Benelux

The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated on Monday that the government has not yet decided if it will take a stake of the German division owned by the Dutch state-owned power grid operator TenneT. He also said the Netherlands and Germany were still in discussions. The Netherlands announced last month that it would decide in September if it wanted to sell a minority stake in TenneT Germany, or pursue a partially IPO. This could be Europe's largest deal in 2025. After a failed partial sale of TenneT Germany to the German state lender KfW in June last year, the Dutch...

The Nikkei 225 index in Japan fell on Thursday as a result of a decline in shares related to chip-making tools after Dutch supplier ASML issued a warning about revenue. As of 0214 GMT the tech-heavy Nikkei index was down 0.3% to 39,544.62. The two largest drags on the index were chip-sector giants Tokyo Electron (down 0.3%) and Advantest (down 0.3%). Topix as a whole, on the other hand, only managed a 0.1% increase. Seven & i Holdings was the Nikkei’s largest decliner, in terms of percentage. It fell 7.8% when Alimentation Couche-Tard (Canada) ended its bid to take over...

Nextwind, an European renewable energy provider said that on Tuesday it had secured debt financing of 1.4 billion euro ($1.6 billion) for the expansion a German wind energy project. This deal allows the Berlin-based company to raise an additional 1.3 billion euro in the next five year if it meets its capacity targets. The financing is the largest ever by an independent German wind energy company. According to a source familiar with the deal, Deutsche Bank, ING Bank, and LBBW participated in the financing as well as acting as underwriters. Nextwind has stated that it plans to increase the total...

This week, MyWheels, a Dutch car-sharing company will add the first 500 Renault EVs that are grid-connected to its fleet. The technology is gaining traction in Europe and the number of cars capable of strengthening power grids has increased. The Vehicle-to Grid technology (V2G) allows electric cars to store energy and deliver it to the grid during times of high demand. It has been around for several years, but it was only recently that the technology became commercially viable. This was due to smart charging and batteries capable of sustaining intensive use. MyWheels' roll-out will be the biggest V2G car...

After a 60.59 billion pound ($45 billion) state-funded investment at the height the financial crisis in 2008, NatWest is now fully private. This ends a costly taxpayer-funded investment which reshaped both the lender and the industry. The British government has sold the remaining 1% of its bank shares, according to an announcement by the Treasury on Friday. It had previously sold small blocks over recent years. It held up to 38% as recently as December 20,23. In a press release, Finance Minister Rachel Reeves stated that "nearly 20 years ago, the government intervened to protect millions and businesses from the...

A person familiar with the proceedings said that the Norwegian parliament is set to reject the campaigners' call to instruct its $1.8 trillion fund to boycott companies selling products or services in the occupied Palestinian Territories. The person stated that a majority of the finance committee in the Norwegian Parliament decided to exclude from the fund only those companies which can be connected with the violation international law, and not simply any company that has a presence in such areas. The International Court of Justice ruled last year that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory was illegal, and that it should...

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has been resolving a dispute between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea for decades, ruled Monday that Equatorial Guinea had a claim on a group of small islands located in waters potentially rich in oil in the Gulf of Guinea. The ICJ (also known as the World Court) sided with Equatorial Guinea in its final and binding decision. It said that its claim to the islands based upon a 1900 agreement dividing French and Spanish colonial properties in West Africa, should be respected. The court ruled that a 1974 accord on which Gabon had based...

As they struggle with thin margins and a global oversupply of petrochemicals, executives from several Asian companies said that they plan to reconfigure crackers in order to process more Ethane. This will reduce costs and allow them to take advantage of the rising U.S. supply. SP Chemicals, a Chinese company, and YNCC in South Korea are two of the largest cracker operators. Mitsui Chemicals in Japan is researching the use of ethanol to fuel existing crackers. This change will enable operators to maintain flexibility in their feedstocks, with U.S. exports of ethane expected to increase by about 7% by 2025....

