Latest News
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Fears of wider Iran conflict has led to a relaxation in the Gulf markets
Investors' sentiment was affected by the sagging of most Gulf stock markets in early Sunday trading, as concerns about a wider conflict linked to Iran weighed heavily on their minds. This came after Yemen’s Houthis launched the?first? attacks on Israel since the conflict started and the U.S. sent additional forces into the Middle East. The Washington Post reported Saturday that U.S. officials had said that the Pentagon was preparing for a possible multi-week?operation on the ground in Iran. However, it remained unclear whether President Donald Trump would authorize the deployment. The Qatari Index fell by 1.1% as Qatar National Bank, which is the Gulf's largest?lender based on assets?, declined by 1.3%. Kuwait's bourse slid by 0.4%, and Bahrain's market dropped by 0.1%. Saudi Arabia's benchmark indices bucked trend and gained 0.4%, thanks to a?0.4% increase for Al Rajhi Bank as well as a 0.6% gain for Saudi?Aramco. Bloomberg News reported that Saudi Arabia's East West pipeline, which circumvents?the Strait of?Hormuz?, pumps oil at its full capacity, 7 million barrels a day, according to a source familiar with the issue. Brent crude futures rose $4.56 or 4.2% to $112.57 per barrel on Friday. This reflects skepticism about prospects for a truce in the Iran War, which has been ongoing for over a month.
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Vedanta, India's largest company, will split into five companies in the next few months.
The Financial Times, citing an Anil Agarwal interview, reported that India's Vedanta would be split into five listed companies by the end of next month as part of a reorganization program that has been ongoing for years. In December, a tribunal approved the plan of the oil-to metals conglomerate to divide?into 5 listed entities. Vedanta will be operating as Vedanta Ltd, housing the?base metals division. Vedanta Aluminum, Talwandi Sabo Power, Vedanta Iron and Steel,?and Malco Energy are the other?four entities. Agarwal, a FT reporter, said that the combined market capitalisation of five companies would be higher than the current $27 billion conglomerate. Agarwal's private parent company will retain around?half the shares of each new entity, he said. The government, which first proposed the plan in 2023, was opposed to it, as they feared that a breakup would make it more difficult for them to recover debts. In an interview with in January, Chief Financial Officer Ajay Goel said that Vedanta plans to list the four demerged units on Indian exchanges before mid-May. Preetika parashuraman, Bengaluru. Christopher Cushing, editing.
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Bahrain's Alba confirms Iranian attacks on its facilities
Aluminium Bahrain (also known as Alba) confirmed early on Sunday that its facilities had been targeted by an Iranian attack just a day earlier, Bahrain’s state news agency reported. Alba said that two people were slightly injured during the attack and was assessing the damage to the facility. Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed the attack after they said that they targeted Alba, Emirates Global Aluminium and other companies in response to attacks on two Iranian Steel Plants. The IRGC stated, without elaborating on the matter, that both companies were linked to U.S. aeronautics and military firms. Could not independently verify IRGC claims. Alba initiated a?shutdown of three aluminium smelting?lines in March, which accounted for 19% of its?capacity to maintain business continuity amid the ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. The company declared force majeure on March 4, when it could not ship metals to its customers because of the closure. The U.S. and Israeli war against Iran has had a major impact on the Middle East aluminum sector. This sector accounts for around 9 % of global supply. Separately, Bahrain's Foulath Holding, parent company of Bahrain Steel declared a force majeure for its operations on Saturday due to the regional conflict, "associated security disruptions and?logistical interruptions". The company said that the current situation in the Middle East has created circumstances "outside of its?control" which have affected operations and 'logistics' across various parts of the group's business, without giving details about the magnitude of the impact. Reporting by Menna alaa el-din and Nayera abdallah Editing and Chizu nomiyama by Rod Nickel
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Emirates Global Aluminium reports "significant damage" from Iranian attacks
Emirates 'Global Aluminium'said on Sunday that its Al Taweelah manufacturing base in the UAE suffered "significant damage" from Iranian missile and drone strikes. The company released a statement saying that a number of EGA staff were injured during the attack on the Khalifa economic zone?in Abu Dhabi. It added that none of the injuries was life-threatening. EGA CEO Abdulnasser Bin Kalban stated in a statement that "the safety and security of EGA's people are our top priority at all times." "We are deeply saddened by the incident and are assessing damage to our facilities." Since the U.S. and Israel war against Iran, most aluminium producers from the Gulf region, who account for around 9 percent of global production, have not been able to ship metal via their usual channels to world markets due to the closure of the Strait?Hormuz. EGA's Al Taweelah aluminum smelter will produce 1.6 million metric tonnes of cast metal by 2025. The company has an adjacent refinery that produces 2.4 million metric tons of aluminium raw materials. EGA, which operates a smelter in Jebel Ali, in the emirate Dubai, claimed to have substantial metal stocks on the water and some overseas locations. Reports earlier in the month indicated that the company was rerouting aluminium exports to the Omani port Sohar and importing raw materials via this port. (Reporting and editing by Joe Bavier, Louise Heavens, and Tom Daly)
