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China is hit by extreme weather conditions including heat, landslides, and floods
On Wednesday, torrential rains were sweeping across large areas of China as Tropical Storm Danas dunked coastal tech hubs. Monsoonal rains in the interior unleashed flash floods and deadly landslides over an 1,400 km (870 mile) arc. A subtropical system of high pressure has been saturating the north-east coast and the central provinces in the $19 trillion US economy since last week. This is straining power grids, and parching crops. Extreme weather is a growing threat to the world's second largest economy, and meteorologists attribute it to climate change. The impact of extreme weather threatens to wipe out billions in commercial activity and deaths each year as old flood defences are overwhelmed. Infrastructure gaps, such as the lack of air conditioning, are also exposed. Chinese weather authorities warned residents to stay inside as Storm Danas, which had been downgraded from a Typhoon following the death of two people in Taiwan, began dumping water that it had collected over the South China Sea (or Taiwan Strait) on the coast provinces Zhejiang or Fujian. China's State Broadcasting said that Danas could bring up to 300 millimetres of rain (30 centimetres in some areas), closing schools and putting officials on high alert along the rivers feeding important ports in Fuzhou and Xiamen. On Flood Alert The Danas residual vortex, and the large amount of water that it carries, could still cause havoc in south China, where rapid urbanisation sealed vast tracts of land under impermeable cement. This risk was realized 1,500 km away, in Yibin in the southwest Sichuan Province, where more than 6,000 people had to be evacuated after 14 hours rain. CCTV, the state broadcaster, showed firefighters rescuing residents from rising water in lower floors of apartment blocks. CCTV reported that heavy rains in Zhaotong (about a 3-hour drive away from Yibin) forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 residents. Five people went missing. In one county, 227.8mm of rain fell in 24 hours. This is the highest amount recorded since 1958. Over 300 people were forced to relocate after a flash flooding near the foothills the Himalayas, in China's Tibet. The flood was caused by the Gyirong river bursting its bank. Authorities in Shijiazhuang, in Hebei Province, activated emergency flood protocol after districts in the city received more than 100 mm of rain overnight. HEATWAVES On Wednesday, the subtropical system, which straddles the monsoonal cloud bands in China's interior with the Danas rain bands, continued to hover over central China, the eastern seaboard from Shanghai to Beijing, and brought near-record temperatures to the megacities of Shanghai Wuhan and Changsha. After reports of heatstroke deaths in the last week, people were advised to stay hydrated and avoid going out during the hottest part of the day. China does not keep an official record of deaths due to heat, but domestic media sometimes report on fatalities by citing local authorities. The country experienced a 79 day heatwave in 2022 from mid-June until late August - the worst since 1961. In 2023, a study published in The Lancet reported that over 50,000 deaths were caused by heat that year. (Reporting and editing by Saad sayeed and Bernadettebaum; Reporting and Editing by Joe Cash & Ethan Wang)
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The final rush to move metal across the border will be sparked by Trump's copper tariffs
In the next few weeks, copper shipments to the United States will likely increase in an effort to meet President Donald Trump's 50% tariff on imported metal that is higher than expected. Trump announced the tariffs on copper on a Tuesday. U.S. Comex futures rose more than 12%, reaching a new record high. U.S. commerce secretary Howard Lutnick stated that the tariff would be implemented by the end or beginning of August. The deadline puts an end to a playbook that has been in use for months. Traders have taken metal from warehouses all over the world to ship it to the U.S., hoping to profit on a premium of around $2600 per metric tonne early on Wednesday. Analysts and traders say that with only three weeks to go, only those cargoes on the water already or from Latin America are likely to arrive in time. "Shipments on their way to the U.S. are likely to try and get there even if they haven't yet, so the ex-U.S. market shouldn't be faced with excess cargoes right away." It will be harder to ship extra cargoes within a three week window, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a report. According to a Chinese copper dealer who spoke under condition of anonymity, Chilean producers that have Chinese contracts will likely increase their practice of sending Comex-eligible stocks to the U.S. instead of sending other brands to China. Analysts and traders said that the final rush may mean continued tightness in the U.S., during the sprint to the deadline for tariffs. After the deadline, the U.S. gravitational pull will lessen, allowing supplies elsewhere. Analysts at J.P. Morgan say that the U.S. imported enough copper to last a full year in the past six-month period. They predict that imports will continue to fall even after tariffs are implemented as users use up their stockpiles. Prices of copper on the London Metal Exchange as well as the Shanghai Futures Exchange Just over 1% of the population has declined In the hours following Trump's announcement. Citi predicts that copper prices outside of the U.S. are likely to drop to $8,800 a ton in the next three-months. Benchmark copper prices on the LME were trading at $9.603 per metric ton as of 0941 GMT. The tightness on the global copper markets, where demand continues outstrips supply, will likely limit any possible decline. According to Zhao Yongcheng of benchmark mineral intelligence, "Copper prices are under pressure on the SHFE, but will likely rebound once U.S. Copper Tariffs are finalised, as fundamentals are tight in the near-term."
