Bloomberg Palm oil bears are growing in confidence this year with production in the two largest growers expected to surge as plantations recover from the scorching effects of El Nino. The factors that may stand in the way, however, include Donald Trump and a possible early return of El Nino. The quarterly average price of the oil used in …

  Bloomberg A strike at the world’s largest copper mine faces a critical phase this week as the union expects management to tempt workers with an offer that could end the stoppage in northern Chile. After 30 days of strike, on March 10, BHP Billiton Ltd.’s Escondida can legally make individual offers to workers. If it manages to convince more …

    Bloomberg US President Donald Trump’s protectionist stance may propel Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American economic powers into market-opening alliances with the European Union, a top EU official said. Jyrki Katainen, a vice president of the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said Trump’s rejection of multilateral commercial deals and border-tax threat are giving impetus to the 28-nation …