Bloomberg For the second time this year, Egypt changed and then quickly reversed its import standards for wheat, leaving traders skeptical about doing business with the world’s largest buyer. Egypt canceled its zero-tolerance policy on a common type of fungus known as ergot on Wednesday, less than a month after reinstating the ban and rejecting cargoes from Romania to ...

  Bloomberg OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose rivalry derailed an oil supply accord earlier this year, met in Vienna a week before the organization holds talks in Algeria. The two oil producers, along with fellow OPEC member Qatar, met at the headquarters of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, according to three people familiar with the ...

  CAIRO / Reuters Egypt’s three established mobile phone operators have declined to buy fourth-generation (4G) service licences, two Egyptian telecoms officials said on Thursday. The companies, Vodafone, Orange and Etisalat, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The Egyptian officials declined to be named as no official announcement had yet been made. The Egyptian government is selling four ...

  Bloomberg Oil extended gains after weekly government data showed US inventories dropped to the lowest since February, trimming stockpiles at the highest seasonal level in at least three decades. November futures rose as much as 1.2 percent in New York after advancing 2.9 percent on Wednesday. Inventories fell by 6.2 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Information ...

  Reuters The Saudi finance ministry has resumed payments to Saudi Binladin Group (SBG), the kingdom’s biggest construction firm, for its work on government projects, Saudi Okaz newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an adviser to the chairman. SBG was hard hit last year as low oil prices forced the government — its chief customer — to cancel or suspend projects ...

  Bloomberg Now is the right time for OPEC to reach an agreement on oil output, and crude prices may fall if its members fail to take a decision when they meet next week in Algiers, Iraq’s governor to the producer group said. Conditions in the oil market are better than in April when members of the Organization of Petroleum ...

  AFP Stocks got a boost on Wednesday after Japan’s central bank overhauled its stimulus programme as markets awaited the outcome of the Fed’s policy meeting. Wall Street opened higher, with the Dow adding 0.5 percent. Meanwhile in Europe, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index edged up 0.1 percent as the OECD slashed its growth forecast for Britain owing to the ...

  Reuters Bourses in the Gulf were mixed on Wednesday with Saudi Arabia’s bourse supported by the petrochemical sector while Egypt lost steam as local and regional funds exited positions. Saudi Arabia’s index rose 0.4 percent in moderate trade as Brent prices firmed over $46 a barrel. Saudi Basic Industries, the petrochemical heavyweight, climbed 0.9 percent. The insurance sub-index, usually ...

  FUJAIRAH / WAM H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, opened on Wednesday afternoon the UAE’s first berth for very large crude carriers (VLCC) on the Indian Ocean seaport of Fujairah, at cost of AED650 million. The Ruler of Fujairah stressed the keenness of the UAE, led by President His Highness Sheikh ...

  NEW YORK /WAM The UAE on Wednesday formally joined the Paris Agreement, following the Cabinet’s approval on September 4. HE Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, deposited the UAE’s instrument of ratification during the High-level Event for the Entry into Force of the Paris Agreement, which was convened on Wednesday by the United Nations ...