Bloomberg Growing demand from oil refiners and the continued filling of strategic crude reserves in the face of domestic production declines will support crude buying by the world’s second-largest consumer, according to analysts from Energy Aspects Ltd. and ICIS China. Coal imports will continue to rise to help fill a supply gap left by a mining slowdown. “Crude buying …

  AFP The EU’s 28 member states agreed on Monday to launch free trade talks with Indonesia, despite growing public doubts in Europe about two major transatlantic deals. The deal with Indonesia will build on pacts with other Asian powers such as Singapore and Vietnam. “The EU and Indonesia represent a huge market of 750 million consumers. These negotiations are …

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s second-largest pension fund plans to buy more bonds with maturities of 10 years and above to hedge against another interest-rate cut as it moves further toward becoming a full-fledged Islamic entity. Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan), which manages about 120 billion ringgit (US$30 billion), is considering lowering its 5 percent minimum return target because of the uncertainty in …