Bloomberg China may be diving head first into a power supply shock that could hit Asia’s largest economy hard just as the Evergrande crisis sends shockwaves through its financial system. The crackdown on power consumption is being driven by rising demand for electricity and surging coal and gas prices as well as strict targets from Beijing to cut emissions. It’s ...
Read More »International News
UK fuel crisis deepens as PM mulls easing truckers visas
Bloomberg Petrol shortages are worsening in parts of the UK as more stations run dry following panic buying, as the government considers easing visa rules to attract truck drivers from Europe. Britain is short about 100,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers licensed to operate trucks or lorries, the Road Haulage Association has estimated. To start plugging the gap, Prime Minister ...
Read More »Damage at US soybean meal export hub may take months to fix
Bloomberg Shipments from a US West Coast terminal that handles almost 20% of the nation’s soybean meal exports have been curbed while damage from a crane collapse earlier this month is repaired, marking the latest setback to global trade flows. A loading boom at farm cooperative Ag Processing Inc’s export facility in Aberdeen, Washington, fell September 1 as a bulk ...
Read More »Germany slashes planned debt sales in Q4 by $4.7bn
Bloomberg Germany cut planned debt sales in the fourth quarter by 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion), suggesting the surge in borrowing triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is receding. The federal government will raise 1 billion euros less in 15-year bonds, and trim sales of short-term discount paper by 3 billion euros compared with a plan published at the end of ...
Read More »Astra picks Ireland to build new factory in blow to UK
Bloomberg AstraZeneca Plc will invest $360 million building a new manufacturing facility for small molecules in Dublin, dashing UK hopes that the drugmaker would develop the site at home. The plant will ensure that Astra’s global supply network can meet the needs of its pipeline of new medicines, the company said in a statement. The facility will create 100 highly ...
Read More »Italian electricity prices hit record highs
Bloomberg Italian electricity prices traded near record highs, heightening government concerns about the impact soaring energy costs will have on consumer power bills. The average weekly price of power soared 17% to 163 euros ($191) per megawatt-hour last week, according to data from the country’s Energy Market Manager. Power prices are expected to climb 40% in the third quarter, Ecological ...
Read More »Employers baffled as US benefits end, jobs go begging
Bloomberg Emergency unemployment benefits in the US expired two weeks ago, but employers who expected an increase in job applications are still largely waiting for them to roll in. Federal programs that had offered an extra $300 per week for jobless Americans, provided extended benefits for the long-term unemployed and gave special aid for the self-employed expired on September 6. ...
Read More »SoftBank leads $450m round by used-vehicle site Cars24
Bloomberg Cars24 Services Pvt is raising $450 million in equity and debt from SoftBank Group Corp and other investors, underscoring growing demand for used vehicles as Covid disruptions and systemic chip shortages crimp auto production. The round values India’s largest used-car site at $1.84 billion, almost doubling from the end of last year. SoftBank, DST Global and Falcon Edge Capital ...
Read More »â€˜Hybrid vehicles are key to India’s electric shift’
Bloomberg Hybrid vehicles are a better fit than battery-powered electric cars for India in the immediate future, given the nation’s shortcomings in EV infrastructure, according to the regional head of auto parts supplier Schaeffler AG. “Hybrid vehicles will play an equally important role because they are able to address some of the immediate infrastructure challenges around e-mobility,†Dharmesh Arora, Schaeffler’s ...
Read More »Indonesia’s halt to palm oil expansion to expire soon
Bloomberg Indonesia’s moratorium on new oil palm plantation permits is set to expire this week as the industry awaits clarity on whether the government will extend the policy. President Joko Widodo ordered a stop to permit issuance for new plantations and expansion of existing ones for three years in a decree signed on September 19, 2018. That order expanded on ...
Read More »