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, concluded his Gulf tour Friday after securing what the White House claims is more than $2 trillion in combined deals for the U.S. It is not clear how that number was arrived at. A total of $700 billion is calculated by adding up all the deals that were announced. Deal inflation is common on major visits, even for a president who prides himself in being an expert at making deals. The trip included large orders for Boeing planes, contracts to purchase U.S. defense equipment, agreements on data and technology, and other contracts. Experts in finance...

In the face of U.S. competitors, two of Europe's largest stock exchange operators have stepped up their efforts to keep local initial public offering companies. Marketing and research are challenging the perception that New York listed companies command higher valuations. The stock exchanges of Europe and the UK were hit by a lack of IPOs during the last two years. A number of local companies have chosen to float in the U.S. because of its larger pools of capital, and higher valuations. Deutsche Boerse (which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange) warns of sluggish post IPO performance, increased costs, and the...

In the face of U.S. competitors, two of Europe's largest stock exchange operators have stepped up their efforts to keep local IPOs. Marketing and research are challenging the perception that New York listed companies command higher valuations. The stock exchanges of Europe and the UK were hit by a lack of IPOs during the last two years. A number of local companies have chosen to float in the U.S. because of its larger pools of capital, and higher valuations. Deutsche Boerse (which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange) warns of sluggish post IPO performance, increased costs, and the threat litigation for...

As part of a broader tax reform bill, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives proposed Monday to kill the electric vehicle credit and repeal fuel efficiency regulations designed to encourage automakers to build more zero-emission cars. The proposal is scheduled for a House Ways and Means Committee Hearing on Tuesday. It would repeal the $7,500 tax credit for new vehicles and the $4,000 credit for used vehicles on December 31, but it would keep the credit for new cars for an extra year for automakers who haven't sold 200,000 electric cars. Genevieve Cullen - the president of the Electric...

According to preliminary government data reviewed on Tuesday, India's finished-steel imports fell nearly 30% during the first three month of the fiscal year that began in April due to a consistent fall in shipments out of China and Japan. Data showed that the world's second largest crude steel producer imported 1,4 million metric tonnes of finished steel between April and June, a decrease of 28.8% compared to a year ago. The data shows that China's exports fell by 45.8% and those of Japan by 65.2%. The data shows that China exported 0.3 million tonnes of finished steel to India in...

European governments and businesses reacted on Monday with relief and concern to the framework deal reached with U.S. president Donald Trump. They acknowledged that it was an unbalanced agreement, but one which avoided a more serious trade war. The U.S. will impose an import tariff of 15% on the majority of EU goods, which is half the rate threatened, but more than the Europeans had hoped. The deal was not entirely clear at the time. As we wait for the full details of the EU-U.S. trade agreement, one thing is clear: this is a moment of relief but not celebration,"...

On Thursday, during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UK, Britain and India signed an historic free trade agreement. The deal will reduce tariffs on products from textiles to cars and whisky. It will also allow businesses to have more access to markets. The following are the main points of the Agreement: Tariff Cuts India will reduce tariffs on almost 90% of UK products. Whisky and Gin levy will fall from 150% down to 75% then 40% within a decade. Tariffs on automobiles will fall from 100% plus to 10% under the quota. Other goods, such as...

South32, an Australian diversified mining company, announced on Monday that it would incur a $130 million impairment charge related to the sale to CoreX Holding B.V. of its Cerro Matoso Ferronickel operations located in northern Colombia. South32 anticipates receiving up to $100,000,000 in cash from CoreX. CoreX is a diversified industrial company with operations spanning the metals and mining sector, green energy and other sectors. In January 2024 the miner began a strategic review at Cerro Matoso, citing an important decline in nickel prices. Nickel producers are struggling with a price collapse fueled by a surge in production from Indonesia....

Chinese rare earth magnets are now flowing into the automotive supply chain, reducing the threat of mass closures. However, automakers and suppliers still say that production plans face uncertainty and there is a risk of shortages. Nils Poel is the head of market affairs for supplier association CLEPA. He said that European suppliers received enough licenses to prevent widespread disruptions earlier this month. However, hundreds of permits are still pending. He said that the rate of issuance has "accelerated" from 25% to 60%, but in cases where end users are located in the United States or products are transported through...

