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RIA reports that Russia has brought an end to the fire at a refinery in Ufa.
Authorities in Ufa, Russia, said that firefighters had brought down a fire at the Ufimsky Refinery. Residents of the surrounding areas are not in immediate danger, they added, though the cause and size of the blaze were unclear. LSEG data show that the Bashneft owned refinery is located about 1,500 km (932 mi) east of Ukraine's border. Russian media reports that its oil supply comes primarily from Bashkiria in the surrounding area and western Siberia. The emergency ministry of the region said on Telegram: "A fire broke out... in the vicinity of the incinerator." The emergency ministry of the region posted a message on Telegram, saying that "a fire broke out... in the area of the incinerator." Residents of the nearby area are not at risk. It added that emergency responders, equipment, and air quality monitoring were present at the scene. SHOT News, among other Russian channels, reported that the fire was caused by an explosion in the refinery. However, they could not independently confirm the reports. No reports were received overnight of an attack by drones on Bashkiria. This region is sandwiched between Volga and Ural mountains. Ukraine did not immediately comment. Its forces have targeted Russian energy infrastructure in an attempt to disrupt Russia's ability to fund its war in Ukraine and to undermine the Russian economy. Reporting by Lidia Kelley in Melbourne, Editing by Jamie Freed & Clarence Fernandez
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Gold prices rise on dollar weakness and uncertainty over the Ukraine peace deal
Gold prices increased on Monday due to a weaker US dollar. Meanwhile, concerns about the U.S. Tariff Policy and the delay in achieving peace in Ukraine fueled demand for gold as a safe haven. By 0303 GMT, spot gold had risen 0.3% to an ounce of $2866.76. U.S. Gold Futures rose by 1.1% to $2.880.50. Dollar index dropped 0.4%, a drop from the two-week-high reached in the previous session. This makes bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies. The geopolitical risks associated with the reversal of the expected peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia are likely to have driven today's early Asian bullish sentiment in gold, said Kelvin Woong, senior analyst for Asia Pacific at OANDA. The meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. president Donald Trump on Friday ended in disaster, adding to the uncertainty of financial markets already nervous due to weakening data about the economy and volatility surrounding U.S. trading policies. Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, said that on Sunday tariffs against Canada and Mexico will come into effect starting on Tuesday. Trump would decide whether or not to keep with the planned 25% rate. Trump announced that he will add an additional 10% tariff to Chinese goods on Tuesday. This would effectively double the 10% duty imposed on 4 February. The Federal Reserve could delay reducing interest rates until inflation picks up. This is based on data released by the Federal Reserve last Friday. While bullion can be a hedge to geopolitical unrest, its appeal is diminished in an environment of high interest rates. Other metals include palladium, which rose 1% and a platinum spot price of $945.45 per ounce. Analysts said that demand for industrial precious metals such as platinum and palladium would likely drop if the tariffs proposed by Trump's administration on U.S. automobile imports dampens vehicle sales. Spot silver rose 0.5% to $31.30. (Reporting and editing by Anushree mukherjee in Bengaluru and Anjana Anil; Rashmi aich and Subhranshu sahu).
