Europe

Pirelli, the Italian tire manufacturer, lowered its revenue forecast for 2025 on Thursday as a result of expected adverse currency movements. The company has lowered its target to an estimated range of 6.7-6.8 million euros ($7.66-7.78 million) compared to its previous target of 6.8-7.0 millions euros. Pirelli reported that currency fluctuations caused a 2.9% loss in revenue compared to the first half of last year due to the weakening of the U.S. Dollar and the volatility of currencies of emerging countries against the euro. The firm has confirmed that it aims to achieve a margin of adjusted EBIT around 16...

Covestro, a German chemicals manufacturer, missed its second-quarter sales targets on Thursday due to the impact of U.S. tariffs on prices. However, it expressed confidence that ADNOC's acquisition by Abu Dhabi would still be completed this year in spite of an EU investigation into competition. Covestro's products include foam chemicals that are used in mattresses, car seat and building insulation. The prospect of higher tariffs in the U.S. led to an oversupply in the U.S. market, especially from Asia-Pacific, which then caused a large drop in price. The company's revenue fell by 8.4% in April-June to $3.86 billion, falling short...

Anglo American, a global miner, reported on Thursday a $1.9billion loss for the first half of this year, cut its dividend and continued its restructuring efforts, which included divesting its coal and diamond units. Since BHP failed to acquire it last year, the London-listed company has sold or spun off non-core assets in order to concentrate on its core copper and ore. Anglo demerged their platinum business in May, and announced on Thursday that they had sold off their nickel and coking-coal assets but have not yet finalized the sale. The company declared a $0.07 interim dividend per share. This...

The second quarter results of Austrian oil company OMV were in line with expectations, thanks to higher results from the chemicals division. Lower contributions from its fuels and energy divisions were offset by lower results for the energy division. Vienna-based company posted a clean operational result of 1,03 billion euros ($1.18billion) for the second quarterly, which was in line with expectations. The consensus provided by the firm had expected 1.02billion euros. Clean operating results are based on current costs of supply and exclude one-off items, short-term gains or losses and energy inventory holdings. The Borealis Group's contribution to the company's...

The company's filings show that the global commodity trading company Vitol Group will pay $10.6 billion in 2024 to its employees who hold shares of the company through an annual share purchase scheme. Vitol paid $10.6 billion for buybacks in 2023, up from $6.4 billion. This was the highest amount ever. In 2024, buybacks increased as earnings continued to rise despite a drop in profits from their previous highs. Vitol's net profit was between $8 and 8.5 billion dollars last year. This is down from $15 billion and $13 billion the previous years. Vitol, Trafigura, and Gunvor are global commodity...

A panel of OPEC+ members on Monday emphasized the importance of full compliance with oil production agreements, in advance of Sunday's separate meeting of eight OPEC+ member countries to decide whether or not to increase oil output for September. Online, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), which is composed of top energy ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, as well as their allies, led by Russia convened for a brief discussion. The JMMC is a two-monthly meeting that has the authority to call a full OPEC+ meeting to discuss market developments if necessary. In a press release...

Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, said that the framework agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States is "anti-Russian", comparing it to a ban de facto on the purchase of Russian oil and natural gas. On Sunday, the U.S. and the EU reached a deal that imposes a 15% tariff on the majority of EU goods. Ursula von der Leyen said, in a subsequent statement, that the agreement will help the EU phase out Russian fossils fuels and replace them with American alternatives. The purchase of U.S. Energy Products will help to diversify Europe's supply sources and...

The EU's antitrust regulators may have opened an investigation Monday into possible distortions due to foreign subsidies. This could affect ADNOC, the state-owned oil company of Abu Dhabi. ADNOC has struck the Deal to Buy Covestro Last October, the Gulf state made its largest acquisition ever and was one of the biggest foreign takeovers by an EU company. The European Commission opened a detailed investigation Monday after reviewing the deal in May under its rules on foreign subsidies. It warned that foreign subsidies given by the United Arab Emirates may distort the EU's internal market. The Commission, acting as enforcer...

