April, 2020

• 4 April

  Virus curbs affect oil, mine workers in Australia

  

  Bloomberg Some of the biggest mining and energy companies are scrambling to respond to tightening controls on movement inside Australia — the biggest exporter of iron ore and liquefied natural gas — by temporarily rehousing employees and their families thousands of miles from home. About 800 so-called fly-in fly-out (FIFO) mining workers have been relocated to Western Australia for potentially ...

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• 4 April

  TC Energy sells more debt as credit market thaws

  

  Bloomberg TC Energy Corp sold US dollar-denominated bonds just as the company’s new loonie notes rally in their trading debut. The pipeline operator’s C$2 billion ($1.4 billion) 3.8% debt due 2027 is quoted at a spread of about 300 basis points over Canadian government bonds after pricing on April 1 at 325 basis points, according to Bloomberg Valuation bid prices. ...

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• 4 April

  Athabasca suspends oil-sands operation

  Bloomberg Athabasca Oil Corp fully suspended its Hangingstone oil sands operation to combat low oil prices and uncertainty surrounding coronavirus. The move comes shortly after Athabasca said in March it would curtail production at Hangingstone by about 50% to maximise corporate funds flow and liquidity. Calls have been mounting for Canadian producers to cut production in light of rock-bottom domestic ...

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• 4 April

  South African wind industry questions Eskom’s force majeure

  Bloomberg South African wind energy producers questioned the legality of a decision by the state power utility to curtail purchases of their output, amid low demand caused by a nationwide lockdown to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) said Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd’s decision to invoke force majeure in its contracts with the independent ...

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• 4 April

  German aid to firms speeds up with $11.6bn in requests

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s efforts to limit the economic damage from a prolonged coronavirus shutdown are gathering steam, as aid applications pour in and officials seek a path to restart all-important auto production. Under a government program aimed to providing strapped businesses with financial liquidity, 2,500 companies have requested a total of 10.6 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in aid, according to state ...

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• 4 April

  Food prices slump most since 2015 as virus hits demand

  

  Bloomberg The global economic slowdown is causing the biggest drop in food prices since 2015 as demand shrinks for everything from dairy to sugar. The FAO Food Price Index, a global gauge of prices, dropped 4.3% in March, the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organisation said. That’s the steepest decline since August 2015. Food costs fell as government restrictions on ...

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• 4 April

  UK house prices surge before virus hit

  

  Bloomberg UK house prices were climbing at the fastest pace in more than two years before the coronavirus pandemic almost brought the market to a standstill, according to Nationwide Building Society. Values rose 3% from a year earlier in March, and gained 0.8% from February alone, the mortgage lender said. The sample period excludes recent disruption caused by UK’s restrict- ...

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• 4 April

  Spanish jobless claims rise in March

  

  Bloomberg The number of Spaniards filing for jobless claims surged in March, the latest example of how the coronavirus pandemic is upending people’s livelihoods around the world. The increase in jobless hits particularly hard in Spain, where the unemployment rate is already 13.8%, among the highest in the developed world. The Labour Ministry said claims rose by 302,265 people in ...

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• 4 April

  Trump rejects voting-by-mail amid virus over fraud concerns

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he doesn’t support mail-in voting as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus, arguing that sending ballots increases the likelihood of fraud. “I think a lot of people cheat with mail-in voting,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I think people should vote with voter ID. I think voter ID is very ...

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• 4 April

  Spain’s coronavirus cases surpass Italy

  

  Bloomberg Spain reported an increase in cases from the coronavirus outbreak, surpassing the number in Italy to remain at the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe. The number of confirmed cases increased by 7,026 to 124,736, from 117,710 a day earlier, according to Health Ministry data. In Italy, total cases stood at 119,827. In what could be a sign of ...

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