Bloomberg Fabio Schvartsman stepped down temporarily as chief executive officer of Vale SA as the world’s largest iron ore producer comes under increased government scrutiny for failing to prevent a second deadly burst of one of its hundreds of tailings dams in Brazil. “Even totally assured of my righteous ways and having fulfilled my duty, I request the board to ...
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US agencies bicker over ethanol plan as higher fuel use looms
Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s pledge to his rural agricultural base to allow year-round sales of higher blends of ethanol is spurring differing opinions between two key federal agencies. US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told lawmakers in a House hearing that a final rule to allow widespread sales of those higher blends “won’t happen†by the summer-driving season following delays from ...
Read More »India’s economy slows as new risks emerge from Pakistan
Bloomberg India’s economy slowed considerably last quarter, with little signs of a quick recovery amid rising political tensions with neighboring Pakistan and weaker global demand. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 6.6 percent in the three months to December from a year ago, lower than the 6.7 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey and down from a revised 7 percent in ...
Read More »China defaults put focus on key gauge of industrial strains
Bloomberg China’s mounting pile of distressed debt has elevated market players’ attention to one of the nation’s less obvious economic data points: the producer-price index (PPI). With many of the debtors that ran into trouble in the past year coming from the industrial world, gauges of manufacturing strain are particularly important. Some analysts point to the PPI as a forward ...
Read More »Japan’s lower house OKs record $907bn budget
Bloomberg The lower chamber of the Japanese parliament early on Saturday approved the government’s record $907 billion initial budget bill for the fiscal year starting April 1. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito held a vote on the bill, clearing the way for its passage by the chamber to ensure it can be enacted ...
Read More »Indonesia inflation rate drops to lowest in almost a decade
Bloomberg Inflation in Indonesia eased to a near-decade low, boosting odds that the next interest rate move by policy makers in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy could be down. Consumer prices rose 2.57 percent in February compared to a year earlier, the lowest since November 2009, according to figures released by the statistics office in Jakarta. That was lower than the ...
Read More »Tata to explore options for Jaguar Land Rover unit
Bloomberg Tata Group is exploring strategic options for its Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc unit including a potential stake sale in the struggling luxury carmaker, people familiar with the matter said. India’s biggest conglomerate is considering alternatives ranging from a minority stake sale to finding a venture partner that would jointly develop vehicles and lower costs, said the people, who ...
Read More »Malaysia to halt palm oil expansion to fight bad image
Bloomberg Malaysia plans to halt all expansion of oil palm plantations this year as it seeks to dispel the oil’s reputation as a driver of deforestation. The world’s second-largest producer will cap the area at around 6 million hectares, Minister of Primary Industries Teresa Kok said in an interview. That’s up from 5.85 million hectares at the end of last ...
Read More »Trump’s push for new Nafta could stall on metals tariffs
Bloomberg Donald Trump might have to drop tariffs on steel and aluminum if he wants his new North American trade deal to see the light of day. US lawmakers and business groups are joining Canada and Mexico in pushing the president to lift the so-called Section 232 levies on those nations as, essentially, a condition of enacting the trade deal ...
Read More »Top media executives leave in AT&T overhaul
Bloomberg Richard Plepler and David Levy, two of the most powerful executives in US media, are leaving their posts at WarnerMedia as new boss AT&T Inc. overhauls the entertainment business it bought last year. Plepler, who helped create some of TV’s most memorable programs over three decades at HBO, said he plans to step down as chief executive officer of ...
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