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Tomra misses estimates after delayed deposit return scheme roll-out
Tomra, the Norwegian recycling technology company, reported earnings that were lower than expected on Friday. The company cited a delay in the roll-out of deposit return vending machines in Poland as well as weakness in its recycling business. Why it Matters Tomra Systems’ collection division offers vending machines that are used for deposit-and-return schemes based on the collection and recycling of cans and bottle. Tomra’s biggest market in Europe, several countries have introduced deposit-and-return schemes. Poland's scheme was launched on 1 October, and Portugal's will be implemented in 2026. CONTEXT Tomra announced in July that its collection division's growth prospects depended on the development of deposit markets in Poland, Portugal and other emerging countries. The press release stated that Poland would be the second largest market for the company to date. By the Numbers The Oslo-listed firm posted adjusted earnings before interests, taxes and amortization (30 million euros) for the third quarter. This was below the 40 millions euros analysts expected in a poll conducted by the company. Tove Andersen, Tomra's CEO, said that the company has a strategic goal to grow existing markets by 5% annually. Tomra shares opened Friday 12.6% lower. KEY QUOTES "There will be a busy period beginning now, as there needs to be an important ramp-up." We think that this period will last until the middle of next year," said CEO Tove Anderson. She said that, from now on until 2030 or 2029, the European market for reverse vending machine will at least double. This will allow Tomra's growth goals to be met.
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SPECIAL RELEASE-A plot from the Assad era to hide Syria's dead has turned the desert into a mass burial
The stench of death was evident along the Syrian highway for four nights per week, nearly two years. It was the smell that thousands of bodies were being transported from one secret location to another mass grave. It was forbidden for drivers to leave their cars. The mechanics and bulldozer drivers were ordered to remain silent and warned that they would pay with their life if they spoke out. The only way to receive orders for "Operation Move Earth", was verbally. The transfer was orchestrated primarily by a Syrian colonel who spent nearly ten years burying the dead of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The transfer order came directly from the presidential palace. The colonel known as Assad’s “master of cleansing” directed the operation between 2019 and 2021. The first grave Qutayfah in Damascus's area contained trenches filled to the brim with remains of those who died under interrogation, in prison. during battle. Human rights activists had exposed the existence of this mass grave during the civil conflict and it was considered to be one of Syria's biggest. A recent investigation found that the Assad regime secretly manipulated elections. Excavation of the Qutayfah Site The bodies were transported by truck to a military base in the Dhumair Desert, more than an hours drive away. Exclusive report published on Tuesday The second mass grave and clandestine reburial plan were revealed. Now, we can reveal in detail how the perpetrators of this conspiracy carried it out and kept it secret for six long years. We spoke with 13 people who had direct knowledge of the 2-year effort to move bodies, and we analyzed over 500 satellite images taken of both mass graves. Over a decade The excavations revealed not only the creation of the Qutayfah tomb, but also the expansion of the site as the burial trenches were opened and dug up. The use of aerial drone photography was used to confirm the transference of bodies. The news agency took drone and ground photographs of both sites under the guidance of forensic scientists to create composite high-resolution images. The drone photos at Dhumair showed that the disturbed soil near the burial trenches were darker and more reddish than the nearby undisturbed soil. This is what would have been expected if Qutayfah subsoil was added to Dhumair soil, according to Lorna and Benjamin Rocke. Syria Mass graves are scattered throughout the area The secret site discovered was one of the largest ever known. The grave near Dhumair, a desert town in the middle of the country, is one of the largest ever created. It has at least 34 trenches that total 2 kilometers. The new grave site is large enough to accommodate tens or even hundreds of thousands of people, according to witness accounts and the size of the area. Reduce the chances of intruders tampering The site must not be revealed to the public before it can protected. The new National Commission for Missing Persons of the Government said that after the first story, it had requested the Interior Ministry seal and protect Dhumair. The commission said that the transfer of bodies haphazardly to Dhumair could make it more difficult for victims to be identified. The commission stated