Fujairah / WAM Volumes of oil products held in storage at Fujairah climbed to their highest since the all-time high seen in February as tumbling demand from the coronavirus pandemic left more supplies in the eastern UAE port. Stocks rose 5.3 percent over the past week to 24.953 million barrels, with the greatest build seen in light distillates, according to ...

SHARJAH / WAM The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) underlined its keenness on the constant coordination with the private sector to support its activities in the emirate of Sharjah in general and in eastern and central regions in particular. The coordination will be through the chamber’s branches in these cities by creating an enabling environment to enhance the ...

Bloomberg India will allow makers of information technology hardware, farmers and industries in rural areas to resume operations after April 20 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi crafts a plan to exit the world’s biggest lockdown and revive stalled economic activity. Amid a three-week lockdown that’s been extended to May 3, the government will also lift restrictions to allow e-commerce companies, ...

Bloomberg The US returned to Malaysia another $300 million that was recovered as part of the Justice Department’s forfeiture lawsuits targeting assets that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and his associates bought with funds allegedly stolen from the country’s 1MDB investment fund. With the latest repatriation, the US has sent $600 million back to Malaysia as part of the continuing ...

Bloomberg Singapore home sales slumped in March and are set to take a harder hit in coming months as the government enforces a more draconian lockdown that threatens to bring the property market to a standstill. Sales in the city-state fell 32% to 660 units last month — even before the toughest curbs were imposed — from 976 in February, ...

Bloomberg Get your potassium while you can. The coronavirus pandemic may limit supplies of bananas in Asia. Growers in the Philippines, the world’s second-biggest exporter, said overseas shipments may drop by nearly 40% this year as lockdowns and social distancing measures curb output and transport. The country’s exports of the fruit are expected to plunge to about 2.5 million tons ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s gold shops are running out of cash because so many people want to sell ornaments, jewelry and bars amid an economic slowdown. “I’m asking people to sell gradually, not in large amounts, as shops may face a cash crunch,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said in a briefing on Wednesday in Bangkok. The yellow metal remains a popular way ...

Bloomberg India’s southwest monsoon, which waters more than half of the country’s farmland and is crucial for economic growth, is expected to be normal this year, the weather office said. Annual rainfall during the June-September rainy season is likely to be 100% of the long-term average, Madhavan Nair Rajeevan, secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said.

Bloomberg One of the biggest Texas shale explorers warned it will halt all drilling if the state imposes Opec-style production caps, raising the stakes in a debate over a contentious proposal to arrest free-falling oil prices. The stark pronouncement from Diamondback Energy Inc’s finance chief stunned observers of the virtual hearing by the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees oil output ...

Bloomberg The pain felt by Big Oil from the coronavirus-led plunge in demand may derail global efforts to cut pollution, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. The slowdown and falling prices “undermines the ability of the oil industry to develop some of the technologies needed for clean energy transitions around the world,” said the Paris-based agency. The industry has repeatedly ...