Asia / Pacific

Indonesia's Investment Ministry said that it had met with Agincourt Resources to discuss the?legal and environment aspects of operations at Martabe Gold Mine, after Jakarta revoked their mining permits because of environmental violations. Agincourt is a part of the conglomerate Astra International. Astra's largest shareholder is Jardine Matheson. The government revoked the permits of 28 companies after accusations that they had violated environmental laws, which led to the worsening of the floods last year in Sumatra. At least 1,200 people were killed. The sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia headed by Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani has created a new company called...

Iran's foreign minister stated on Saturday that it will attack U.S. bases if they are attacked by U.S. troops who have gathered in the Middle East. He also insisted that this was not an attack against the countries that host them. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi appeared on Al Jazeera TV in Qatar a day following the announcement by Washington and Tehran that they would continue their indirect nuclear talks after what both sides called positive discussions held Friday in Oman. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that while Araqchi had said that no date has been set yet for the...

The oil prices rose on Friday as traders feared that the talks this week between the U.S.A. and Iran failed to reduce the threat of a war between the two countries. Brent crude futures settled on $68.05 per barrel, up?50 cents or 0.74%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended up 26 cents or 0.41% at $63.55 per barrel. Both benchmarks declined overnight, but both Brent and WTI gained more than $1 per barrel during the U.S. trading session before settling. Iran and the U.S. conducted negotiations through Omani mediation in order to resolve?sharp disagreements over Tehran's nuke program. John Kilduff...

Sources and company executives claim that some Brazilian power companies are withdrawing from the energy trading market due to rising credit risk, increased price volatility, and shrinking sales from generators. CPFL &?CTG Brasil are two of the major generators controlled Chinese groups that have stopped "directional trading" in which firms took long or short positions on price fluctuations to profit. Local groups like Capitale, Urca, and Trinity have cut back or stopped trading operations. Brazil's billions-dollar power trading market?operates via bilateral agreements without a central counterparty to monitor leverage. This makes reputation important, especially for independent investors who do not...

The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), on Friday, approved the creation of a unit that will run a "proposed national coal exchange". India announced last year that it would establish a platform for buying and selling coal produced domestically, despite a surge in production. NSE is expected to hold at least 60% of the coal exchange, with the remainder being allocated to other shareholders. NSE stated that the platform "will facilitate electronic trading of coal using standardised contracts and facilitate physical deliveries and derivative products in future subject to regulatory approval." Exchange operator stated that the lack of an...

The Olympic flame arrived at Milan's gothic giant cathedral on Thursday, amid cheers and protests on the eve before the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Winter Games. Nicoletta Mani, a 'leading 'ballet dancer from the nearby La Scala Theatre, carried the torch to a platform under the cathedral, where it was lit a brazier. The majority of people who packed the Piazza del Duomo, or Cathedral Square in the light rain cheered and took photos on their smartphones as the torch passed. The torch was brought to the square through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. In solidarity with Gazans, a...

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed that Abbas Araqchi, Iran's Foreign minister, has left?for Muscat in the Omani capital at the head of a diplomatic delegation for nuclear talks to be held with the U.S. on Friday. Officials from both sides confirmed that the U.S. has agreed to hold talks with Iran in Oman this Friday. However, they are still at odds over Washington's demand that Tehran's arsenal of missiles be included in negotiations and Iran's refusal to talk about anything but its nuclear program. Esmail Baghaei, the Iranian spokesperson, said on Thursday that Iran will engage in talks with...

The Italian tyremaker Pirelli has said that it opposes any spin-off of its 'cyber tyre' activities. This was in response to a proposal put forward by Sinochem, a Chinese shareholder, to settle a governance issue. Directors are against "any project or initiative that might lead to any form of compartmentalization, separation and/or segregation, even only partially, and of any nature," ?Pirelli said in a statement. It added that the board supported the position by a vote of 9-5, with five directors appointed in China voting against. Sinochem, a Beijing-controlled company, is the largest shareholder in Pirelli with a stake of...