that "each family of a lost person is faced with a unique set of problems, which are intertwined in scientific complexity and could make the identification process a long and expensive technical project." According to witnesses, for four nights, almost every week, six or eight trucks were filled with maggots, human remains, and dirt. According to witnesses, the stench clung on the clothes and hairs of everyone involved. This included two truckers and three mechanics as well as a bulldozer driver, a former Republican Guard officer and a former member of Assad's elite Republican Guard. Former Republican Guard officer said that the idea of moving thousands of bodies was born in late 2018 when Assad seemed to be winning Syria's civil conflict. The dictator hoped to gain international recognition after years of sanctions. Allegations of brutality The officer replied. Assad was accused at the time of holding thousands of Syrians in detention. No independent Syrian groups, or international organizations, had access to either the prisons or mass graves. The officer reported that Assad received assurances from Russian intelligence in 2018 during a meeting to ensure his isolation was ended. The Russians told the dictator to conceal evidence of widespread violations of human rights. "M He said that the most notable examples were mass graves and chemical attacks, as well as arrests. The officer and two truckers were told that the purpose of the transfer of goods was to remove the mass grave at Qutayfah and conceal evidence of mass murders. Satellite images from 2012 showed the first trench in Qutayfah. Human rights activist in Syria Qutayfah exposed By releasing photos in 2014 to local media, revealing its existence and general location near Damascus's outskirts, the group accused Assad for using the site to hide the sheer number of people who were killed under his rule. The grave's exact location was revealed a few decades later. In court testimony Other media reports By the time Assad fell All 16 trenches described by, however, had been completely emptied. The Russian foreign intelligence service refused to comment and a Assad legal advisor did not respond when asked to comment on the findings. According to reports, more than 160,000 people were believed to have disappeared into the vast security apparatus of the former dictator and to be buried within the dozens mass graves that he had created. Syrian Rights Groups According to the government, the number of missing people since 1970 when the Assad family began ruling the country is estimated at 300,000. Organised excavation and DNA analyses could help track what happened to these people, alleviating one of Syria's worst faultlines. With few resources, Syria's well-known mass burials remain largely unexcavated and unprotected. The country's newly elected leaders, who ousted Assad in In spite of the fact that December has passed, no documentation was released for any of these. Families of missing persons have repeatedly called to express their concern. According to the National Commission for Missing People, this is because many records were destroyed or lost and that even well-known sites such as Qutayfah have huge gaps in their data. They said there are plans to create an DNA bank and a central digital platform for the families of missing people, but that there were not enough experts in forensic medicine or DNA testing. Court testimony and dozens signed documents showing command chain from deathbeds in prison to morgues were reviewed. Many of these documents bore the stamp of the same Colonel who was responsible for the two mass grave sites: Col. MazenIsmandar. All those interviewed involved in the transfer bodies remembered nights spent working for Ismandar. Ahmed Ghazal is a mechanic who described how soldiers would order him to clean out his garage at night so that the trucks could be repaired quickly and out-of-sight. Ghazal said he did not believe the initial explanation that the smell was due to expired medicines and chemicals. The first time he saw the corpses was when he got into the truck bed to do a job. Ghazal was curious after an rotting hand fell onto one of his trainees. He approached a military driver to find out where the bodies came from. The driver informed him that they were from Qutayfah and that orders had been given to move them so Syria would not be exposed to international scrutiny. Ghazal described in a deep, methodical voice the events that he had witnessed at the Dhumair site. He said that he did not speak out at the time. To talk, he said, "means death. You could be the next victim of what happened to those buried in this graveyard just by talking. I also spoke with the driver, who remembered his conversation Ghazal. He said Col. Ismandar had warned them they would be punished if they spoke about what they saw. Ismandar, when contacted through intermediaries by the media, declined to comment. If I had been able act freely, I would not have taken this position. "I am a servant of the orders, I'm a slave to orders," said the driver. "I was overcome with