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Iron ore prices at a 6-week low due to rising US tariff tensions
Iron ore futures declined for the sixth consecutive session on Monday, amid increasing trade tensions between China and the U.S. As of 0254 GMT, the most-traded contract for May iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange slipped 0.75% to $796 yuan (US$109.32) per metric ton. In the early part of the session, the prices had fallen to 788 yuan - the lowest level since January 16. The benchmark March ore traded on the Singapore Exchange fell 0.15%, to $103.1 per ton. U.S. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced on Friday that Mexico had proposed matching U.S. Tariffs against China, after U.S. president Donald Trump vowed to impose another 10% tariff on Chinese imports. Trump announced that he would impose 25% tariffs starting March 4 on all imports of steel and aluminum. This sparked a new round of trade tensions with China. Last week, it was reported that the U.S. tariffs on steel are set to disrupt Chinese transshipment, which is estimated at $7 billion. This will undermine a crucial source of sales for China’s struggling steel industry. A private sector survey released on Monday showed that China's manufacturing activity increased at a faster rate in February due to a stronger demand, supply, and export orders. The survey's positive trend is in line with the official PMI data, released on Saturday. This showed that manufacturing activity in February grew at the fastest rate in three months. The reading should reassure officials about the fact that stimulus measures implemented last year have helped to recover the economy amid slow demand and a struggling real estate sector. Coking coal and coke, which are used to make steel, have both risen in price, by 1.46% and 1.31 %, respectively. The benchmark steel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased. Hot-rolled coil and wire rod both gained 0.4%, while rebar and stainless steel each gained 0.3%. $1 = 7.2815 Chinese Yuan (Reporting and editing by Sumana Niandy; Reporting by Michele Pek)
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LME copper prices rise on weaker dollar as market looks forward to China's stimulus signals
London copper prices rose on Monday due to a lower dollar and the expectation that China, the world's largest consumer of metals, would announce a fiscal stimuli package to boost metals demand. The price of three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange increased by 0.7%, to $9.420 per metric ton as of 0211 GMT. The dollar index fell 0.4% after hitting a high of two weeks in the previous session. The greenback price of commodities is cheaper for buyers who hold other currencies. Last week, U.S. president Donald Trump caused confusion when he suggested a possible deadline of April 2, in relation to tariffs against Canada and Mexico. He later confirmed the deadline for Tuesday. He announced that he would impose another 10% duty on Chinese products on Tuesday. This effectively doubles the 10% duties imposed by February 4. Kyle Rodda is a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com. He said, "I believe the markets are responding further rhetoric on U.S. Tariffs on Base Metals and hope that China's NPC could yield further economic stimuli." The spotlight will be on China's National People's Congress meeting, scheduled for 5 March. This is to see if China unveils any additional stimulus measures in light of the ongoing tariff war and the concerns over slow demand. According to a draft proposal, the European Commission is planning to present this week measures to increase demand for electric cars (EVs) within the European Union. The proposals also envisage local content requirements in car battery production. LME aluminium rose by 0.9% to $2,628 per ton. Zinc gained 1.4% to $2,832, Nickel rose 1.6% at $15,685, Tin firmed up by 0.3% at $31,400, and Lead rose 0.2% at $1,995.50. The price of SHFE aluminium increased by 0.2%, to 20,680 Chinese yuan ($2,840.43). SHFE copper rose 0.3%, to 77240 yuan. Zinc rose 1.1%, to 23,750 yuan. Nickel remained at 127070 yuan. Lead rose 0.4%, to 17,240 yuan. Tin rose 0.3%, to 255920 yuan. ($1 = 7.2806 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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Seven & i finalising plan for President Isaka to step down, Nikkei says
Seven & i Holdings is the Japanese retail giant in the middle of a takeover war. It has finalised a plan to replace its president with the first foreign CEO. The Nikkei daily business reported that President Ryuichi isaka would resign, and Stephen Dacus will replace him. Dacus has been an outside director in the Nikkei business daily since 2022. He is currently heading a committee that evaluates a $47 billion bid by Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard, and a recent take-private deal with Seven & i’s founding family. Nikkei said that the company will hold a meeting of its board to finalize the plan. Seven & i spokesperson stated that the information was not from Seven & i, and nothing had been determined. Seven & i shares initially jumped up to 4.6% after the report. Last year, the company's founder Ito family started talks to buy out the convenience store owner in the largest management purchase in history. Seven & i revealed last week that the group had failed to secure funding for what was expected to be a 58 billion dollar buyout. Couche-Tard stated that it is committed to a transaction that will be mutually beneficial for both parties. It would be the largest takeover in Japanese history if Couche-Tard were to gain control of Seven & i. Seven & i, a Japanese national security company, was classified as "core". However, the Finance Ministry said that it would not impede a purchase. Reports indicate that the retailer is also close to a deal with private equity firm Bain Capital to sell non-core business assets. (Reporting and editing by Kaori Kaneko, Rocky Swift and Chang-Ran KIM)