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Prime Minister says Egypt will slow down state projects in Egypt for two months due to the war with Iran
Egypt will'slow down' large state projects that require a high fuel and diesel usage for at least two months, while fuel allocations for government vehicles will be reduced by 30%. Madbouly said that the public sector, as well as the private sector, except for the services and manufacturing industries, would work remotely 'every Sunday in April. This measure can be extended by an additional day per week, or for several months if war continues. This is part of wider measures to deal with the economic fallout caused by the 'Iran War, which has pushed up energy prices and strained the public finances. Egypt, despite not being directly involved, has suffered a great deal, especially in its energy sector. It is heavily dependent on fuel imported from abroad. The disruption in oil and gas trade and production across the Middle East has led to a rise in costs. Fuel prices and public transport costs have already been raised by the government. Madbouly emphasized that these measures were temporary and that the government was 'working to help the citizens. Finance minister Ahmed Kouchouk stated that debt servicing costs, the mainstay of Egypt's budget which is usually consumed by the service of debt, will only rise 5% in the fiscal year beginning July. Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Mohamed Ezz in Alexandria and Jaidaa T. Taha edited by Jan Harvey and Louise Heavens.
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Baghdad orders probe after drone targets Kurdistan president's home
Security?sources say that a 'drone attack' targeted the home of the President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region?early Saturday morning. This?incidences comes at a time when tensions are rising in northern Iraq. Sources added that air defences shot down a drone in Duhok near a base of Peshmerga warriors. The strikes come amid an increase in attacks against both Iran-aligned forces and?Kurdish ones as the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran spills?over into Iraq, attracting multiple armed group and straining Baghdad’s efforts to contain?the fallout. His office reported that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani spoke to him on the phone and condemned the attack on Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani’s house. Sudani also ordered the formation of a joint federal and Kurdistan technical and security team to investigate and identify the perpetrators. Since the beginning of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran, airstrikes have targeted sites that belong to Iraq's umbrella organization for Iran-backed Shi’ite militias. The Popular Mobilization Forces also target Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in 'Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraqi military claimed that the U.S., Israel and others carried out some of the airstrikes against the PMF. Tehran-backed armed group have also launched attacks on U.S. base?in Iraq as well as?the U.S. Embassy. Reporting by Jaidaa Taka, additional reporting by Muayad Saadi; Writing by Ahmed Tolba from Cairo; Editing and proofreading by Joe Bavier & Louise Heavens
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FinMin: Italian state finances are able to absorb shocks due to the Middle East Crisis
Italian state finances are able to absorb the negative impact of the Middle East crisis, said Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti on Saturday as the government prepared to update its budget targets and growth estimations for 2026 and subsequent years. Giorgetti stated that he still hoped for a downward adjustment of the deficit last year to 3% from 3.1% of national production by the national statistics office ISTAT. This would allow Italy to 'exit' early this year EU's excessive-deficit procedure. Giorgetti, speaking at a financial conference in Cernobbio (northern Italy), said: "We face this crisis from a position of relative strength, because our numbers are not exceptional but they are definitely positive." A source familiar with the matter stated that Prime Minister Giorgia meloni's Government expects Italy's Economy to Grow by 0.5%, 0.6% or even 0.7% this year and 0.7% by 2027 if policy remains unchanged. The two forecasts are both slightly below the 0.7% and 0.8% GDP growth targets that the government set in September. GOVERNMENT SEES SLOWER Growth Ahead These figures are still subject to change before they are published on April 10. They do not include any potential stimuli measures that the government might adopt to help households and businesses cope with rising energy prices. Giorgetti stated that despite the bleak economic outlook, the state finances were in a good position to absorb any shock from the Iran War. Italy did not achieve its goal of bringing the deficit under the 3% key ceiling for the European Union as originally planned, but ISTAT stated that if additional information becomes available, ISTAT could revise these figures by April 21. In September, the Treasury set a goal of 2.8% for this year's ratio of deficit to GDP. Giorgetti called for an EU-wide coordinated approach to adopt measures to deal with the current crisis and stated that Italy is not experiencing any shortages of energy at this time. The government has set aside 417.4 millions euros ($480.34) to cut excise duty on fuels until April 7. However, prices have not changed much and industry lobbyists are calling for more effective measures. Giorgetti stated that "we will listen to the different groups to identify the most urgent issues".
