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ADNOC slams EU regulators for 'invasive' demands in subsidy probe into Covestro deal
ADNOC, the state-owned oil company of Abu Dhabi, criticized EU antitrust regulators on Thursday for their disproportionate and intrusive requests for information regarding its $17 billion bid for Covestro in Germany. The warning was that such demands could even compromise the acquisition. The criticism comes after the European Commission (which acts as the EU's competition watchdog) announced on Wednesday that it has temporarily halted an investigation in order to wait for ADNOC, the company who requested the information, to respond. "We are disappointed with the decision today. "The Commission's requirements have gone beyond what is reasonable and relevant for this transaction. They are both disproportionately and invasive," a XRG spokesperson, the international investment arm ADNOC said in an email. He said that while he was committed to continuing a positive path, the continued use of such a strategy raises serious concerns about the viability and sustainability of the investment. Once the investigation is resumed, the Commission will establish a new deadline to make a decision. The previous deadline for a decision was 2 December. The Commission may stop the clock in FSR reviews if the parties do not provide the information it requests within a reasonable time frame. The EU investigation focuses on possible subventions granted by the United Arab Emirates. This includes an unlimited guarantee and a capital increase committed by ADNOC to chemicals company Covestro. (Reporting and editing by Foo Yunchee)
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Copper prices fall on a firm dollar and profit-taking before U.S. data
The copper price fell on Thursday due to a strong dollar, as investors locked up profits after a rally that reached a five-month high ahead of important U.S. employment data and amid uncertainty over tariffs. In open-outcry official trading, three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange fell 0.9% to $9.885 per ton, just a day after it reached its highest level since March 26 ($10,038/tonne). LME copper is up 13% this year. Ole Hansen is the head of commodity strategy for Saxo Bank, Copenhagen. He said: "It appears to be profit-taking before these economic data prints." "Also this $10,000 level appears to be quite a strong barrier for the price of copper for now, and the fundamentals are still not strong enough to allow it to break through." The U.S. non-farm employment report, which will be released on Friday, is crucial for setting expectations. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract fell 0.5%, to 79.770 yuan (11,152.12 dollars) per ton. The dollar index has also been a factor in metals markets, as it makes commodities priced in U.S. dollars more expensive for buyers who use other currencies. The markets were also shook by uncertainty about the demand for metals in China, the top consumer of these products. Galaxy Futures said that the marginal weakness in terminal demand could be due to a weak peak season in China. However, the shutdown of many scrap copper rod mills has helped support copper prices. LME zinc activity dropped 1% to $2,832.50 per ton as investors shrugged at low inventories. The metal is mainly used for galvanizing steel. LME zinc stocks The number of people who have fallen 76% this year. Tom Price, Panmure Liberum's head of commodities strategy, stated in a report that the abating steel industry activity in China is the biggest zinc price/demand driver. Aluminium fell 0.7%, to $2,600 per ton. Lead slipped 0.1%, to $1,993. Nickel dropped 0.6%, to $15,215; and tin slid 0.4%, to $34,525. Click here to see the top metals stories ($1 = 7.1529 Chinese yuan). (Reporting and additional reporting by Lucas Liew, in Singapore. Editing by Shailesh Kumar)
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Lesotho's largest diamond mine reduces 20% of its workforce due to price slump
Letseng's largest diamond mine in Lesotho has cut 240 employees, or a fifth, of its workforce. The company is struggling with low gem prices, due to a weak global economy and persistently low demand. Lesotho is a country with a population of just under 2 million, and diamonds are a vital part of the economy. The sector contributes up to 10% to the GDP of the nation. Lesotho exports diamonds, textiles and clothes as its main commodities. Gem Diamonds announced that its Letseng Mine, which produces the largest and most valuable gemstones in the world such as the "Lesotho Legend" of 910 carats, had revised its plan and reduced jobs to cut costs. In a recent statement, Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick stated that "sustained price pressure, softer demands in key markets and ongoing macroeconomic and geographic uncertainty combined with tariff uncertainties regarding India create difficult trading conditions." Gem Diamonds reported a loss of $11.7m for the first half of this year, down from a profit of $2.1m a year ago. Revenues fell by 42% due to lower prices. The weak diamond price caused a depreciation of $10.7 million on Letseng. In the six-month period ending June 30, the company realized an average price per carat of $1,008 – 26% less than last year. The company's half-year output was 47,125, compared with 55,873 during the same time last year. According to Zimnisky's Global Rough Diamond price Index, diamond prices have dropped by about 35% since early 2022 due to changes in consumer preferences and an increase in lab-grown gemstones. The miners responded by reducing output, cutting positions and stopping projects.
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Official: Indonesia will discuss fuel supply with private distributors.
