August, 2017

• 12 August

  OPEC sees higher 2018 crude demand, points to easing glut

  

  LONDON / Reuters OPEC forecast higher demand for its crude in 2018 due to rising global consumption, and pointed to signs of a stronger oil market that suggest an OPEC-led production cut is getting rid of price-sapping excess supply. In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said the world would need 32.42 million barrels per day ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  Egypt inflation soars to multi-decade high

  

  CAIRO / Reuters Egypt’s key inflation rates soared to multi-decade highs on the back of energy sub- sidy cuts agreed with the International Monetary Fund as a condition of its $12 billion three-year loan. Annual urban inflation for July hit a critical high of 33.0 percent from 29.8 percent in June, the official CAPMAS statistics agency said, the highest since ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  Large freight rates on Asia routes ‘bottomed’

  

  Reuters Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) on Asian routes may have finally bottomed as owners attempt to resist moves by charterers to push rates still lower, brokers said. “This is a really bad market now. The floor keeps getting lower but I think there’s now resistance by owners,” said a Singapore-based supertanker broker. That came as VLCC ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  Saudi, Iraq ministers agree to stronger oil-cuts commitment

  

  Bloomberg OPEC’s two biggest producers agreed to strengthen their commitment to production cuts and maintain balance in world crude markets, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said after talks with his Iraqi counterpart Jabbar al-Luaibi, according to the kingdom’s state news agency SPA. The two ministers also agreed to ensure coordination of their nations’ oil policies, Saudi Press Agency reported, citing ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  ‘Saudi favours New York for Aramco listing despite risks’

  

  RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia favours New York for the main foreign listing of state oil giant Aramco, even though some financial and legal advisers have recommended London as a less problematic and risky option, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. A final decision on where to stage what could be the world’s largest initial public offering will be ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  India pledges to meet budget deficit, but fiscal outlook clouded

  

  Bloomberg India warned that fiscal slippages could be a drag on Asia’s third-largest economy in the year to March 2018, but pledged to meet its budget deficit targets as it sought to reassure investors and global rating companies. The mid-year survey of the economy released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chief economic adviser, Arvind Subramanian, also called for interest rates ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  Facebook quietly launches app in China

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc. has found a new way to enter China: secretly launching an app under a different name. The photo-sharing app, called Colorful Balloons, was released in May to help Facebook enter a market that it’s been blocked from since 2009, according to a person familiar with the matter. Facebook has said its goal of connecting the world wouldn’t ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  Singapore GDP growth beats forecasts on trade

  Bloomberg Singapore’s economy posted faster growth in the second quarter than previously estimated by the government as a recovery in global trade helped to buoy manufacturing. Highlights of GDP report Gross domestic product rose a seasonally-adjusted and annualised 2.2 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said. As one of Asia’s ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  Tata Steel inches closer to Europe JV

  Bloomberg Tata Steel Ltd. and the trustee of the British Steel Pension Scheme have agreed to terms to separate the plan from the Indian steelmaker’s UK unit, eliminating the last hurdle for it to proceed with a strategy to place European operations into a joint venture. The Mumbai-based company has signed the regulated apportionment arrangement with the pension trustee and ...

  Read More »
• 12 August

  China’s Xi seeks to calm US-N Korea tensions

  

  Bloomberg China’s President Xi Jinping moved to calm growing tensions over North Korea, telling US leader Donald Trump in a phone call that all sides should maintain restraint and avoid inflammatory comments. Xi’s comments, reported by China’s CCTV, came shortly after Trump added to his recent aggressive tweets by saying that US military options were “locked and loaded” if North ...

  Read More »