fear, horrible smells and guilt." He said that he wore cologne when he returned home at dawn. "THE MASTER CLEANSING" As the opposition to Assad's regime deteriorated in 2012 into civil war, Qutayfah was one of the only places firmly under the control of the government. Anwar Haj Khali, former head of the City Council, explained that the people who found the bodies during the initial days of fighting brought them to a military base in the area. In 2013, trucks were bringing bodies from hospitals, prisons and battlefields. According to Haj Khalil, a former brigadier-general in the Syrian Army’s 3rd Division who coordinated burial logistics, there were so many bodies that two government owned food distributors, meatpackers, and another company which distributed fruit and vegetables, redirected the refrigerated truck to transport the dead to Qutayfah. Like many others involved in the conspiracy he requested anonymity when describing how it worked. Haj Khalil who lives in the region said that no one wanted to be responsible for burying these bodies. They needed someone to oversee operations and the location. Ismandar started playing this role in 2012, according multiple witnesses and testimony at court. According to the officer of the 3rd Division, he was introduced to crew members as "masters of cleaning operations" by the division. According to documents from 2018, bearing his signature and reviewed by, Ismandar was the budget manager of the Syrian military Medical Services. This unit was one the most powerful government agencies, controlling medical care of soldiers, anyone who went to military hospitals and thousands of prisoners. Haj Khalil, the brigadier-general and Ismandar both confirmed that they had jointly decided on a plot of land controlled by the military at Qutayfah. In the beginning, the bodies were brought in by a few dozen from two hospitals nearby. Haj Khalil reported that the shrouds were inscribed with names. He said that after a few weeks, he became accustomed to receiving calls at midnight from Ismandar to dispose of the bodies from Tishreen Hospital, outside Damascus. Haj Khalil would be called by another officer to dispose of bodies from the notorious Sednaya Prison "Ismandar told me that the refrigerator trucks were heading your way. Haj Khalil replied, "Tell the bulldozer that we will be at the site within a half hour." According to a bulldozer driver who began working at Qutayfah in 2014, initially, all of the bodies from Tishreen were blindfolded and their hands were bound with plastic strips. He stated that the bodies from Tishreen were first placed in body bags and then nylon bags. Finally, they arrived without any bags. The operator said that nearly all of the men were naked. He recalled hearing his phone ring at 2 am with instructions to begin digging. The bulldozer driver said that the early trenches dug up by the army, were too shallow. "They were partly the reason why I was called," he said. The soil was a mixture of gravel and small stones. This caused the smell to spread quickly. He claimed to have dug trenches between 75 and 90 m long, 4 m wide and up to 4 meter deep. Satellite imagery analysis shows that his account is in line with satellite images taken in 2013 as trench digging started in earnest. The images show shallow trenches followed by deeper and longer gashes on the ground in 2014. The bulldozer driver said, "I was unable to sleep or eat during the first two weeks due to the horror I witnessed." "But then, I snapped out of it." Ismandar kept a logbook detailing the number and security branch of the bodies that arrived. The sworn statement In German and U.S. court cases involving accusations of torture against the Assad regime, a gravedigger by the name Mohammed Afif Naifa was cited. Naifa testified to a German court he coordinated burials for political prisoners from 2011 until 2017 with Ismandar. Naifa's testimony, which referred to Qutayfah, but did not touch on Dhumair declined to be interviewed. He said that the number of bodies in the logbooks was undercounted. He said that the victims included infants and children. Naifa, who testified 2024 at a hearing in A, said that the system of undercounting was how the regime buried and disappeared so many more than they had recorded. U.S. civil suit A torture victim brought a lawsuit against the Assad regime. Ismandar was mentioned 73 times in the thousands of documents found and photographed at a military forensics lab that had been abandoned by Ahmed al-Sharaa's forces, now Syria's President, during a December visit. Damascus is swept to the top . Documents from 2018 and 2019, which track the way prisoners were transported to Tishreen Military Hospital, and then to Harsta Military Hospital after their death, are stamped with Ismandar’s name. The documents do not mention mass graves. The analysis of aerial drone and satellite photography revealed that 16 burial trenches with a combined length of over 1.2 kilometers were dug in Qutayfah from at least 2013 to 2018. Local roads were shut down when the trucks drove into the graveyard. According