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What is the World Trade Organization E-Commerce Moratorium?
The ecommerce moratorium is an agreement between World Trade Organization members that prohibits the application of customs duties to electronic transmissions, such as "digital downloads" and "streaming". The policy was adopted for the first time in 1998, at the WTO's Second Ministerial Conference held in Geneva. It was part of a statement to encourage early digital trade growth. This includes cross-border transmissions of software, e-books and music, movie and video streaming, and video games. The tariff moratorium was originally intended to be temporary. It has been extended roughly every two-years at each WTO Ministerial Conference, most recently for two years in 2024 at the 13th meeting. The 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in Yaounde (Cameroon) will see the expiration of this agreement. Arguments for Extending the Period WTO members who have large digital economies, such as the U.S. and the EU, Canada, and Japan, want to extend the moratorium indefinitely because it will ensure predictability for global digital trade. The U.S. is concerned that major American tech companies such as Amazon and Apple will have a stable regulatory climate without having to worry about countries imposing duties which could affect cross-border digital commerce. Over 200?business organizations from around the world signed a statement calling for an extension to the moratorium. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) says that a failure to comply with the law would increase costs, fragment internet, and make it difficult for businesses to engage in digital cross-border trade. Arguments against Extending the Moratorium Some developing nations including India, which has opposed the moratorium for a long time, claim that extending it would deny them the tariff revenue they need to fund infrastructure or close the digital gap. Sofia Scasserra, a researcher at the Transnational Institute, said that the moratorium had failed to boost digital economies in developing nations and has instead entrenched the dominance of the U.S. In a research paper published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 2019, it was estimated that the moratorium could have cost developing countries $10 billion in tariff revenue in 2017. An OECD report found that the revenue loss from digital services imported could be largely offset by goods and services taxes or value added taxes. Positions of the countries at the Cameroon Meeting At the Cameroon Ministerial Conference, four formal proposals for the ecommerce moratorium have been presented. The African,?Caribbean, and Pacific Group proposes extending?the?moratorium to the next ministerial conferences. The United States. The?U.S. A group that includes Switzerland proposes an extension until the next conference, while a plan from Brazil proposes to extend it until then and create a digital-trade committee. Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Yaounde, Editing by Keith Weir
United States completes brand-new tailpipe emissions limits for heavy duty lorries
The U.S. government stated on Friday it was completing tighter tailpipe emissions standards for heavy duty lorries like semi-trucks and buses, however the new rules would not be as stringent as initially proposed in 2023.
The Epa (EPA) said the brand-new rules setting requirements for the 2027 through 2032 model years will prevent 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions through 2055 and provide $13 billion in annualized net advantages to society. On the other hand, the EPA had said its harder proposed rules last year would have prevented 1.8 billion lots of emissions.
The new standards apply to delivery trucks, garbage trucks, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, and school buses and tractor-trailer trucks.
The last standards tighten up requirements at a slower speed and postpone the start of brand-new rules for day taxi tractors and some durable professional automobiles, the EPA stated.
Heavy duty lorries represent 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, which represents 29%. of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
The EPA stated the standards are technology-neutral and. performance-based, permitting each maker to pick what set. of emissions manage innovations is best fit for them and. the needs of their consumers.
The last rule consists of lower electrical lorry projected. sales rates for design years 2027-2029 than the initial proposed. guideline would have needed. But a market group argued the rule. was still too rigorous.
The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, which. represents Daimler Truck; Volvo Trucks, Cummins. and others, said it was concerned the last guideline will. end up being the most difficult, pricey and possibly. disruptive durable emissions guideline in history.
The association included the new guidelines set a portion of. zero-emissions vehicles such as fuel cell-powered or electric. automobiles that a business must offer, which is beyond their own. capability to manage.
Tesla
, some Democrats and ecological groups had actually urged. the EPA to adopt even harder guidelines.
Abigail Dillen, president of the Earthjustice. ecological group, said Friday the EPA did not go far enough. to safeguard neighborhoods from unsafe health effects connected to. durable truck contamination and added truck producers have. pressed EPA to slow-walk this change.
The American Trucking Associations stated targets beyond 2030. remain entirely unattainable provided the existing state of. zero-emission technology, the lack of charging infrastructure. and constraints on the power grid.
Current tailpipe emissions limits for heavy duty trucks. and engines were embeded in 2016 covering the 2021 through 2027. design years.
The Sierra Club's Katherine García praised the new EPA. rules including it's important that truck makers enter into the. fast lane with zero-emission trucks to provide the environment,. health, and economic benefits we are worthy of.
Last week, the EPA settled emissions guidelines for light and. medium duty vehicles through 2032, cutting its target for U.S. electrical car adoption from 67% by 2032 to just 35%.
(source: Reuters)