing arrangement. Oren Caspi, Chairman of ZIM's Workers Committee, has said that he is against the proposed merger, stating that ZIM shouldn't be given to "hostile" parties. At present, ZIM shares up to 24 percent can be sold to a single investor from abroad without Israel's prior approval. Hapag-Lloyd proposed lowering the threshold to 10% in order to prevent foreign influence. For its part?FIMI has committed not to list ZIM Israel's shares outside Israel's stock exchange. Hapag-Lloyd stated that the parties had agreed to enhance shipping connections between Israel & Asia on the request of Israeli officials.
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India's Shiprocket suffers narrower loss between April and June
Shiprocket, an Indian logistics company backed by Temasek, reported a smaller first-quarter loss on Monday. This was boosted by its core shipping business. The company's earnings are its first quarterly results since August, when it raised $170 million in an initial public offering. Shiprocket is a logistics platform that offers shipping, fulfillment, payment and other services to online merchants. It competes with Delhivery, Blue Dart Express and others. The company reported a consolidated profit of?137.1 millions rupees ($1.45million) for the three months ended June 30. This is down from a loss of 180.3 millions rupees one year ago. The company reported a profit on a standalone basis, excluding subsidiaries, of 201.6 millions rupees. This compares to a loss of 89.9million rupees the previous year. Shiprocket’s core business, which includes domestic shipping, software tools and marketing solutions, saw a 28% increase in pre-tax profit to 526,9 million rupees. Revenues from the company's emerging business, which includes cargo and fulfilment as well as cross-border shipping and marketing solutions, increased by 70%. The company stated that it continues to invest into its emerging businesses which reported a pre-tax profit of 437.5 millions?rupees. Shiprocket’s quarterly revenue increased by about 34%, to?5.92 billion rupees. However, expenses rose by nearly 31%. Costs for freight handling and service have increased across the industry, as inflation and network expansion add to costs. According to a Google and Deloitte study, India's ecommerce market will grow from $90 billion to $250 billion in 2030, as consumers spend more money online.
Willis Lease Finance targets Asia-Pacific growth with new Malaysian centre
Willis Lease Finance Corp, a US-based aircraft engine lessor, is targeting the soaring demand for engine maintenance in Asia-Pacific. Its CEO stated that its 'new Malaysian repair facility' was just one step of a larger regional push.
The Nasdaq listed company announced in late August plans to build its third global repair centre for engines in Johor, southern Malaysia. This is instead of Singapore where the company has an office as well as large maintenance operations by ST Engineering and GE Aerospace.
In an interview with CEO Austin Willis on Friday, Willis said that Singapore is a great location but it has become so crowded over the last decade that there's no space or workforce available locally. He also cited Johor as being a special economy zone as another draw.
WLFC, like other Western 'aviation' firms, is seeking to establish a foothold where aircraft fleets expand faster than maintenance infrastructure required to'support them. Analysts say this gap could cause airlines to scramble for engine repair capability for many years to come.
Willis cited Airbus data and said that the Asia-Pacific region's off-wing maintenance, including engine maintenance and repairs, is expected to grow from $37.1billion in 2025 to 100billion by 2044. The region will account for almost half of new aircraft deliveries within the next 20years.
Willis stated that the facility, which is 33,000 square feet (3,065 square metres) in size, will employ 25 people or more within two to three year. The facility will first focus on "hospital shop" visits for older Airbus and Boeing narrow body engines, such as the CFM56 or V2500, before moving on to the newer CFMLEAP family of engines and Pratt & Whitney GTF engines.
Construction is expected to be completed in the first quarter 2027. The centre will scale "similarly" to existing facilities of the company in Florida and Wales. WLFC refused to reveal the amount of investment.
Willis stated that the site would initially be used to store and lease engines for WLFC, as well as a storage agreement recently signed with Pratt & Whitney. Third-party airlines are expected to follow 'as capacity increases,' Willis added.
Willis stated that as global supply chain constraints ease, and Boeing and Airbus deliveries increase, airlines will be forced to make a decision on ageing engines close to retirement.
The first option is an expensive, full overhaul that would cost?at least 10 million dollars. The second is a quicker and cheaper shop visit similar to what you might find in a hospital. He said the company would cater to this market.
Willis stated that the company will continue to invest in the region, primarily by acquiring and leasing additional aviation assets.
(source: Reuters)