to the officer of the 3rd Division who accompanied the convoy, in 2014, a truck broke down on a highway, and everyone stopped en route to Qutayfah. Naifa also gave an account of the same incident. The officer of the 3rd Division said that he received a furious phone call from Ismandar’s commanding general, Maj. Gen. Ammar Suliman: "Orders by Mr. President: block the international road until assistance arrives." Suleiman was a top Syrian general and a member of Assad's inner circle of trusted confidants. He was Ismandar’s direct commander and led the Military Medical Services. Naifa and a commander from the National Defense, a group of paramilitaries that reports directly to Assad was involved in Syria’s most sensitive security missions. Suleiman didn't respond to an inquiry for comment. There was no documentation containing direct instructions from Assad regarding mass graves or Operation Move Earth. The Republican Guard officer and National Defense commander both said that it was impossible to believe that Assad had not ordered it. The National Defense commander said, "I challenge anyone to find any documents issued in Bashar Al-Assad's honor." He knew the day of reckoning was coming, and wanted to keep clean his hands. Haj Khalil (former council chief) estimated that Qutayfah had between 60,000 and 80,000 people dead at the end of 2018 based on the pace in which the deliveries were made during those years. According to satellite imagery, that's when trench digging ceased. Then, with the assistance of Russia and Iran Assad is widely regarded as the winner of the civil war. He had still lost control of much northern Syria to al-Sharaa Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Kurdish forces who both carved out autonomous areas. The Republican Guard officer said that on a late evening in 2018, Assad invited four chiefs of military and intelligence to the Presidential Palace to discuss the fate of the mass graves. The Republican Guard officer said that he worked at the palace and was one of a few people who saw the minutes. The officer stated that the military intelligence chief Kamal Hassan came up with an idea to excavate the entire Qutayfah Mass Grave and move the contents elsewhere. He said that "the idea seemed insane to most people who heard it but it was given the green light by Assad". He said that the main criteria for a new location was to be under military control. The officer stated that Hassan, chief of military intelligence, ordered the weekly report to be sent to President's palace. Hassan is believed not to be in Syria and could not be reached for a comment. According to an officer, the former council chief Haj Khalil, and satellite imagery analysis, work began on a concrete barrier around Qutayfah in November 2018. Satellite images from February 2019 show the concrete wall that surrounds the mass grave. It was 3 meters tall and blocked all views of the mass grave from the ground. In the Syrian desert early in February 2019, more than an hour from the city of Dhumair, the first trench appeared. The wind-swept base of the military near Dhumair, surrounded by mountains and protected by fences and berms, had a new operation underway. OPERATION MOVE THE EARTH According to Haj Khalil and the Republican Guard officer, the written orders stated that the mission was to deliver dirt and sand at a construction site. Ismandar, a clean-shaven man with graying hair gathered his drivers just minutes before the first day of work. The military driver explained that the bodies needed to be moved because the location of the mass grave at Qutayfah was exposed. According to the Republican Guard officer, and the National Defense Officer, it was called Operation Move Earth. "The first day, the instructions were that no one should carry or use a phone. "No one can leave the trucks while the bodies are being loaded or unloaded, under pain of death," stated one of the drivers. "Nobody would dare to violate the orders." The driver reported that the truckers left Qutayfah at sunset and were not allowed to leave their cabs while loading. Ismandar was gesturing in his rearview mirror to tell him where to stop. The truck shook every time the bulldozer empty itself five or six times. The Republican Guard officer who was directly involved in the project said that some skulls were decomposed, and others were fresh. There were many maggots. "Hundreds, if no thousands, of maggots were thrown into the truck with every dump from the bucket." Ismandar ordered the vehicles to form a line, and they headed towards Dhumair. Six or eight dull orange Mercedes-Benz dump trucks followed the white van of the colonel. A stench of overwhelming magnitude accompanied the convoy. The smell of the late night air was always the first thing drivers and mechanics mentioned when describing those late nights, which lasted four days a weeks, from February 2019 to April 2021. This excludes holidays, snowdays, and the four-month confinement in Syria. According to a local who remembered the smell, after years of these trips, the payload of the trucks was a secret