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Oil and stocks gain as traders ignore Trump's tariff news
The European stock market rose on Wednesday, as traders appeared unconcerned about the announcement by U.S. president Donald Trump that he will impose a tariff of 50% on imported copper. He also announced he would introduce levies up to 200% on pharmaceuticals. Trump's remarks on Tuesday caused the price of Copper to reach record highs, and Wall Street to close down. The equity markets quickly shrugged the news off. Asian stocks were mixed over night and the MSCI World Equity Index rose 0.1% at 0956 GMT. The London FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.8%. Wall Street futures showed that the gains would continue, with S&P and Nasdaq both up 0.1%. The U.S. Dollar Index was unchanged at 97.567, and the euro dropped 0.1% to $1.1714. The dollar reached its highest level against the yen in over two weeks, with Japan, which depends on exports, being the most far away from a deal between Washington and Washington among the major U.S. trade partners. U.S. Copper Futures have risen by over 10%, reaching a new record, after Trump threatened to increase duties on this metal, which is essential for electric vehicles, military equipment, the power grid, and many consumer products. The traders are waiting for further developments in Trump’s trade war, following his announcement on Monday to 14 countries that they would face sharply increased tariffs after the new deadline of August 1st. Trump said that he "probably" would tell the European Union in two days the rate at which it can expect to receive its exports from the United States. The EU has struggled to obtain immediate tariff relief and an agreement from the U.S. not to introduce any new measures. This is according to the head of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee, who has been negotiating for the bloc. On Wednesday Investors are worried that tariffs could increase inflation and slow down economic growth. They will be watching the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting, which will be released on Wednesday. Amelie Derambure is a senior multi-assets portfolio manager at Amundi. She said: "We are in the dark about tariffs because it's difficult to know their impact on the end-inflation or the margins of U.S. corporations, or on corporates in general." The uncertainty is enormous. Derambure stated that although equity markets expect tariffs to manageable, and are supported by the underlying expectation of growth. The impact of tariffs can be seen through the rising yields of fixed income. The yields on U.S. Treasury bonds rose Tuesday and the auction for three-year Treasury notes saw a weak demand. Treasury will be selling $39 billion of 10-year bonds on Wednesday, and $22 billion of 30-year bonds on Friday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell back to 4.4072% early Wednesday morning, down from its peak of 4.435% that was reached Tuesday, which marked its highest level in over three weeks. The benchmark German 10-year yield was 2.637%. Gold is in its third consecutive day of declines. It was down 0.3% for the day, at $3,290 an ounce. Brent crude futures rose by 0.4% to $70.42.
