Asia

Nvidia may be synonymous with AI, but a group of lesser-known power and cooling equipment providers is taking advantage of a global construction frenzy as developers rush to avoid infrastructure bottlenecks. The energy-hungry data centers have created a?surge in demand for equipment from transformers and advanced cooling systems. This has resulted in?winners throughout Asia's supply chains, although earlier stock price gains have moderated. McKinsey predicts that nearly $7 trillion will be invested in data centres worldwide by 2030. Nvidia said last week it expects AI expenditures to continue for many years. It is getting harder to build data centres quickly...

People familiar with the plant's operations reported that Valero Energy Corporation's Port Arthur refinery, which produces 385,000 barrels per day (bpd), suffered a partial blackout on Tuesday night due to Tropical Storm Edouard. Sources said that the refinery's smaller AVU 147 crude distillation units were shut down due to the power outage at the south end of the plant. The larger AVU 146 CDUs were operating on minimum crude processing levels. CDUs start the fuel production process by breaking crude oil down into feedstocks that are used in the units which make gasoline, diesel, lubricating oil, and feedstocks to make...

Nvidia may be synonymous with AI, but a group of lesser-known power and cooling equipment providers is also cashing in on the global data center construction boom as developers rush to avoid infrastructure bottlenecks. The energy-hungry data centers have created a surge of demand for equipment from transformers to advanced cooling systems. This has created winners throughout Asia's supply chains, though earlier stock price gains have moderated. McKinsey predicts that data centres will be worth $7 trillion by 2030. Nvidia said last week it expected AI spending to continue for many years. It is getting harder to build data centres...

Gulf stock markets rose in early trade Tuesday on higher oil prices, while United Arab Emirates stocks were subdued as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran dampened investor sentiment. Brent crude traded at $91.94 per barrel as of 0804 GMT, an increase of 1.6%. Qatar's benchmark rose 0.6% with all sectors in positive territory. Qatar Fuel Company gained 4.6% while Qatar National Bank (the region's biggest lender) added?1.1%. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index increased by 0.3%. Healthcare, materials, and energy stocks led the way. Saudi Aramco, the oil giant, gained 0.7% while Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical soared by...

The Iranian conflict has continued to affect the supply of refined petroleum products in Asia. In August, the region that consumes the most refined fuels saw its imports drop to their lowest level since the start of the war. Asia's imports of light and medium distillates were estimated at 5,10 million barrels a day (bpd), down from 5,61 million bpd during July, according to Kpler data, a commodities analyst. Imports are down by about 2 million bpd, compared to the 7.06 million bpd average in the three months prior to February 28, when Israel and the U.S. launched airstrikes against...

The music publishing divisions of Sony Music 'and 'Warner Music sued Anthropic at the federal court in California for allegedly using their copyrighted compositions as a basis to train Claude AI models. Sony and Warner stated in their complaint filed on Friday that Anthropic had pirated hundreds song lyrics and sheet songs from The Beatles to Taylor Swift to Michael Jackson to train Claude to respond to human prompts. This lawsuit is part of a series of similar cases filed by copyright holders, including publishers, authors, music labels, and news outlets, against tech companies for using their work in AI...

An oil refinery in Russia's Yaroslavl region, Slavneft-Yaroslavnefteorgsintez, or ?YANOS, suspended oil processing at two ?of its three crude distillation units after a drone ?attack on August ?28, two industry ?sources ?told . The local governor stated on Friday that the facility had been hit by debris from an Ukrainian drone. Sources claim that the attack caused damage to the AVT-3 primary unit of crude distillation with a daily capacity of 17,140 metric tonnes, which is about 40% of the refinery's total capacity. The AVT-4 unit, with a daily capacity of 14,300 tons, represents 33% of the total capacity. The...

SK On, a South Korean battery manufacturer, announced on 'Monday that it had signed a contract to supply U.S. -based NeoVolta Power 9 Gigawatt Hours (GWh), of lithium iron phosphate?battery cells. These will be used in energy storage systems over a five-year period starting 2027. In a press release, SK On said that the pouch-type cells would be manufactured at its factory in Georgia. SK On has not disclosed the value of the deal but industry estimates place it at approximately 1.5 trillion won ($1.09billion). SK On has entered into an agreement to expand its energy storage systems business in...

