Bloomberg Shenhua Group Corp., China’s biggest coal producer, is seeking to limit sales of the fuel to end-users and choke off supplies to traders amid government pressure on the nation’s major miners to cool surging prices. The Beijing-based company has changed its thermal coal sales policy to limit how much trading companies can buy and allow some sales to ...
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Wesfarmers to start $1.5 billion Australian coal sale
Bloomberg Wesfarmers Ltd., the Australian retail-to-fertilizer conglomer- ate, has kicked off a sale process for its two coal mines in the country after prices for the commodity soared this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Perth-based company has sent preliminary information on the Curragh and Bengalla mines to potential buyers ahead of calling for bids, ...
Read More »India cotton supplies dip as currency switch roils ryots
Bloomberg Cotton supplies at Indian markets dropped by more than half after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise move to withdraw and replace high-denomination banknotes. Prices have already climbed about 4 percent as farmers withhold supplies, Aurobinda Gayan, vice president for research at trader Kotak Commodity Services Ltd., said in an interview on Tuesday. They may climb further through early ...
Read More »Tencent’s profit climbs as WeChat lures ads, paying gamers
Bloomberg Tencent Holdings Ltd. posted a 43 percent rise in third-quarter profit that only just missed expectations, as its consistent ability to attract Chinese gamers and social media mavens fueled advertising growth despite growing competition. Net income climbed to 10.6 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in the three months ended September, the Shenzhen-based company said Wednesday. That compares with the ...
Read More »Finland looks to forestry for economic revival
Äänekoski / AFP Nokia was once the motor of Finland’s economy, but since the demise of the company’s mobile phone business the Nordic country has struggled to find a new engine for growth. But after nine sluggish years and a three-year recession that ended in 2015, could Finland’s centuries-old, if unglamorous, forestry sector, hold the answer? A rare bit of ...
Read More »Mercedes seeks cash boost with Maybach open-top
Bloomberg Mercedes-Benz is rolling out a 300,000-euro ($323,000) limited-edition convertible under its ultra high-end Maybach nameplate, as the German automaker seeks to burnish its luxury image and bankroll its investment in electric cars. With a limited run of 300 vehicles, the Mercedes-Maybach S650 will be available next year and come with quilted leather seats, matching luggage and a device ...
Read More »Google mulls London campus expansion
Bloomberg Google is going ahead with delayed plans to expand its London offices, saying it will build a 10-story building on the site in a move that the UK government called a vote of confidence in the country’s post-Brexit future. The company, the largest unit of Alphabet Inc., said it would be able to house as many as 7,000 ...
Read More »Awash in gasoline, US refiners export fuel at record pace
Bloomberg The US has more gasoline than it knows what to do with. Exports have risen above imports for three consecutive weeks as recurring pipeline outages and higher production levels by refiners caused Gulf Coast inventories to grow. Typically a net importer of gasoline, the US has shipped a record amount of the motor fuel abroad and doesn’t show ...
Read More »EU security check for visitors
Brussels / AFP The EU unveiled plans on Wednesday to charge travellers five euros ($5.30) for security checks to get visa-free travel to Europe’s borderless Schengen area, and confirmed the fee would apply to post-Brexit Britain. The proposal is based on a US system and will allow EU countries to quickly cross check identity documents and other details from ...
Read More »Masdar, Khalifa varsity to develop photonics, 5G tech
ABU DHABI / WAM Two of Abu Dhabi’s leading R&D institutions, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and Khalifa University, have entered into a partnership with the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and GLOBALFOUNDRIES to develop the next generation of light-based data transmission (photonics) and wireless network standards (5G). The partnership is part of an innovative three-year program that will ...
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