December, 2016

• 19 December

  Here, ‘Smart-Valleys’ bring rice bounty

  

    Ouinhi / AFP Daniel Aboko proudly shows off the 11 hectares (27 acres) of paddy fields he shares with other farmers — a small spread that produces a bounty of food thanks to smart irrigation and a hardy strain of rice. In just four years, small farmers in Ouinhi, southeastern Benin, have seen their rice harvest double from three ...

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• 19 December

  EU pivots away from distorted energy markets towards gas

  

    Bloomberg The European Union seeks to tackle energy market distortions with policies that will eliminate coal and favour natural gas-fired and renewable power while reducing the cost of lowering emissions. The European Commission plan to limit the use of high-emissions generation to secure supply will hurt coal plants starting in 2020, but not modern gas units, according to the ...

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• 19 December

  Oil trades below $52 as investors eye Libyan crude output return

  

    Bloomberg Oil prices traded below $52 a barrel as investors eye the potential return of crude volumes from Libya amid continuing tension in the OPEC member that’s exempt from output cuts. Futures were down as much as 0.8 percent in New York following a 2 percent gain on Friday. Libyan oil-facility guards backtracked on an agreement to allow supply ...

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• 19 December

  OPEC output deal makes oil investors bullish

  

    Bloomberg Investors are the most optimistic on oil since the slump began two and a half years ago. Money managers boosted bets on rising West Texas Intermediate crude prices to the highest level since July 2014 after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and producers outside the group agreed to coordinate crude production cuts. Prices advanced to a 17-month ...

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• 19 December

  Aramco, GE to launch kingdom’s first wind turbine next month

  

    Bloomberg Saudi Aramco plans to commission its wind turbine pilot project, the first in the kingdom, next month, the state oil company said on Sunday, part of nationwide plans to diversify energy supplies and to meet an increase in demand. The wind turbine, supplied by U.S. company General Electric will provide power to Saudi Aramco’s bulk plant in Turaif, ...

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• 19 December

  Mongolia pegs $1bn from India for oil refinery, pipelines

  

    Emirates Business Mongolia will seek approval from the Import-Export Bank of India to build an oil refinery and pipelines with $1 billion in infrastructure funding negotiated last year, a project that could boost the nation’s gross domestic product by 10 percent. The government intends to use $700 million of the loan for an oil refinery and $264 million for ...

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• 19 December

  Looming elections sidetrack Pakistan’s privatization drive

  

    Bloomberg Pakistan’s drive to sell stakes in its loss-making state-owned entities has been all but abandoned, as the government bows to threats of widespread protests over potential job losses. Former IBM executive Mohammad Zubair, the minister of state for privatization, has found his work increasingly sidelined, even as annual losses from state companies rack up at 600 billion rupees ...

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• 19 December

  Nintendo tumbles after Super Mario Run draws tepid reviews

  

    Bloomberg Nintendo Co. plummeted in Tokyo after the debut of Super Mario Run was met by lukewarm reviews. The stock slid 7.1 percent on Monday, bringing its losses since the game’s debut last week to more than 11 percent. Nintendo’s partner DeNA Co., which helped with the game’s development, dropped 14 percent in the same period. Super Mario Run ...

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• 19 December

  Ousted Chairman Mistry resigns from Tata companies amid fight with scion

  

    Bloomberg Ousted Tata Sons Ltd. Chairman Cyrus Mistry resigned as director of group companies as the units prepared to host shareholder meetings to remove him from the boards in a brawl for control of the $100 billion group. Mistry stepped down as a director in Tata Steel Ltd. and Indian Hotels Co., and as chairman of Tata Motors Ltd., ...

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• 19 December

  Japan posts trade surplus as imports fall

    Bloomberg Japan posted a trade surplus for a third straight month in November as imports continued to fall faster than exports. Export values declined at the slowest pace since September 2015, with exports to China rising for first time since February. Exports fell 0.4 percent in November from a year earlier (forecast -2.3%), after declining 10 percent in October, ...

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