An official confirmed on Thursday that the Indonesian government would hold discussions with private fuel suppliers, due to a shortage of fuel at Shell and BP stations. Shell and BP AKR, which operates BP's petrol stations, have said that they are experiencing shortages of certain gasoline products. Shell announced last week that some of its fuel products will not be available in certain stations for an undisclosed period. Private fuel distributors that sell only non-subsidised gasoline have a small market share compared with those owned by Pertamina. Local media reported that restrictions on the sale of subsided fuels have led to a shift in demand towards Shell and BP. Laode Sulaeman, senior official at the Energy Ministry, said that next week, the government will meet privately-run fuel distributors to discuss this issue. Laode stated that private distributors will receive a fuel import quote this year which is 10% higher than the one in 2024. Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia encouraged Pertamina and private companies to work together to solve the problem. Shell is working with the Energy Ministry to ensure fuel supply, a Shell spokesperson confirmed. BP-AKR reported that it had limited stocks of BP 92-octane, and 95-octane.
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Goldman Sachs believes gold prices will surpass $4,000 in the future if investors increase their buying.
Goldman Sachs has said that gold prices may rise well above the $4,000 per troy-ounce baseline in mid-2026 if private investors increase their investment. On Wednesday, spot gold prices reached a record-high of $3,578.50 an ounce, on the expectation of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut this month. Meanwhile, global uncertainty remained a major factor in driving demand for safe havens. Goldman Sachs stated in a Wednesday note that "Gold is our strongest long-term recommendation." The forecast assumes that central banks will continue to buy gold, which would result in a price of $3,700 per ounce by the end 2025, and $4,000 per ounce by mid-2026. This baseline view, however, does not take into account a significant shift in private investor sentiment from U.S. dollars to gold. A scenario like this could drive prices as high as $4.500 per ounce. The report also stated that the loss of Fed autonomy could lead to higher inflation, an increase in long-end bonds yields, a weakening of equities and a decrease in the dollar’s reserve currency status. Gold, however, would benefit as it is not dependent on institutional trust. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has increased his efforts to exert influence over the Fed. The Fed's ability to effectively manage inflation is widely viewed as requiring independence from political influences over interest rate decisions. Goldman Sachs estimated that if all other factors remained constant, the gold price could reach $5,000 per troy-ounce if just 1% of private money invested on the U.S. Treasury Market was reallocated into gold.
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The UK court has ruled that Potanin’s ex-wife, who is the Russian oligarch Potanin, can file a massive divorce claim.
The ex-wife of Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin can continue to pursue a multibillion-dollar share of his Nornickel stake, the Court of Appeal in London ruled Thursday. This could be one of most expensive divorce cases brought. Potanin is the CEO of Norilsk Nickel, which is the world's biggest palladium producer. It also produces a lot of refined nickel. His ex-wife Natalia Potanina has filed a massive divorce suit against him. Potanina is seeking financial relief after their divorce, which was finalized in 2014. She wants 50% of the value her ex-husband’s ultimate beneficial interests in Nornickel shares. Potanina also wants 50% of all dividends paid by Potanin to Potanin between 2014 and now, as well as a luxury Russian property on which they spent $150 million. Her lawyers claim she only received $41.5 million after the divorce. This is less than 1% the total assets of the couple. Potanin, however, claimed that his ex-wife had received $84 million. He also argued that the couple did not have any connection with Britain. Potanina initially failed to get her case heard by the London High Court in 2019. A judge said that if she was permitted to continue, "there is no limit to divorce tourist". On Thursday, the Court of Appeal reversed that decision. "The wife's ties to Russia were severed in a very large way, as evidenced by the court." The court ruling stated that her connection to Russia was becoming increasingly tenuous. The discrepancy in her awarding of marital assets compared to the husband's share was significant. It was also significant that she recovered less in Russia than she would have had she been heard by this court. Reporting by Michael Holden, Sam Tobin and William James.