A Turkish Foreign Ministry source said that top officials from Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as Pakistan, will meet in Istanbul Monday to hold the first committee meeting of their joint defence agreement, which they signed this month. Signed on August 7, the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement" brought together Sunni Muslim U.S. Allies who were concerned about the Iran war and regional conflicts that have led to Iranian missile attacks on Gulf oil exporters. The aim is to increase 'collective deterrence' against any aggression. It stipulates that any armed attack against one of the three countries would be considered...

On Friday, U.S. president Donald 'Trump' said that the U.S. entered into an oil agreement with Venezuela. Trump said on Truth Social that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of war Pete Hegseth had secured the majority U.S. ownership of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven oil reserves in Venezuela. This was done at no cost to American taxpayers. Trump claimed that the agreement would double American oil reserves. The U.S. has been promoting American investments in the deteriorated Venezuelan energy industry since January when it?captured? and removed? former President Nicolas Maduro. The Trump administration is under pressure...

According to two sources in the industry, Russia's gasoline production fell to 70% of its domestic consumption by the end August. This was after a series drone attacks forced major refineries into suspension of operations. Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russia's infrastructure to reduce Moscow's revenue. This has created a fuel shortage that has forced Russia import petroleum products, and maintain sales restrictions throughout the country. After a short respite in July when local authorities began to?ease or lift restrictions on fuel sale, shortages returned in Russian regions by August. According to sources, gasoline production dropped at the end...

India's'markets regulator' approved Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms $3.8 billion initial 'public'?offering Friday, paving the way for what could be India's largest listing. Reliance Jio, the largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers by country after China Mobile, had 524.4 millions subscribers at the end of March. In recent weeks, several IPOs attracted a large number of retail and wealthy investors. In less than two weeks since July 1, more than two dozen IPOs were launched or announced, nearly matching the 28 IPOs in the first half 2026. Jio Platforms intends to 'use the majority of the IPO proceeds in order...

BHP's commercial officer Rag Udd will step down by the end of January in order to pursue a career outside the company. This was revealed in a memo sent out on Tuesday. The miner is now left with a difficult role -- negotiating iron-ore deals with China. Some analysts and investors had considered Udd as a candidate for the "top job" at BHP. Brandon Craig, who started in July, was given the position. According to the memo, Udd will have been working at BHP in Singapore for 30 years by the time he leaves. Udd?was responsible for BHP's negotiation with...

Two sources confirmed that India has resumed discussions with Zambia about investment opportunities in copper, and other minerals of importance, as New Delhi increasingly looks overseas to source raw materials for its growing economy. Two people who were familiar with the talks, who requested anonymity due to the confidentiality of the discussion, said that officials from India's Ministry of Mines had preliminary discussions on August 26 with Zambian officials. One source said that the two parties did not discuss an stalled project which had stopped talks earlier. Reports in April indicated that the talks between India, Zambia and other countries...

London zinc prices rose Tuesday to their highest level in more than four years, supported by concerns about supply and the limited availability of zinc outside China. As of 0300 GMT, the benchmark three-month 'zinc contract on the London Metal Exchange was up by 2.29% at $3,972 per metric ton. The contract had reached $3,990 earlier, its highest level since May 2022. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded zinc contract was up 2.71 percent at 27,070 Yuan ($4,027.97). The price of zinc reached a high of 27,165 yuan per tonne earlier this year, the highest level since January 2026. Zinc...

Two U.S. officials said on Monday that the U.S. company North American Blue Energy Partners would take over oilfields controlled by several Chinese firms and a Russian firm. They said that the 'takeover' will be part of an oil production agreement President Donald Trump has announced with Venezuela. According to officials, the projects were part of 14 new contracts awarded to U.S.-backed North American Blue Energy Partners. NABEP, owned by U.S. oil magnate Harry Sargeant, is now controlled and managed by Venezuelan Alejandro Betancourt. Last week, Trump said that the U.S. has secured access to 64 billion barrels (or a...