among people living in the vicinity. One of the drivers said, "Everyone saw" us. It is impossible to estimate the number of bodies buried in Dhumair without excavation. A convoy of 6-8 trucks, making 4 trips per week, would mean a conservative estimate for 2,600 trips. Experts said that based on the size of trucks and this, it's reasonable to think that tens or even thousands of people may have been buried in Dhumair. Satellite imagery revealed that by the end of Operation Move Earth, all 16 trenches in Qutayfah documented by satellite had been opened. Calculations show that Dhumair has 2 km of trenches. According to the drivers and mechanic, each trench was approximately 2 meters wide and three meters deep. Reporters who visited the site in this year found human bones scattered all over the place, including a fragment that experts have identified as being a human skull. Ghazal said that he saw the convoy often. The trucks were from the mid-1980s, and they had a tendency to malfunction. He was able to distinguish two kinds of corpses that were headed to Dhumair from their periodic appearances in his garage. Some bodies were covered with soil and decomposed. Some bodies, such as young men and woman, appeared to have just died. Both his cousins who worked in the garage said they also saw freshly deceased bodies. Could not determine the source of the recently dead bodies. Ghazal led his team to the location, which he recognized because he had been called there for an emergency repair on a truck. He pointed to the desert and said: "There are people buried under the earth everywhere you look." Ammar Al Selmo is a member of the White Helmets, an organization that finds and excavates mass graves. The first person to report a mass grave in Dhumair was. He claimed that locals in Qutayfah had informed the White Helmets that the mass grave was empty, and a Dhumair witness reported the convoys containing bodies. Al Selmo stated the organization lacks staff and resources so it could not verify either claim. He said that the White Helmets will be making an initial visit to the area in a few days after learning about'findings. Analyzing hundreds of satellite photos taken over many years revealed a color shift on the Dhumair site. Even the most sophisticated commercial imagery lacks the resolution required to examine the soil in detail. Then, we set out to capture thousands of drone images with the goal of creating composite images of Qutayfah using photogrammetry software. Composites revealed that bulldozers had repeatedly rolled over the trenches in order to compact the soil. The composites also confirmed the 'key finding' that bodies were transferred from Qutayfah and Dhumair. According to the analysis of the drone photos, color changes were found around the Dhumair trenches. This suggests that soil from Qutayfah was mixed with the soil in Dhumair. According to Dawson, an expert in forensic soil sciences at The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland, as well as Rocke, a specialist in locating burial sites with remote imagery, this is what would be expected if soil from Qutayfah, which was dug up along with human remains, had been mixed in the soil of Dhumair. According to satellite imagery analysis, Dhumair's last trench was filled during the first weeks of April 2021. Qutayfah’s rubble was flattened by the end of 2021, as an effort to erase any sign of the now empty mass grave. The scars left by attempts to cover the graves are still visible in images of both sites. In late 2021, the intelligence chief who first came up with the idea to move the bodies to Dhumair got one of the final weekly reports on the operation and turned to an officer of the Republican Guard. The officer remembered his words: "Syria has won and is opening itself up to the rest of the world." "We want our guests to find a clean country when they arrive." Ismandar, Like Assad and other people Two former military officers who were familiar with his movements claim that many people in the government fled Syria when the dictator fell. Ghazal, who was watching footage of thousands and thousands of Syrians flooding into Sednaya prison in the hopeless search for missing family members after Assad's departure, said that the mass graves are the first thing he thinks of. Some of the Burial sites Qutayfah was already well-known. In December 2024 several local and foreign media outlets, including, visited the newly accessible website, which included. An association for missing Syrians also noted that Qutayfah was bulldozed between 2018 and 2021. No one reported the trenches as empty. Ghazal who lives and works near the Dhumair Desert said that no one has ever searched the site. It still haunts him. He said that so many Syrians were looking in all the wrong places. (By Maggie Michael and Feras Dalatey. Khalil Ashawi contributed to this article. Allison Martell, Benjamin Lesser and others contributed to this report. Ryan McNeill is responsible for the data. FeildingCage did the visual editing. Khalil Alfiky and Amr Ashawi took the photos. (Edited by Lori Hinnant.