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Bond markets remain calm as shares recover from China's selloff
Stocks rose on Thursday, as the Federal Reserve's dovish remarks and an auction of super-long-term debt held in Japan went smoothly. This helped to calm some recent market anxiety about government bonds. China's bourses fell overnight, reportedly because Beijing was trying to cool down the raging rally on its equity markets. STOXX600 in the region ticked up by 0.3% after trading settled. The angst over rising government borrowing costs, especially for long-term loans, has subsided. The oil prices continued to be weak after a report saying that OPEC+ officials would increase output targets during their weekend meeting. Meanwhile, the dollar was on a downward trend ahead of Friday’s important jobs report. In recent days, several key Federal Reserve officials have raised expectations of a Fed rate cut. The traders are pricing in an almost 100% chance of a Fed rate cut at the next central bank meeting on September 17. Derek Halpenny is the head of research for MUFG’s global markets division. He said that the Chinese equity markets dip had affected the Aussie and Kiwi dollar in the FX market, but other than that it was "consolidate" and "wait" for Friday's employment numbers. The European bond buyers pushed the German 30-year yield down by just over one basis point, to 3.3%. France's bond yield was roughly the same, at 4.45%. It had hit its highest level since June 2009, 4.523%, on Tuesday. FALLING STONE After Bloomberg reported that financial regulators are preparing cooling measures, MSCI's Asia-Pacific broadest index, excluding Japan shares ended the night 0.2% lower. Beijing bluechips dropped as much as 2,6%. The tech-heavy STAR 50, which soared almost 30% last month fell more than 6% on its worst day since the beginning of April. Wall Street futures pointed to a smooth restart. The next payrolls will be on Friday. But traders can listen to the hearing for Stephen Miran's nomination to replace Adriana Kugler, who resigned from the Fed board. Jim Reid, Global Head of Macro Research at Deutsche Bank, commented that it would be interesting to see senators question Miran about his views on Fed Independence, especially since Trump had fired another Fed official Lisa Cook and has repeatedly criticized Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Miran stated that he would "preserve this independence" in his testimony, which was posted on the Senate Banking Committee website Wednesday before Thursday's hearing. The auction of 30-year Japanese Bonds in Tokyo went smoothly overnight, despite the attention that the independence issue has brought to the already high government debt levels. The Nikkei ended the day 1.5% higher, after recovering from its biggest one-day drop since April. Tony Sycamore said, "We had one or two weak days, but dip-buyers stepped in," said Tony Sycamore. India's benchmark Sensex grew 1% when markets reopened after the government slashed taxes on several items to boost consumption and counteract U.S. Tariffs. The Federal Reserve's "Beige Book", released on Wednesday, painted a mixed image of the U.S. economy. This appeared to confirm monetary policymakers concerns. Analysts from ING described it as "bleak", and that it was "strewn with" tariff warnings about prices. In European trading, the yield on 10-year Treasury bills fell to 4.2%. The 2-year yield, which is more sensitive to rates, was just over 3.6%. The dollar was up by 0.1% against the Japanese yen, at 148.25. It remained within the range of trading it has been in since August began. The dollar was slightly higher at $1.1650 against the euro. Brent crude fell 0.6% to $67.17 a barrel, and gold retreated 0.8% from its record high of $3578.5 per ounce reached on Wednesday. (Gregor Stuart Hunter, Singapore, contributed additional reporting; Andrew Heavens edited the article)
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Another French nuclear reactor is shuttered by a jellyfish swarm
EDF reported on Thursday that a jellyfish swarm had reduced production by 2.4 gigawatts after it entered the filter of the pumping stations at the Paluel Nuclear Plant in France. This is the second instance where jellyfish has affected production within a month. EDF reported that the electricity production at the 5.2 GW Paluel Nuclear Plant in northern France had been nearly halved late Wednesday, as the 4th reactor was shut off and the power of the 3rd reactor was reduced to preventive levels. Paluel is connected to the English Channel and is cooled by its waters. Both native and invasive jellies have experienced larger breeding windows because of warmer temperatures. The reactor number 1 is at full capacity, while the reactor number 2 is shut down for maintenance. Gravelines Nuclear Plant was shut down in mid-August, after a "massive" and "unpredictable" jellyfish swarm entered its cooling system. It is not the only time jellyfish have caused problems at nuclear power plants. In 2011, Scotland's Torness nuclear plant faced similar problems, while Gravelines was also disrupted. Scientists warn of the possibility that these events will become more frequent due to global warming, arrival of invasive species in marine habitats, loss of habitat for predators and overfishing.
Malaysian automaker Proton opens first EV plant
Malaysian automaker Proton opened its first assembly plant for electric vehicles on Thursday as it looks to develop its EV sector.
The plant, which is located in the Automotive High-Tech Valley of western Perak State - Malaysia's primary auto-making hub – will initially have a capacity to produce 20,000 vehicles annually. Proton stated in a press release that this could be increased to 45,000 cars per year.
Proton announced that the e.MAS 7 will be its first EV and then the e.MAS 5 as the entry-level model.
Proton's majority owner is the Malaysian conglomerate DRB HICOM, while China's Zhejiang geely Holding group owns 49.9% of Proton.
Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's Prime Minister, said that the new plant reflected the close cooperation between Malaysia and China. He also called on Geely, to increase its investment in the auto hub.
He said: "We want Geely, to take this opportunity not only to build a factory that produces cars, but also to create a center of education and training excellence."
Malaysian authorities are aiming to become a regional hub of electric vehicles. They want to sell 20% of new cars as hybrids or EVs by 2030.
(source: Reuters)