July, 2022

• 2 July

  Illegal protests double power outages in South Africa: Eskom

  

    Bloomberg About half of South Africa’s record electricity outages this week have been caused by employees staying away from work during illegal protests, the head of the state power utility said. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. was forced to implement Stage-6 power outages — equivalent to cutting 6,000 megawatts from the grid — because of disruptions that have lasted a ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  Copper sinks below $8,000 a ton

    Bloomberg Copper sinks below $8,000 a ton, hitting its lowest since early 2021, as deepening fears about a global economic slowdown drive a rout in industrial metals. The metal, widely considered a barometer of the world economy, slumped as much as 3.6% to $7,959 a ton in London, extending losses after its worst quarter in a decade. Investors appear ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  Swedish green steel firm gets permit to build first plant

  

    Bloomberg Sweden’s H2 Green Steel took a vital step toward building its first facility in the north of the country after receiving the go-ahead from a local court. The main permit was for construction of the plant, the Land and Environmental Court in Umea said in a statement on Friday. It also granted approval for rerouting a stream, while ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  ECB needs positive rates sooner rather than later

  

  It’s a sobering thought that, even after all the central bank wailing and gnashing about inflation, the European Central Bank (ECB) has yet to increase the official deposit rate from the negative 50 basis points it’s been stuck at for almost three years. When policy makers meet later this month, they should follow the example of peers elsewhere by implementing ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  Is it start of supermarket food fights?

  

  Heinz canning baked beans in Tesco is only the start of the supermarket food fights. But this is one battle that Britain’s biggest retailer can win. US grocery giant Kraft Heinz Food Co has temporarily stopped supplying Tesco Plc with most of its products, including ketchup and baked beans, after the grocer said it would not pass on “unjustifiable price ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  A healthcare cliff may leave many uninsured

    Since early 2020, the US has been under an official public-health emergency. In July, after 30 months, it is scheduled to end. One unanticipated consequence is that millions of Americans could lose their health insurance. The root of the problem is the extraordinary spending spree Congress embarked on to address the pandemic. As Covid-19 spread and businesses shut, a ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  Superpower is a dream if India can’t create jobs!

    India’s attempt to reform military recruitment — which has set off political convulsions that show no signs of abating — once again shows that its aspirations to superpower status are no match for a below-par economy. India’s military — particularly its army — is antiquated in organisation and manpower-heavy. After some ill-advised, populist and expensive tinkering with pensions early ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  Travel unions dig in as Paris airport, EasyJet staff strike

  

  Bloomberg The chaos that has plagued European travel for weeks is coalescing in France as staff at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport strike for the second day in a row on Friday and a country-wide rail walkout looms. France’s aviation authority ordered the scrapping of 17% of flights between 7 am and 2 pm after pay talks between unions and ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  JAL mulls short-haul jet fleet replacement

  

  Bloomberg Japan Airlines Co is considering replacing its older Boeing Co 737 short-haul fleet with more modern and fuel efficient models, according to people familiar with the matter. The airline, which operates 45 of the 737 jets with an average age of about 12.5 years, is currently deciding between the 737 Max range and Airbus SE’s rival A320neo family, the ...

  Read More »
• 2 July

  Air Canada drops after cutting summer flights as delays drag

  

    Bloomberg Air Canada shares dropped after the company said that it will make “meaningful” reductions to its summer flight schedule in order to quickly bring passenger volumes down to a manageable level. Canada’s largest air carrier fell 6%, recovering slightly from an 8.8% tumble in intraday trading — its biggest drop since early March — as investors balked at ...

  Read More »