Valterra Platinum CEO Craig Miller stated on Monday that the platinum price rally in the first half 2025 helped most mines to recover from losses, but the industry was still far away from adding new production. South African miners, who account for 70% of the world’s platinum supply cut unprofitable production in the last two years, after metal prices crashed, amid warnings about the terminal decline of the industry. The price of metal used in catalytic converters to reduce vehicle emissions soared by 36% during the second quarter. This was due to the increase of Chinese imports as well as...

EDF, France's nuclear energy company, reported a 17% decline in its core profit for the first half of this year on Thursday. Low European power prices had eroded earnings due to higher nuclear output. The utility reported earnings before interest taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of 15.5 billion euro ($18.24billion) for the six-month period ending June, down from 18.7billion a year ago. The net debt was 50 billion euros at the end last year, a decrease from 54.3 billion euro at the same time. As it prepares for the construction of six new nuclear reactors in the next 15 months,...

Three industry sources who are familiar with the plans said on Thursday that Russia will introduce a stricter gasoline export prohibition, including for fuel manufacturers, in the next few days to combat rising prices. At the moment, only a small percentage of gasoline exported by resellers is restricted, but oil companies can still sell fuel overseas. "The ban has been decided." "For now, the ban is only for August and September," said one source. According to another source, the ban may be announced as early as Monday. Sources said that the restrictions would not apply to supplies to the Moscow...

Serbia is seeking an extension of 180 days from the United States for a waiver of sanctions for NIS, a Russian-owned Serbian Oil Company. In a press release, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic stated that "we have always maintained our position, and we will continue to do so, that sanctions are bad for energy security in Serbia and the surrounding region." She said that continued sanctions against NIS, which is owned by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom in majority, would also harm Serbia's economic situation. NIS has been granted a fourth reprieve that expires on July 29, but the Office of Foreign Assets...

Gold prices were stable on Friday but are on track for a third successive weekly loss, due to a stronger dollar, and lowered expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts. Meanwhile, uncertainty over U.S. tariffs against trading partners provided support. As of 0733 GMT, spot gold was unchanged at $3,288.89 an ounce. Bullion has fallen 1.4% this week. U.S. Gold Futures declined 0.3% to $3339.90. Gold is now more expensive to other currency holders due to the dollar index reaching its highest level since 29 May. Gold remains weighed down by lower bets on Fed rate cuts through 2025. The U.S....

As part of the recent agreement to reduce trade barriers and reset ties, Britain announced that the European Union would remove tariffs from key steel products as of Friday. In May, Britain reached the most significant reset in defence and trade relations with the European Union (EU) since Brexit. This included a “bespoke arrangement” to protect UK exports of steel from new EU tariffs and rules. The British government had previously stated that the European Commission will restore Britain's country-specific steel quotas to levels prior to 2022, but it had not specified a date for this action. Jonathan Reynolds, the...

After nearly 16 months, Russia claimed to have taken control of the devastated town of Chasiv Yar (in eastern Ukraine), an assertion that Kyiv branded "propaganda". Here are some key facts about Chasiv Yar (also known as Chasov Yar by Russians) and the long struggle for its control that began in March/April of 2024. What is chasive yar? Chasiv Yar, a quiet ravine with a population of over 12,000 before the war, is located in the industrial Donbas region in Ukraine's Donetsk Region, one of four areas that Moscow claims to have annexed by 2022. Kyiv has called this annexation...

BHP and Vale face a London suit from a law firm that represents hundreds of thousands people in relation to Brazil's worst environment disaster. The firm alleges the companies tried to cheat them out of legal fees through settlements. BHP stated that it would contest the allegations and reject them "in their entirety". Vale declined comment. Pogust Goodhead will demand 1.3 billion pounds ($1.7billion) in unpaid fees from BHP, the company that represents claimants in a case against BHP relating to the collapse of the Fundao Dam in Mariana in the southeast Brazil in 2015. In the case before London's...