India and the U.S. are expected to sign a "formal" trade agreement in March. After that, New Delhi will lower tariffs on U.S. products, said Trade Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday. This was the first official timeline of the adoption of the deal. Washington will then reduce the duty on Indian exports from 50% to 18% within a few days. Goyal stated that India will purchase about $500 billion worth of U.S. products over the next five years. This includes $70-80 billion of Boeing aircraft. In the deal announced Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reduced U.S. Tariffs on Indian Goods...

Alexei Zabotkin, First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, said that the outlook for Russian exports in the first quarter of 2026 will be more difficult than it was last year. This will have a negative impact on the federal budget. A?source near the government said earlier that the Russian budget deficit would be nearly three times higher than the official target at the end of 2026 due to falling Indian purchases?of Russian oil, and the widening of trade discounts. "The situation for our exports continues be challenging." Zabotkin, a RBC radio host, said that the situation is likely to...

The Kremlin stated on Wednesday that they saw nothing new in India's announcement to diversify their oil supplies, as New Delhi has always purchased oil from other countries including Russia. Piyush Goyal, the Trade Minister of India, said on Wednesday that India will diversify its energy sources to ensure its citizens' security in an ever-changing global environment. Goyal made his statement after Donald Trump, the U.S. president announced on Monday a U.S. India trade agreement. Trump said that New Delhi would halt its Russian oil purchases. India hasn't confirmed this publicly since. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said that everyone...

Investors say that the U.S. India trade deal will likely be enough to stop foreign stock selling. However, they insist that earnings growth and fundamentals must improve before sustained?buying can occur. The long-awaited agreement sparked an increase in the stock markets and rupee's strongest rally in seven year on?Tuesday as it?signalled improved diplomatic and trade relationships with the U.S. This was only one of many factors that hung over the currency and stock market, which has underperformed by a large margin regional and global counterparts since the start of last year, and seen the foreign allocations shrink to a 2-decade-low....

TechMet, a U.S. investment vehicle backed by the United States, is seeking to raise an additional $200 million to finance vital minerals projects. CEO Brian Menell said on Monday. TechMet, a privately-held company that owns stakes of ten companies, including Brazilian Nickel, South Africa's Rainbow Rare Earths and Qatar Investment Authority, raised $300 million last year, including $180 from the Qatar Investment Authority. TechMet has reopened its fundraising. The company, valued at over $1 billion, focuses on developing businesses along the entire critical minerals value chain. Menell said on the sidelines an African mining conference in Cape Town: "We kept...

The dollar fell on Monday, and copper prices rose. However, weak demand prospects in China, the top industrial metal consumer, along with rising inventories, are expected to challenge the bullish sentiment. The benchmark copper price on the London Metal Exchange was 0.4% higher, at $13,043 per metric ton. Prices have fallen 10% since January 29, when they reached a record high of $14527.50. Funds use numerical models that generate buy and sale signals to determine the effect of a softer U.S. dollar on metals priced in dollars. The market is still dominated, according to traders, by funds and other speculators...

Dalian iron-ore futures fell for a sixth session on Monday, as China's inventories rose amid low demand, and Australia’s main?iron-ore hub resumed operations following a cyclone warning. The most-traded contract for May iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange traded 0.46% less at 761.5 Yuan ($109.89). As of 0705 GMT, the benchmark March iron ore contract on Singapore Exchange was up 0.57% at $99.6 per ton. Singapore's benchmark dropped below $100 per ton, as China's demand slowed in the lead-up to Lunar New Year. Data from Steelhome, released on February 6, showed that iron?ore inventories at major Chinese port rose...

It's been difficult to find thermal coal exporters in recent years, given the soft prices and lower demand from China and India. For Indonesian miners, it was also difficult because of the uncertainty surrounding government policy. One group of coal exporters seems to be quite optimistic. South Africa's coal miners look forward to increased demand from India, their biggest buyer. They also anticipate improvements in rail infrastructure which will enable them to increase volumes. The coal that South African producers are seeing a high demand for, however, is not the coal used for electricity generation. Instead, it's for industrial processes...

