February, 2023

• 11 February

  Lockheed’s F-35 has fewer unfixed defects

    Bloomberg The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin Corp. have reduced laundry list of deficiencies on the contractor’s F-35 with fighter jet, the world’s costliest weapons program, due for a key combat simulation by mid-year. The number of “open deficiency reports” now stands at 831, the Defense Department’s F-35 program office said, down from 845 in September 2021. Earlier last year ...

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• 11 February

  Shell directors sued over lack of climate ambition

  

  Bloomberg Shell Plc faces a new front in climate litigation as lawyers, supported by a group of shareholders, sue the oil giant’s board in the UK. Two years after a Dutch court ordered Shell to slash its emissions, ClientEarth are filing the first lawsuit of its kind anywhere in the world against 11 members of the board, accusing them of ...

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• 11 February

  ArcelorMittal warns on steel demand as China seen flatlining

  

    Bloomberg ArcelorMittal SA cautioned on the outlook for steel demand, noting the woes of the Chinese real estate sector and tighter monetary policy could drag on consumption this year. Whether China will recover strongly after lifting tough coronavirus restrictions has been the key question for commodities markets. Industrial metals surged at the start of the year on bets of ...

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• 11 February

  Vitol agrees to acquire Petronas stake in South Africa fuel retailer

  

    Bloomberg A unit of Vitol group agreed to acquire Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s 74% stake in Engen Ltd., South Africa’s largest fuel-station chain, forming a retailer that spans the continent. The acquisition of the controlling stake in Engen from the Malaysian national oil company by Vitol’s Vivo Energy will help the energy trader form a group with 3,900 service stations ...

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• 11 February

  China’s state refiners buy more Russian oil

    Bloomberg China’s state-owned oil majors have stepped up Russian imports in a sign that Beijing is ready to give the go-ahead for more purchases of the country’s crude, according to industry consultants Energy Aspects. PetroChina Co. and CNOOC Ltd. recently resumed imports of waterborne Russian oil, with at least three supertankers of Urals-grade crude signalling China as a destination, ...

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• 11 February

  Eskom air pollution puts almost 80,000 lives at risk: Study

  

  Bloomberg Air pollution from coal-fired power plants run by South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC risks killing 79,500 people from 2025 until they are due to be shut, according to a study submitted to a panel appointed by the government. The research by the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) assumes that the utility will continue to operate ...

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• 11 February

  Disney to cut 7,000 jobs as Bob Iger seeks $5.5 billion in savings

  

  Bloomberg Walt Disney Co. shares rose as much as 7% in early trading after Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger announced plans for a dramatic restructuring of the world’s largest entertainment company, including 7,000 job cuts and $5.5 billion in cost savings. The reductions include plans to cut $3 billion from its budget for movies and TV shows and the rest ...

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• 11 February

  German inflation slows to five-month low on energy aid

  

    Bloomberg German inflation slowed in January to the lowest level in five months thanks to further government aid to ease the burden on households from soaring energy costs. Consumer-price growth eased to 9.2% from 9.6% in December, Germany’s statistics agency said Thursday. Destatis had postponed the data’s scheduled release last week due to processing problems. That delay forced Eurostat ...

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• 11 February

  US jobless claims pick up for the first time in six weeks

  

    Bloomberg Applications for US unemployment benefits rose for the first time in six weeks but remained historically low, underscoring the resilience of the job market despite mounting economic uncertainty. Initial unemployment claims rose by 13,000 to 196,000 in the week ended Feb. 4, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for ...

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• 11 February

  UK tax rate deters pharma investment

    Bloomberg AstraZeneca Plc said it chose Ireland for a new manufacturing facility instead of the UK because of punitive tax rates, raising fresh fears over Britain’s attractiveness to Big Pharma. The drugmaker initially wanted to make the $360 million investment in the UK, but “the tax rate was discouraging,” Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said in a briefing with ...

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