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Shanghai copper falls on US-China trade concerns; weak dollar limits decline
Shanghai copper fell Friday, as investors continued to focus on the risks of trade tensions. However, a weaker U.S. Dollar and rising expectations for another Federal Reserve rate reduction limited losses. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract closed the daytime trade down 0.76%, at 84 390 yuan per metric ton ($11 841.88). The week-end decline was 2.52%. As of 0730 GMT the benchmark three-month price for copper at the London Metal Exchange had fallen 1.38% to $10,500.5 per ton and was heading towards a weekly loss of 0.18%. Market participants continue to be cautious as they closely monitor trade developments between China, the United States and other countries as a high stakes meeting is near. China blamed Thursday the U.S. of stoking global panic about its rare earth export controls. The U.S. official's comments on Wednesday that China's export of rare earths is a global threat, and that it could decouple, led to the accusation. Beijing claimed that the U.S. "seriously misrepresented" China's actions and intentionally stoked unnecessary confusion and panic. The weaker dollar helped copper, but the rising odds of more Fed policy ease this year also contributed. The soft dollar makes commodities that are traded in greenbacks cheaper for investors who use other currencies. Fed Governor Christopher Waller announced on Thursday that he would be on board with another rate reduction later this month. Citing weak labour market statistics, his colleague Stephen Miran called on a more aggressive path of rate cuts. Other base metals in the SHFE fell by 0.12%. Zinc dropped by 0.62%. Lead was down 0.23%. Tin rose 0.26%. Nickel was up 0.2%. Aluminium was down by 0.7% on the LME, zinc fell by 1.29%, Nickel dropped 0.83%, Tin declined 1.19% and Lead posted a 0.38% gain.
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The weekly iron ore loss is set to rise on the back of renewed US-China tensions and rising supply
Iron ore futures are headed for a loss of 1% per week, as concerns about the demand outlook are exacerbated by the U.S.-China tensions. This coincides with the prospect of a rising ore supply in the rest of the year. The contract for January iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange closed the daytime trading 0.19% lower, at 771 Yuan ($108.19), pushing the weekly decline to 3.1%. As of 0755 GMT, the benchmark November iron ore price on Singapore Exchange was $0.65% lower. So far, it has declined by 2%. The price of key steelmaking ingredients was supported by the strong demand from China, the top consumer. This helped to limit further declines on Friday. Mysteel data showed that the average daily hot metal production was 2.41 million tonnes in the week ending October 16. This level indicates a steady ore supply despite a small drop of 0.2% from week to week. Trade frictions between the United States, China and other countries have re-ignited concerns about China's ability to achieve its economic growth goal of 5%. U.S. president Donald Trump has threatened to end some trade relations with China and slap additional 100% tariffs upon imports after Beijing expanded export restrictions last week on rare earths, which are essential for electric vehicles and the defense sector. The expectation of increased supply in the fourth-quarter added pressure to ore prices. Rio Tinto, the world's biggest iron ore supplier, said Tuesday that it must finish strong in order to reach its target for iron ore shipments. Analysts said that other steelmaking ingredients such as coking coal, coke, and others gained 1,46 and 1,64 percent, respectively, due to supply restrictions caused by safety checks. The benchmarks for steel on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have been moving sideways. Rebar was little altered, while hot-rolled coils dropped 0.16%. Wire rod climbed 0.72%, and stainless steel rose 0.68%. $1 = 7.1262 Chinese Yuan (Reporting and editing by Harikrishnan Nair; Amy Lv, Colleen Howe)