The copper market has the tariffs right, but the products are wrong. The traders did not expect U.S. president Donald Trump to make a proclamation that "will address the effects of imports of copper on America's National Security". Imports of semi-manufactured copper products, such as wires and tubes, will face a 50% tariff starting Friday. The tariffs will not apply to refined copper until at least January 2027. The tariff trade that has dominated the copper market in February has collapsed. CME's U.S. Contract plummeted more than 20% after the news. This wiped out the high premium that was previously...

Iron ore is the best performing commodity this year, with a price of over $100 per metric ton. This is despite signs that China's steel industry has been slowing down. The Singapore Exchange's most traded iron ore contract ended Wednesday at $101.71 per ton, down from $102.74 at its previous close. The rolling front-month contracts have traded within a narrow range this year. A high of $107.81 per ton was reached on February 12, and a low $93.35 per ton was achieved on July 1. This stability is due to the fact that China imports 75% of all seaborne volumes....

The U.S. Copper prices fell the most in a single day on record, as investors scrambled for positions following a surprise decision by U.S. president Donald Trump to exempt widely traded refined metals from 50% import duties. Ed Meir, Marex analyst, said that the impact of Trump's announcement was "seismic". U.S. Comex September copper futures fell 22%, to $4.37 per lb or $9,681 per metric ton by 1130 GMT. They had reached a record high of $5.92 just a week earlier. After Trump announced in February that he was investigating copper tariffs, U.S. copper prices rose and large volumes of...

ArcelorMittal has increased its estimate of financial impact due to U.S. Tariffs. It now expects that they will reduce its core profits by $150 million in this year. This is more than the forecasted $100 million in February. Genuino Cristino, Genuino's finance chief, said that the world's second largest steelmaker will respond by increasing its manufacturing in America. Christino stated in an interview that the material we provide to the United States is of high value and cannot be replaced. "Our goal is to work closely with our customers to ensure that we can continue to provide, protect market shares...

The tariffs imposed by Donald Trump since his inauguration on January 20, 2017 have sent shockwaves through financial markets, and uncertainty has spread throughout the global economy. This timeline shows the major events: Trump imposes tariffs of 25% on Mexican imports, 10% on Chinese goods and most Canadian imports. He demands that they reduce the flow of illegal immigrants and fentanyl into the U.S. Trump accepts a 30-day suspension of his threat to raise tariffs on Mexico and Canada, in exchange for concessions made on border security and criminal enforcement. The U.S. doesn't reach a similar deal with China. Trump...

After President Donald Trump shocked the markets by reducing tariffs, the once-mighty premium that U.S. Copper enjoyed over global benchmarks swung into a discount. Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States will impose a tariff of 50% on copper pipes, wiring and other copper products. However, the measure fell short and excluded copper materials like ores, concentrates, and cathodes. The unexpected move brought down U.S. Copper prices by more than 20 percent on the Comex exchange, and slashed the premium that had been growing over the London benchmark in recent weeks. Shipments were diverted to the U.S. because they...

BMW Germany maintained its full-year forecast on Thursday, despite U.S. Tariffs and a drop in quarterly earnings of a third. It argued that its large manufacturing footprint in the country gave it an advantage over its rivals. Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, on the other hand, have reduced their outlooks. The European automakers have yet to digest a new 15% auto tariff that was agreed upon between the European Union (EU) and President Donald Trump. Although this is lower than the existing rate of 27,5%, it still represents a significant obstacle for their export-focused business. BMW, which has its largest plant in...

Outokumpu, a Finnish stainless steel manufacturer, reported Thursday a core income that was above the market expectation for the second quarter. It also said that it has increased its target of short-term savings to 60 million euro ($68.6 millions) by 2025. Outokumpu's consensus forecast had analysts expecting 69 million euros. In an earnings report, CEO Kati Ter Horst stated that "we continued to benefit from the strong market positions we have in Europe and the U.S." She did say, however, the quarter was marked with uncertainty and increased geopolitical tensions. This led to an increase in caution among customers. The...