Argentine Foreign minister?Pablo Quirno said that a deal between Argentina and 'the U.S. on critical minerals signed this week doesn't rule out Chinese investments?into the mining sector of the country. As of today, this does not mean that China will or cannot invest in Argentina. Quirno stated at a press briefing that China has made investments in Argentina in the form of minerals. The agreement was announced following a meeting in Washington of over 50 countries where U.S. Vice President JD Vance suggested a trading block for critical minerals. On Thursday, the two countries finalized their reciprocal trade agreement and...

The price of copper rose above $13,000 per ton, ending two days of declines. Investor sentiment also improved as prices became more affordable. Benchmark three-month Copper on the London Metal Exchange was trading 0.8% higher at $13,001 a ton by 1700 GMT. It had earlier fallen as much as 2.9%, to $12,528. Red metal reached a session high of $13,037.50, and was on track to end the week with a loss of 1.2%. It had fallen 10.5% since a record-high price of $14,527.50 set on January 29, 2010. Broker Marex stated in a report that a merchant bid on copper...

Tata Steel reported an unexpectedly higher third-quarter profit, as increased sales volumes offset the negative impact of low steel prices. The net profit for the quarter ended on December 31 jumped from 3.27 billion rupees to 26.89 billion rupees (US$296.66 million). According to LSEG data, analysts had on average expected a profit of 24,26 billion rupees. Analysts at Jefferies had predicted that Indian steel companies would report "stronger volume growth" in October-December, due to capacity expansions. Meanwhile, Systematix Institutional Equities stated that higher volumes will help Tata Steel offset price pressures. The company's domestic production volume for the third quarter...

Itochu, Japan's largest retailer, posted a record-breaking 4% increase in its nine-month net profits through December 31st, to 705.3 billion dollars. This was a result of strong consumer businesses, such as food, textiles and the convenience store chain. The trading house's food unit saw a 38% increase in profit to 82.5 billion Japanese yen, up from 60 billion last year. This was due to higher banana sales and production, as well as growth of the packaged foods division at Dole agriculture. Tsuyoshi Hachimura, Chief Financial Officer of the company, said at a press conference that "core profits in non-resources sectors...

Muyuan Foods shares closed slightly higher on Friday in Hong Kong, following the world's largest pig breeder. raised HK$10.7 Billion ($1.4 Billion) in a share sale This is the largest city-wide event so far in this year. The shares of the firm opened at HK$39 per share, matching their initial offer, and ended 3.9% higher, at HK$40.52, after trading between HK$38.98 and HK$41.72, with 40.59 millions shares worth HK$1.63billion changing hands. The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 1.2% lower. This is the biggest share sale in Hong Kong in recent memory, surpassing Zijin Gold International $3.5 billion in September. Dickie...

The Singapore contract fell below $100 for the first time in November 2025. This is part of a broad commodities decline triggered by the fall of Wall Street tech stocks. The May contract for iron ore, the most traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange(DCE), ended daytime trade at 760.5 Yuan ($109.59) per metric ton. The contract ended the week 3.53% lower. As of 0722 GMT, the benchmark March iron ore traded on the Singapore Exchange had fallen 1.26% to $99.35 per ton. Iron?ore has fallen 4.28% this week and is set to have its 'fourth consecutive week of declines. After...

Australian Rio Tinto shareholders have welcomed the decision of the mining giant to end merger discussions with Glencore. They said that now it is up to the company's new strategy, which they had placed so much emphasis on. The proposed merger, first announced in January, was intended to create the largest mining company with a value of more than $200 billion. Rio announced on Thursday that the two companies were unable to reach a deal which would have provided shareholders with enough value. Rio's investors feared that the miner could overpay Glencore to make a deal. Sources said that Glencore...

Canada's Capstone Copper announced on Friday that its largest union at the Mantoverde copper and gold mine in?Chile approved a three-year contract. This ended a strike which began on January 2, and allowed production to resume normal. The Australian-listed shares of the miner fell by?3.9%, to A$15.430. This is their lowest level since January 23. The agreement brings an end to the labour strike which had reduced production in the?mine by about 55%. Capstone announced that it had?now negotiated new contracts for all four unions on the site. This allows the company to resume its full operations. Union No. Union...