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Gold gains above $4,300/oz for the best week since 17
Gold reached a new record high of $4,300 per ounce on Friday, and was set to have its best week since over 17 years. Investors were drawn to gold by signs of weakness among regional U.S. banks, global trade frictions and a firming bet for rate cuts. As of 0615 GMT spot gold was up 0.8% at $4,359.31 an ounce after reaching a record high earlier of $4,378.69. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery jumped 1.6% at $4,372.10. Bullion is on track to have its best week ever since September 2008. Each session has seen a record-high price. Silver spot rose by 0.1%, to $54.26 an ounce. This represents a weekly gain of 8%. Prices reached a new record high earlier in the session of $54.35 as they tracked the rally in spot gold and a squeeze on the short market. Tim Waterer, KCM Trade's Chief Market Analyst, said that the $4,500 target for gold could be reached sooner than expected. However, it will depend on how long the concerns over U.S. China trade and the shutdown of the federal government continue to linger. China has accused the U.S. again of creating panic with its controls on rare earths, but it rejects calls to reverse the export restrictions. Christopher Waller, the U.S. Federal Reserve governor, has also expressed support for a further rate cut in response to concerns about the labour market. Investors expect a reduction of 25 basis points at the Fed meeting on October 29-30 and another in December. Wall Street also closed lower Thursday. Signs of weakness among regional banks have frightened investors who were already jittery over the U.S.-China tensions. Waterer stated that "the resurgence of regional bank credit concerns in the United States has given traders another reason to purchase gold." The non-yielding gold, which does well in low-interest rate environments, has gained over 65% in the past year, thanks to geopolitical tensions and aggressive bets on rate cuts, central bank purchases, dedollarisation, and strong exchange-traded fund inflows. On Thursday, U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed to hold another summit about the war in Ukraine. The West continued to pressurize Russia on its oil sales. Britain even imposed sanctions against major Russian oil companies. Palladium dropped 0.2%, to $1,611.24. Platinum declined 0.7%, to $1699.45. Both metals are headed for weekly gains. (Reporting and editing by Rashmi Soreng, Subhranshu Saghu, and Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru)
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Sources say that Indian refiners rarely purchase Guyanese grades
Sources in the trade said that two Indian refiners bought 4,000,000 barrels of Guyanese oil from Exxon Mobil, a U.S.-based major, to be delivered by the end of 2025, or early 2026. This is a rare import from the South American producer. Indian Oil Corp., the largest refiner in the country by capacity, purchased 2 million barrels (or a grade of crude oil called Golden Arrowhead) for its first purchase. The shipment will arrive late December or early January. Sources said that Hindustan Petroleum Corp., another refiner, had purchased Liza and Unity Gold for the first time. 2 million barrels are due to be delivered during the same period. India diversifies its crude supply by experimenting with new grades of crude oil from South America, where production is increasing. Addition of crude sources will also assist refiners in replacing some Russian oil imports. The U.S. has urged New Delhi to stop purchasing Russian crude in order to end the conflict in Ukraine. Guyana has increased its exports after the fourth floating production facility of a consortium led Exxon reached 770,000 barrels per daily (bpd). Data from Kpler, an analytics firm, showed that the country's crude oil exports hit a record high of 938, 000 bpd last month, since July, when it began exporting GAH, its latest grade. Reporting by Nidhi in New Delhi, and Florence Tan in Singapore. Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Jamie Freed and Clarence Fernandez.