Shanghai zinc rose on Monday as a result of tightening supply outside China. This is the best month for Shanghai zinc since January. By 0715 GMT, the?most traded zinc contract at?the Shanghai Futures Exchange had risen?1.66%. It was now worth?26.710 yuan (US$3,975.35) per metric ton. This brought its August gain up to 5.57%. It is the largest monthly increase since January. The metal is mainly used to galvanize steel. Zinc shortages outside China are encouraging exports of zinc from?China. Daniel Hynes is a senior commodities analyst at ANZ. He said that the stockpiles in zinc LME warehouses have fallen by...

Two?sources who are familiar with the situation said that the head of China Iron Ore at Radiant World is leaving the company. The trading 'company' has been under scrutiny and many counterparties have stopped doing business with it. Sources said that Leon Jin was on his last day of work at the trading house, Monday. According to 'his LinkedIn profile', he joined Radiant World after spending more than 10 year with Trafigura. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with media. Some banks have frozen accounts of 'Radiant World,' and some trading houses have cut ties...

Data released on Friday showed that India's industrial output growth in July slowed down to 6.7% year-on-year, as mining activity declined. Manufacturing and electricity outputs also saw a decline. Economists surveyed by expected that industrial production growth would slow in July to 6% from an 8.8% revised month earlier. In?May the government had switched to using producer prices instead of wholesale prices when calculating factory output. KEY NUMBERS * The manufacturing output increased by 7.3% on an annual basis in July, compared to a growth rate of 9.5% that was revised in June. * The generation of electricity increased 8.7%...

According to the website of the Singapore Supreme Court, Japan's Mizuho Bank Ltd filed a case against the Singapore Iron Ore Trader Radiant World's 'operating entity'. A court listing revealed that Mizuho Bank is the banking division of Mizuho Financial Group and they are seeking an injunction to stop Radiant World Corporation from doing business. Could not find any other public legal action taken by a Radiant World creditor. Radiant World accounts have been frozen by some banks and trading houses have cut ties with the company over concerns that it had submitted invalid invoices to raise funding. Singapore Police...

Zinc prices fell Thursday, as rising inventories eased concerns over supply shortages outside China. This ended a six session rally during which speculative purchases pushed the metal up to its highest level in four years. By 1002 GMT, the benchmark three-month Zinc on London Metal Exchange had fallen 1% to $3,855 per metric tonne. On Wednesday, the contract reached $3,949.5 - its highest level since June 2022. The daily LME data revealed that zinc stocks reached a three-week high after 1,100 tonnes of new inflows into the LME registered warehouses in Singapore and Hong Kong. Analysts anticipate more inventory to...

Zinc prices dropped - and were about to end a six day winning streak on Thursday. A firm dollar weighed down the support of a 'thin supply outside China', while also pulling other industrial metals down. The benchmark three-month price of zinc at the London Metal Exchange fell by 0.96%, to $3.855.5 per metric ton as of 0700 GMT. The most traded zinc contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down by 0.44% to 26,140 yuan (US$3,889.71) per ton. As the market prepares for U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's awaited speech in Jackson Hole, the U.S. Dollar Index has?gained...

The gold?prices eased Wednesday as they were on track to end a three-session winning streak. However, the focus now shifts to the U.S. Inflation data that will be released later in the afternoon for any indications on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. Spot gold dropped 0.8% by 1114 GMT to $4,618.03 an ounce, after prices rose to their highest level since May 14, on Tuesday, following the U.S. Treasury Department?s recent bond buyback announcement. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.4% to $4673.90. Nikos Tzabouras is a senior market analyst at Jefferies owned Tradu.com. He said that gold prices were subdued...

On Wednesday, zinc?prices reached their highest level in over four years on a combination of speculative and supply concerns. The benchmark three-month price of zinc at the?London Metal Exchange rose 0.4% to $3,907 per metric tonne by 0945 GMT. This was its highest since June 2022. Zinc, which is mainly used for galvanising steel, has suffered from regional disparity. Stocks are eroding at warehouses registered with LME, while they pile up in China. Local shortages of zinc have pushed the cash LME zinc premium over the three-month Futures. To $132 per ton. This is up from $0 in early July,...