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British Business – March 3,
These are the most popular stories in the British business pages. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. The Times The Canadian-American company Brookfield is launching Brookfield Wealth Solutions, its insurance spinoff. This will allow it to enter the UK's bulk pension market. First Light Fusion, based in Oxfordshire, has been awarded a NASA contract to develop materials that will protect satellites and space stations from space debris. The Guardian Matthew Pennycook, British Housing Minister, has pledged to abolish the centuries old leasehold system in England & Wales by the end of the current parliament. The government is now taking the next steps toward an outright prohibition on new leasehold development. The UK's data watchdog will investigate TikTok to see if social media algorithms serve up inappropriate or harmful material to children. The Telegraph Lloyds Bank reversed its policy of including long-haul business flights in its calculations for net-zero emission. Instead, it opted to focus only on UK-based travel. This marked a significant reduction in the climate pledge. Sky News Inflexion, a private equity firm, is looking at a possible sale of cloud-hosting provider ANS (formerly UKFast) with a target valuation of $400 million pounds ($503.88 millions). Keir starmer, the British Prime Minister, has suggested that a coalition of European Allies could "guarantee peace" by defending a possible deal for Ukraine. ($1 = 0.7938 pound) (Compiled from Bengaluru Newsroom)
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The oil price recovers after positive Chinese manufacturing data boosts some optimism
The price of oil rose by 1% on Sunday, as positive manufacturing data from China, which is the world's largest crude importer, sparked renewed optimism about fuel demand. However, uncertainty over global economic growth due to potential U.S. trade tariffs continued to loom. Brent crude rose 76 cents or 1% to $73.57 a bar by 0206 GMT, while U.S. West Texas intermediate crude was $70.51 a bar, up 75 cents or 1.1%. Prices rose after data released on Saturday showed that China's manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in 3 months in February, as new orders and increased purchase volumes contributed to a significant increase in production. Investors are looking forward to China's annual parliament meeting on March 5, where they will be looking for more measures to help the country's battered economy. Tony Sycamore, IG's market analyst, said that "the China NBS Manufacturing PMI moved into expansionary territory at the weekend" as one possible driver for the price increase. He warned that the outlook for the economy of the country may not be encouraging, especially with a new round of tariffs set to begin on March 4 on exports to America. Goldman Sachs analysts were more optimistic about the data. They said in a report that it suggested a stable or slightly improved economic activity in China by early 2025. However, the additional 10% U.S. duty may lead to retaliatory actions. Brent and WTI prices fell last month for the first time in three months, as investors lost confidence in the global economy this year due to the threat of trade tariffs. The mood improved after the summit held on Sunday, where European leaders showed their support for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. They also promised to do more to assist his country. This was just two days following his clash with U.S. Donald Trump and cancellation of a Washington visit. Zelenskiy stated on Sunday that he believes he can salvage his relationship, but the talks need to continue behind closed door. He said he was ready to sign an agreement on minerals with the United States and that he thought the U.S. were also ready. The ongoing attacks on Russian refineries has raised concerns over its refined product exports. Another plant in Ufa, Russia is reportedly on fire. A poll revealed that analysts expect oil prices to remain largely unchanged in 2025. They estimate Brent will average $74.63 per barrel. This is because they believe any negative impact of further U.S. sanctioned will be offset by the ample supply, and a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Eight international oil companies operating in the region said they would not resume shipments through Turkey’s Ceyhan port due to the lack of clarity regarding commercial agreements and payment guarantees for past and future shipments. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger; Florence Tan is the reporter)
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Andy Home: Critical minerals are at the forefront of world politics