Tesla's European new car sales fell by 27.9% from a year ago in May, even though sales of fully-electric vehicles in the region grew by 27.2%. The revised Model Y has yet to show any signs of reviving Tesla's fortunes. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association's (ACEA) data showed that overall car sales in Europe increased by 1.9%. Plug-in hybrids and alternative fuel cars saw the biggest growth. Why it's important Tesla's European Sales have fallen for the fifth consecutive month as customers opt for cheaper Chinese EVs, and in some cases protest against Elon Musk. Tesla's European Market Share dropped...

Andy Russick sells cans of fruit and tomatoes to major U.S. supermarkets, such as Kroger, and hospitals and schools. He shares the stated goal behind U.S. president Donald Trump's war on trade - combating cheap Chinese imports. When U.S. tariffs were doubled on steel and aluminum imports to 50%, on June 4, Andy Russick's company, Pacific Coast Producers, was collateral damage. Since 2017, Chinese fruit cocktail, vegetables, and other canned food imports from Southeast Asia and Europe are flooding U.S. grocery shelves, undercutting comparable products made in the United States. Russick stated that this trend will accelerate due to the...

ArcelorMittal said that the energy costs in Germany were too high to allow it to convert its two German plants to carbon-neutral production. The German industrial sector is still suffering from the shock of losing the Russian gas which had been powering its factories for decades. This decision also calls into question the green hydrogen policy launched by the former government. The government hoped that the subsidies would encourage ArcelorMittal's existing plants in Bremen, in the north, and Eisenhuettenstadt, in the east, to use furnaces fueled with hydrogen. Hydrogen can be produced from renewable electricity. The steelmaker stated that it...

ArcelorMittal said that the energy costs in Germany were too high to allow it to convert its two German plants to carbon-neutral production. The German industrial sector is still suffering from the shock of losing the Russian gas which had been powering its factories for decades. This decision also calls into question the green hydrogen policy launched by the former government. The government hoped that the subsidies would encourage ArcelorMittal's existing plants in Bremen, in the north, and Eisenhuettenstadt, in the east, to convert to furnaces that are fired by hydrogen. Hydrogen can be produced from renewable electricity. The steelmaker...

Here are some company news and stories that could impact the markets in France and Benelux or even individual stocks. ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal, a German steelmaker, has dropped plans to convert its two plants to carbon-neutral production due to the high energy targets set by Germany. Eutelsat After a capital increase of 1.35 billion euros, the French state will be Eutelsat's largest shareholder. The aim is to make it more competitive with Elon Musk and Starlink. LightOn LightOn has been selected by Ariane Group’s Sodern on Thursday to industrialise AI generative within a safe framework. PostNL Dutch parcel delivery company PostNL...

Ternium, an American steelmaker with a large business in Mexico, demanded on Wednesday that the terms of a trade agreement for the region be strengthened ahead of a review. This was despite the current challenges posed by steel tariffs levied by President Donald Trump's government. Why it's important Steel products are subject to a 50% tariff on all shipments from Mexico into the U.S., but shipments from Mexico under the U.S. Mexico-Canada (USMCA), trade agreement, are exempted from tariffs. Last week, it was reported that the U.S. is negotiating with Mexico to reduce or remove steel tariffs for imports of...

Argentex announced on Monday that it had rejected a proposal by Lavide Holding NV, based in the Netherlands, to acquire a 50% stake of the British currency risk management company for 2.5 million pounds (3.39 million dollars) and a possible provision of a credit line up to 15 million pounds. The British company refused the proposal because it did not cover the entire share capital or provide sufficient funding compared with an agreement made with IFX Payments. According to LSEG, Lavide has a current market capitalisation worth 3 million euros. Argentex experienced a near-total collapse of value after it halted...