March, 2019

• 10 March

  Global air freight market makes weak start to 2019

  

  Emirates Business The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), decreased 1.8% in January 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. This was the worst performance in the last three years. Freight capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometers (AFTKs), rose by 4.0% year-on-year in …

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• 10 March

  Ethiopian Air en route to Nairobi crashes, killing all

  Bloomberg A four-month-old Ethiopian Airlines Boeing plane en route to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, crashed on Sunday, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew, the airline said in a statement. The crash is the second in five months involving a Max 8 after a Lion Air plane that had been delivered only 2 1/2 months earlier nose-dived into the Java Sea …

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• 9 March

  Opec oil exports to US plunge to 3-decade low

  Bloomberg Opec crude oil shipments to the world’s largest economy sank to a thirty-year low as part of an effort by the cartel and its allies to balance supplies and counteract America’s shale boom. Opec supply cuts that started in 2017 were extended in 2018. The end result was Saudi Arabia cutting exports to the US by 9 percent to …

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• 9 March

  Possible China-US gas supply deal predates trade war talks

  

  Bloomberg A new gas supply deal between the US and China that’s expected to be part of a broader trade agreement has been in the works since before the trade war began and was put on ice after tensions flared, according to people with knowledge of the matter. A deal between Cheniere Energy Inc. and China’s Sinopec, expected to be …

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• 9 March

  Crescent Point takes $2 billion writedown

  

  Bloomberg Crescent Point Energy Corp., the Canadian oil driller that fended off an activist investor last year, wrote down the value of its assets by C$2.73 billion ($2 billion) and is putting more holdings on the block as its new chief executive officer targets core operations. The after-tax writedown reflects the fair value of its assets, many of which were …

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• 9 March

  Defying slowdown with robot servers and AI menus

  

  Bloomberg KFC’s owner in China is pushing ahead with expansion plans, opening two stores a day in the world’s biggest consumer market and banking on technology to help it cut costs, even as carmakers and industrial companies signal demand there is deteriorating. Yum China Holdings Inc., the nation’s biggest fast-food chain, which operates the KFC and Pizza Hut brands, is …

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• 9 March

  Nintendo’s Switch makes its foray into VR games

  

  Bloomberg Nintendo Co.’s Switch hybrid is making its first foray into virtual reality games. The Nintendo Labo VR Kit lets gamers build a headset mostly out of cardboard so that they can slide in the device to create what the company calls “basic VR technology.” It’s reminiscent of Google’s Cardboard, which turns smartphones into VR goggles and was introduced almost …

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• 9 March

  Samsung working on more foldable smartphone models

  

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. is working on a pair of new foldable smartphones to follow its Galaxy Fold, seeking to seize an early lead in new market segment. The South Korean manufacturer is said to be developing a clamshell-like device, and another that folds away from the user similar to Huawei Technologies Co.’s Mate X, people familiar with the matter …

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• 9 March

  Apple in ‘difficult position’ for 5G iPhone parts: Cowen

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. is expected to wait until 2020 before it releases a 5G version of its iPhone, but even with a time frame that puts a potential launch after rivals such as Samsung, Apple may still struggle to get the necessary components to build the product. According to Cowen, Apple is “in a difficult position” given its reliance on …

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• 9 March

  Germany’s two shrinking banks near merger

  

  Bloomberg A merger of Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG is shaping up as the most likely endgame as Germany’s largest listed lenders are running out of time to show they can grow as standalone companies. The banks are intensifying informal talks as their turnaround efforts sputter, according to a person familiar with the matter. While there’s no formal mandate …

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