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Huayou will begin production of lithium sulphate in Zimbabwe by early 2026
The company announced on Thursday that Zhejiang Cobalt, a Chinese company, will begin producing lithium sulphate in the first quarter 2026 at its $400 million plant located in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is pushing for more local processing. A senior executive told a group of journalists that the newly-completed plant at Huayou’s Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe’s Arcadia Mine has a capacity of more than 50,000 metric tonnes of lithium sulphate per year. Lithium Sulphate is a product intermediate that can be refined to a battery grade material, such as lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate. Henry Zhu, general manager of Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, told reporters that the company would begin production at the start of next year. Zhu continued, "The amount of lithium sulphate will be greater than 60,000 tons. However, it depends on the configuration of this plant because it's brand-new." Zimbabwe, Africa's largest lithium producer, has encouraged miners to process this mineral in Zimbabwe to help boost its economy. Huayou acquired Arcadia Lithium Mine for $422 Million in 2022. In 2023, Huayou commissioned a 300 million dollar lithium concentrator. Sinomine, Chengxin Lithium Group and Yahua Group are among the Chinese companies that dominate Zimbabwe's mining of lithium. They produce concentrates, which they then ship back to China. Huayou export 400,000 tons lithium concentrate to Zimbabwe by 2024 In order to encourage more local processing, the country in southern Africa will ban exports of lithium concentrates by 2027. Sinomine announced plans to build an $500 million lithium-sulphate facility at its Bikita Mine in Zimbabwe. (Reporting and editing by Nelson Banya, Lincoln Feast, and Chris Takudzwa Muronzi.
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Gold rallies above $4,300/oz for the best week since 17
The price of gold reached a new record high on Friday, surpassing $4,300 per ounce. Investors were pushed to the metal as signs that regional U.S. banks are struggling, trade tensions around the world, and hopes for further rate cuts pushed them. As of 0439 GMT spot gold was up 0.9% at $4,362.39 an ounce after reaching a record high earlier of $4,378.69. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery jumped 1.7% at $4,375.50. Bullion is on track to have its best week ever since September 2008. Each session has seen a record-high price. Silver spot rose by 0.3%, to $54.41 an ounce. This represents an 8.2% increase in the weekly price. Prices reached a new record high earlier in the session of $54.35, following the rally in spot gold and a squeeze on the short market. Tim Waterer, KCM Trade's Chief Market Analyst, said that the $4,500 target for gold could be reached sooner than expected. However, it will depend on how long the concerns over U.S. China trade and the shutdown of the federal government continue to linger. China has accused the U.S. again of creating panic with its controls on rare earths, but it rejects calls to reverse the export restrictions. Christopher Waller, the U.S. Federal Reserve governor, has also expressed support for a further rate cut in response to concerns about the labour market. Investors expect a reduction of 25 basis points at the Fed meeting on October 29-30 and another in December. Wall Street also closed lower Thursday. Signs of weakness among regional banks have frightened investors who were already nervous about the U.S.-China tensions. Waterer stated that "the resurgence of regional bank credit concerns in the United States has given traders another reason to purchase gold." The non-yielding gold, which does well in low-interest rate environments, has gained over 66% in the past year, mainly due to geopolitical tensions and aggressive bets on rate cuts, central bank purchases, dedollarisation, and strong exchange-traded fund inflows. On Thursday, U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed to hold another summit about the war in Ukraine. The West continued to pressurize Russia on its oil sales. Britain even imposed sanctions against major Russian oil companies. Palladium increased 0.3%, to $1 618.95, while platinum fell by 0.4%, to $1 706.45. Both metals are headed for weekly gains. (Reporting and editing by Rashmia Aich, Subhranshu Saghu and Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru).
SIG, a British construction company, reports a slowdown in sales
SIG, a British building materials company, said on Friday that the demand for construction materials in Europe remained tepid in the third-quarter, and showed no signs of improvement.
As with Travis Perkins and Ibstock, the company has also been hampered by cautious customers who have backed off on projects because of rising costs.
SIG of Sheffield, which operates across six European key markets: UK, France Germany Ireland Poland and Benelux said that demand was below historical levels in all markets. European construction is stuck in a cycle and the recovery has taken longer than expected.
SIG reported that overall like-forlike sales, which is a measure of revenue from ongoing operations excluding acquisitions or closures, were 664 million pounds (893.81 million). The full-year profit forecast was also unchanged and remained at 31.6 million pounds.
SIG's UK revenue grew by 1% during the period due to a strong performance from its interiors division. Ireland and Germany saw the biggest declines, with 11% apiece.
(source: Reuters)