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India's iron pellet makers want to curb Iranian imports through Oman
Sources and an analyst have said that India's iron pellet makers have asked the government to curtail a surge of imports via Oman. They claim the products are from Iran, despite U.S. sanction, and warned the cheaper supplies may hurt the local industry. Lalit Ladkat of the London-based CRU Group told us that India is the third largest iron ore producer in terms of metric tonnage. However, imports between 2021-2024 were negligible, Lalit Ladkat said. Ladkat stated that the majority of these pellets were of Iranian origin, and they were shipped via Oman in order to avoid sanctions. Ladkat stated that the surge in imports was driven by higher prices for pellets at home and the availability cheaper, high quality Iranian pellets. One of the sources who was involved in this matter declined to identify themselves as the discussions were not made public. The ministry didn't respond to an email asking for comments. The Pellet Manufacturers' Association of India (PMAI), in a letter to the Ministry, said that even though the pellet imports had been shown to come from Oman, "there were doubts about the country of origin/manufacture as it was understood that this country did not produce pellets." PMAI reported that due to the increasing imports, domestic pellet producers are only operating at 69% capacity. Manish Kharbanda told PMAIm that the country of Oman's origin is questionable. In 2019, Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Iran that targeted the Islamic Republic's industrial metals export revenue. Steelmaking uses both iron ore and pellets of iron ore. India's steel demand is driven by a robust steel production that is underpinned by the growth of infrastructure, construction and the automobile sector. India's steel consumption in April and May of 2025/26 was 25.1 million tons, an increase of 7.1% compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, crude steel production increased by 9.5%, reaching 26.9 millions metric tons. (Reporting and editing by Mayank Bhardwaj, Kim Coghill and Mayank Bhardwaj; Additional reporting from Sarah El Safty and Manoj Kumar at New Delhi; and Manvi Pan in Bengaluru.)
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Indian equity benchmarks fall as Reliance and metals losses outpace consumer growth
India's equity benchmarks dipped on Wednesday, as Reliance Industries losses and metals outweighed gains in consumer stocks. Investors remained on hold amid uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade tariffs. The Nifty 50 dropped 0.18% to 25,476.1, while the BSE Sensex fell 0.21% to 83 536.08. The mid-caps fell 0.1%, while the small-caps gained 0.6%. Reliance Industries, a heavyweight in the Nifty 50, fell by 1.2% following reports that its telecom arm Reliance Jio Platforms will not launch a stock offering this year, as planned. This delayed one of India's biggest anticipated stock offerings. On Tuesday, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he will impose a tariff of 50% on imported copper. He also said he will implement the long-promised levies against semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Trump said that the U.S. would "pretty quickly" impose a 10% duty on imports coming from BRICS countries, putting India in the firing line. However, the president's remarks did not affect domestic markets, apart from a 3,3% drop in Hindustan Copper. After Trump's tariff threat, the stock price of copper fell. The surprise factor regarding tariffs is over. Investors do not feel that this situation requires immediate action," stated U.R. Bhat, cofounder of Alphaniti Fintech. Metals fell 1.4% due to losses at Vedanta Steel and Tata Steel. Vedanta dropped 3.4% after Viceroy Research announced that it had taken a short-position against Vedanta Resource, the UK parent company of the Indian miner. Viceroy Research said that the British company is "systematically draining its Indian unit". Tata Steel fell 1.8% after reporting weak volumes in the first quarter. FMCG stocks led sectoral gains with a 0.8% increase. Hindustan Unilever, Varun Beverages and Jefferies' "contrarian picks" in India's consumer goods sector were the main drivers of this rise. It said: "We see a limited downside, but a meaningful up side in the event of (a turnaround)." Varun Beverages and Hindustan Unilever both rose by 1.7%.