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet today with the U.S. president Donald Trump to sign an important minerals deal to ensure continued U.S. support in the war against Russia. Initially, the deal was a rare-earths one. However, it wasn't long before someone realized that Ukraine didn't have much of these 17 exotic metals. The draft text of the proposed Reconstruction Investment Fund simply refers to "deposits" of hydrocarbons, minerals, oil, and gas. Mortgages of Ukrainian security for its mineral wealth come with a long overdue payback. The clue lies in the word "deposits". Finding deposits of minerals is easy. Mining them is more challenging. Even more difficult is the processing of them. The deal shows that we are now in a new era of metal politics after a century-long era of oil politics. What lies beneath the surface? The U.S. Geological Survey is unaware that Ukraine has large reserves of rare earths. It does not include it in its top producers list. Since the Soviet era, Ukraine's rare earth deposits have not been surveyed. We don't know the size of the reserve or its composition, much less if it is economically viable to extract. Ukraine has confirmed reserves of critical metals like titanium and lithium, but removing them from the ground will be a much bigger challenge. After three years of conflict, Ukraine has a shortage of both infrastructure and power. The question is not how to turn raw materials into metal. China is the dominant player in many mineral supply chains, not because of its large ore reserves, but because it has mastered a key part of the production process. The West is also struggling to catch up with China's technological know-how, as it restricts the export of crucial metal processing technologies. It will be some time before Ukraine is able to deliver on its end of the deal and monetise what's still underground. Metals Revolution The United States and Europe are desperate to secure their critical mineral supply chain because of China's dominance. It's the metallic revolution driving this hunger. In the 20th century, a landline phone only required a copper wire. Apple iPhones still contain copper, but they also need aluminium, cobalt and gold. They also require lithium, tin and tungsten, as well as a few rare earths. Consider what goes into an advanced piece of technology, such as a stealth fighter plane like the F-35. Metals are not just hard bits to shape, but they are being used in more complex combinations that are closer to inorganic chemical synthesis than traditional metalworking. The lithium-ion batteries are the poster child for modern metallurgy. They come in different chemistries, each with a slightly varying combination of metal inputs. The first commercial batteries appeared in 1991, but technology has evolved rapidly to become a key driver for the transition to electric cars. This is why the West races to develop its own supply chain of battery metals. While Trump may not be a fan of electric cars, he understands how vital metals are for the U.S. Military. In fact, Trump declared critical minerals to be a national crisis in his first term. METALLIC POKER The geopolitical game table has adopted critical metals as a new bargaining chip. Trump is also targeting Greenland. Although it has reserves of rare earths and other minerals, the country lacks the infrastructure needed to extract them from the ground. Vladimir Putin is quick to jump into the metal poker game and points out that Russia has more rare earths in its reserves than Ukraine, should the United States be interested. He will even add two million tonnes of aluminum primary per year, as he has heard that the United States may be short of it if they impose tariffs on Canada's imports. This raises the question as to whether Trump would be better off looking at his own country if he is really so keen on rare earths and critical metals. Canada is home to many of these, has a mining-friendly jurisdiction and has a large metals processing capability. Trump has thrown out "friend-shoring", a concept that was popularized by the previous administration. Maybe the list of people who are friends has changed. The deal to sell minerals with Ukraine will not be the last. Ukraine isn't the only country that wants to use metals as a currency. The Democratic Republic of Congo has tried and failed to defeat the M23 rebels, who have seized two of the largest cities in eastern Congo. In an interview with The New York Times Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the country, praised a deal similar to that struck in Ukraine, whereby the country would provide future supplies, notably cobalt, as a reward for Western aid. This is the age of metal diplomacy. There are a number of elements on the periodic table you may not have heard about, even though they're used every day. These are the opinions of a columnist who writes for.
Iran's Parliament ousts Economy Minister over Economic Mismanagement
State media reported that Iran's Parliament voted to remove Economy Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati due to mismanagement and a plummeting national currency.
Hemmati was ousted by the parliament in a vote of no confidence, almost eight months after Masoud Pezeshkian had appointed his cabinet.
According to unofficial websites such as alanchand.com, the Iranian currency has lost nearly half its value against U.S. dollars over the past eight months.
The Iranian Rial is now trading at 927,000 per dollar, compared to 595,500 last August.
State media reported that Hemmati's opponents argued he failed to stop price increases on basic goods like medicine, food, and housing, while also being unable control the foreign exchange markets.
Hemmati's top priority was to end U.S. Sanctions on Iran, and remove the country from the Financial Action Task Force blacklist. State media reported.
The opposition was from MPs, who believed that Iran should concentrate on "neutralizing" sanctions.
According to state media, Hemmati’s supporters claimed that it was not the time to remove him as Iran remained subject to U.S. Sanctions and his replacement would lead to further instability.
Iran's ruling clerics are most concerned about the economy. They fear that protests from lower- and middle-income groups, angry over poverty, which have been raging since 2017, will erupt again.
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has re-instituted his "maximum press" campaign to reduce Iran's oil imports to zero.
According to state media, 182 members of parliament voted in favor of the motion, and 89 against it.
(source: Reuters)