Bloomberg China National Chemical Corp. has secured commitments from lenders on a $12.7 billion loan for its purchase of Swiss pesticides producer Syngenta AG, people familiar with the matter said. The Beijing-based company, known as ChemChina, attracted 17 banks for the financing, according to the people, who aren’t authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. The …

  Bloomberg India’s top iron ore miner is feeling the squeeze despite a global rally in the price of the steel-making material. NMDC Ltd. has cut prices about 6 percent in 2016 even as iron ore climbed 36 percent internationally. Challenges include record domestic supplies, moderating local steel demand and transport costs on India’s clogged railway. “Transport costs are prohibitive,” …

  Vientiane / AFP President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday to dramatically increase US efforts to clear millions of bombs secretly dropped on tiny Laos by American planes a generation ago, saying the clean-up was a “moral obligation”. Laos became the world’s most-bombed country per capita from 1964 to 1973 as Washington launched a secret CIA-led war to cut supplies flowing …