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Kremlin is calm about Trump's criticism of Putin regarding Ukraine talks
When asked about the criticism by U.S. president Donald Trump of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, the Kremlin said that Moscow is "calm" and will continue to work to repair a "broken relationship" between Russia and the United States. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, told reporters in a conference call: "We remain calm." He added, "We are looking forward to continuing our dialogue with Washington as well as our approach in repairing the broken bilateral relationships." Trump, who has been frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin for some time, said Tuesday that he approved the sending of defensive arms from the United States to Ukraine and is considering additional sanctions against Moscow. Trump promised as a candidate for president to end the conflict within a single day. However, he has been unable to keep that promise. His administration's efforts to broker a peace have also failed. Peskov stated that Trump has come to the understanding that it will be difficult to resolve the conflict between Russia & Ukraine. He added: "We heard Trump make a very significant statement that the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict has proven to be more difficult than what he had anticipated from the beginning." Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Felix Light, Editing by Guy Faulconbridge & Gleb Bryanski
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Russian rouble barely changed despite U.S. sanction threat
The Russian rouble fluctuated little in relation to the dollar on Tuesday, despite President Donald Trump's harsh criticism of Russian president Vladimir Putin and threats of new U.S. According to LSEG, based on quotes over the counter, by 0925 GMT the rouble had risen 0.4%, or 78.15 dollars per rouble. Since the beginning of the year, the Russian currency has gained 45% versus the dollar. Trump, who has been frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin for some time, said Tuesday that he approved the sending of defensive arms from the United States to Ukraine and is considering additional sanctions against Moscow. A bill introduced in the Senate would penalize countries that do business with Moscow by imposing tariffs of 500% on nations that purchase Russian oil, gas and uranium, among other exports. U.S. sanctions were imposed in November last year, which had a major impact on the Russian currency. Bogdan Zvarich, a banker at PSB, said that despite the worsening geopolitical climate, the rouble would continue to be supported by the demand for assets denominated in roubles, which, if nothing else, will restrain the weakening of the rouble. Demand for rouble assets is fueled by high interest rates in Russia's economy. Increased forex sales this month by the central banks as well as oil prices are also supporting the currency. The rouble, which is the most commonly traded currency in Russia, was unchanged at 10,85 per yuan at the Moscow Stock Exchange. The central bank's forex interventions are made in yuan. Reporting by Gleb Brynski, Editing by Peter Graff
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Volkswagen Q2 sales rise despite a slight drop in US demand
Volkswagen reported a 1.2% increase in global sales volume in the second quarter, despite a decline in U.S. Demand and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding tariffs. This was due to the strong demand for its all-electric offerings in Europe. According to the company, sales of the German auto giant increased by 1.2% year-on-year in the second quarter with 2,27 million vehicles sold. Sales grew in all markets, except North America and Western Europe where deliveries dropped by 16.2% and 0,7% respectively. German automakers are pressing President Donald Trump for an agreement to replace the 25% tax on imports of cars and parts to the United States, which is hurting demand on their main market. Volkswagen's sales of all-electric vehicles grew by 38% globally in the second quarter, and up to 73% in Europe. Marco Schubert, Volkswagen Sales Executive, said: "We must continue our successful model offensive to strengthen this positive development." He added, "Overall we were able slightly to increase our global delivery by the end June despite challenging circumstances."
Kommersant reports that 'Fortress Russia has confiscated 50 billion dollars in assets over the past three years'
The Kommersant newspaper reported that Russia confiscated assets valued at 3.9 trillion Russian roubles (or around $50 billion based on current exchange rates) over the last three years. This highlights the extent of the transformation to a "fortress Russia' economic model.
Since Russia's troops entered Ukraine in February 20, 2022, foreign companies have faced the threat of state seizing their assets. However, Moscow has been increasingly focused on domestic assets, citing domestic security and strategic stability.
Kommersant, a respected newspaper in Russia, stated that the size of asset seizures calculated by NSP Law Firm shows how Russia has moved from a relatively "open" economy to a fortress model.
Kommersant reported that the law firm advised clients to eliminate any weak points in their business, such as second passports and economic ties to countries Russia considers "unfriendly", which is to say, all of Western Europe.
Kommersant also said that owners should consider doing business with partners who are state-owned.
Kommersant reported that assets worth 1.54 trillion rubles were seized in accordance with the law on strategic corporations. Another 1.07 trillion roubles was seized due to allegations of corruption, 385 billion on suspected privatisation violations, and 621,5 billion roubles for claims of poor management.
In the 1990s, the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 sparked hopes that Russia would become a free-market economy. However, widespread corruption, economic turmoil, and crime undermined the confidence in democratic capitalism. In his first eight-year tenure, President Vladimir Putin supported economic freedoms and targeted some oligarchs. He also presided over significant growth in the economy, which grew to $1.8 trillion by 2008, from $200 billion.
According to the International Monetary Fund, between 2008 and 2022, the economy reached $2.3 trillion. However, Western sanctions were a major factor after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
According to IMF data, the nominal dollar value of the Russian economy in 2024 is only $2.2 trillion.
(source: Reuters)