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Bloomberg China’s coal imports in February tumbled 42 percent from the prior month as the world’s top buyer stalled custom clearances of shipments from Australia, sparking speculation it was retaliating politically against one of its biggest suppliers. Shipments dropped to about 630,036 tons a day from 1.08 million in January, which was the highest since 2014, according to Bloomberg calculations ...

Bloomberg A bankruptcy court approved ArcelorMittal’s offer to buy Essar Steel India Ltd., taking the world’s largest steelmaker closer to opening shop in the South Asian nation after months of court battles. The National Company Law Tribunal approved the resolution plan submitted by ArcelorMittal and partner Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., according to ArcelorMittal ’s lawyer Ruby Ahuja. The ...

Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s success in tapping the overseas bond market for $2.4 billion will help the island nation cover its debt obligations for this year and lift foreign reserves, Central Bank Deputy Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said. Sri Lanka’s currency is also likely to continue to appreciate in 2019 after falling to record lows in 2018 amid a political crisis, due ...

Bloomberg Japan’s economy expanded more than first estimated in the fourth quarter, driven partly by stronger business investment. Yet more recent gauges of factory output and exports point to a gloomier outlook for this year. Gross domestic product grew at an annualised pace of 1.9% in the three months through December. That compared with an initial reading of 1.4% and ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s three biggest financial firms plan to boost headcount by more than 10 percent this year as the local stock market rebounds. Cathay Financial Holding Co. and CTBC Financial Holding Co. plan to hire 5,000 people each, while Fubon Financial Holding Co. is looking to add more than 6,800 roles, the companies said this week. Taiwan’s benchmark equity index ...

Bloomberg Berry Global Group Inc. agreed to buy RPC Group Plc for 3.34 billion pounds ($4.4 billion) to create one of the world’s largest plastic-packaging companies, derailing a rival takeover plan by Apollo Global Management. Once a holding of Apollo, Berry boosted the cash part of its proposal to win backing from RPC’S board. Shareholders wou-ld get 793 pence a ...

Bloomberg Airbnb Inc. agreed to buy HotelTonight, its biggest acquisition yet, in a move to increase hotel listings on the site ahead of an eventual initial public offering for the home-sharing startup. Airbnb declined to disclose financial terms of the deal, but a person familiar with the matter said the price is close to HotelTonight’s last private valuation. A venture ...

Bloomberg Purdue Pharma LLP says its decision on whether to file for bankruptcy to avoid being swamped by opioid lawsuits doesn’t depend on the timing of the first trial over its role in the public-health crisis. A judge in Oklahoma refused Purdue’s, Johnson & Johnson’s and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s requests to push back a May trial of Oklahoma officials’ ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Twitter, saying aluminum prices are down about 12 percent since his tariffs were implemented. While Trump’s figure is mostly accurate, as far as the price of the metal traded on the London Metal Exchange is concerned, the president failed to point out that the impact of tariffs was reflected mostly in ...

Bloomberg US hiring was the weakest in more than a year while wage gains were the fastest of the expansion and the unemployment rate fell, a possible sign that America’s jobs engine is starting to slow down. Treasuries rose while the dollar and stock futures fell. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 20,000 after an upwardly revised 311,000 gain the prior month, ...