August, 2017

• 19 August

  Asia VLCC rates to remain lacklustre on tonnage glut

  

  SINGAPORE / Reuters Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) on Asian routes will remain under pressure for at least the next month, facing strong headwinds from a glut of tonnage, brokers said. “There are around 80 to 90 ships available for charter in the first 10 days in September – that’s about three ships for every cargo,” a ...

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• 19 August

  Libya gets better at keeping oil flowing as industry stabilizes

  

  Bloomberg Libya’s getting better at resolving stoppages in its oil industry, underpinning a growing perception that the OPEC member is closer to becoming a stable producer again. That’s because of the duration of the incidents. While in prior years protests could shutter fields for months and years, now the stoppages are being resolved within days and barely hindering flows. Sharara, ...

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• 19 August

  Crude shows strength beyond seasonal peak

  

  Bloomberg The market for physical barrels of crude from places as far apart as Oman and Colombia is strengthening beyond the traditional seasonal peak in demand, a positive indicator for global benchmark futures prices that remain stuck near $50. Physical differentials — the price gap between individual grades of crude and widely traded markers like Brent or West Texas Intermediate ...

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• 19 August

  Saudi’s cranes at Yemen ports to boost aid delivery

  UNITED NATIONS / Reuters Saudi Arabia said it was installing four cranes at three ports in Yemen to help boost humanitarian aid deliveries and was ready to assist with installing cranes at the key port of Hodeidah once it was under control of a neutral party. The Saudi mission to the United Nations said in a statement that the cranes ...

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• 19 August

  Egypt’s GB Auto sees demand revival as dealers’ inventories fall

  

  CAIRO / Reuters GB Auto, the Egyptian automotive assembler and manufacturer, expects demand for cars to pick up by the end of 2017 as dealers run down inventories, the company’s CEO said. Consumer demand in Egypt took a hit in November last year, when the central bank floated the pound currency to secure a three-year $12 billion International Monetary Fund ...

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• 19 August

  Infosys offers to buy back $2bn of shares as CEO quits

  

  Bloomberg Infosys Ltd. approved a 130 billion rupees ($2 billion) share repurchase to improve returns for stakeholders of the Indian software exporter a day after Chief Executive Officer Vishal Sikka quit amid heightened tensions between the board and founders led by ex-Chairman N R Narayana Murthy. Asia’s No.2 software services developer voted to buy back as many as 113 million ...

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• 19 August

  HNA sets date for shareholder vote on $1bn CWT deal

  Bloomberg HNA Group Co. has set a date for a long-awaited shareholder vote on its proposed $1 billion takeover of Singapore logistics operator (CWT) Ltd., people with knowledge of the matter said, in a sign that the beleaguered Chinese conglomerate is moving ahead with the deal. The Hong Kong-listed unit pursuing the purchase, HNA Holding Group Co., has scheduled an ...

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• 19 August

  Singapore gets a taste of ‘commuting chaos’

  Bloomberg Singapore’s reputation for slick infrastructure and efficient public transport received a knock morning as two of its five mass transit rail lines suffered signaling failures, leaving thousands of disgruntled passengers late for work and unleashing a tirade of criticism on the social media sites of the two rail operators. “Lovely….I’ll send ye the bill for the cab I’m having ...

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• 19 August

  Taiwan upgrades 2017 economic growth forecast increase

  Bloomberg Taiwan upgraded its economic growth forecast for this year, signaling confidence for 2018, as a strong exports outlook lifts momentum. The statistics bureau revised its estimate for 2017 gross domestic product to 2.11 percent, up from the previous projection of 2.05 percent in May and closer to the central bank forecast of 2.13 percent. The bureau also said it ...

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• 19 August

  Trump’s Afghan retreat ends without a decision

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump has yet to decide the future US role in Afghanistan, even after spending hours in a retreat at Camp David where his defense and foreign policy team made the case to continue fighting a war Trump has long questioned. “This afternoon the president was briefed extensively by his national security team on a new strategy to ...

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