Singapore

The Australian government announced on Tuesday that it would provide A$135 (US$87.4M) in financial assistance to two smelters in Australia's southern region owned by Nyrstar. Nyrstar is a subsidiary of commodity trader Trafigura. Trafigura placed its Port Pirie lead-smelting operations, in South Australia, and its zinc processing operation in Hobart in Tasmania under strategic review in early this year after high energy costs and lower processing fees rendered the businesses unprofitable. Nyrstar, as part of its review, assessed the potential of producing antimony, a critical mineral, at its Port Pirie facility, but it would require government assistance to do so....

Trafigura, a global commodity trader, said that its UK-based Greenergy biofuel producer will consult with employees about closing the biodiesel factory in Immingham. A spokesperson said that the consultation process will affect 60 jobs. This would be the latest blow to Britain's fuel sector, just a week after Lindsey's oil refinery owner Prax declared insolvency and put 420 jobs on the line. Greenergy closed down the plant at the end May and placed it in strategic review, citing the "unsupportive market conditions" despite having "implemented significant cost-reduction measures". The plant was negatively affected by the company Trafigura acquired last year....

According to BlackRock's Thursday investor day presentation, Temasek is part of a consortium backed Microsoft, BlackRock, and the tech investment company MGX, which aims to expand and invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Slides showed that the Singapore state investment firm has joined AI Infrastructure Partnership. This group also includes BlackRock Global Infrastructure Partners. AIP was formed in September, with the goal of investing more than $30 billion initially in AI-related project. It is one of world's biggest efforts to invest data centres and energy infrastructure needed to power AI apps such as ChatGPT. The aim is to mobilize up to...

Gas producers from western Indonesia signed a swap agreement with Singaporean buyers Sembcorp Gas and Gas Supply Pte and state-owned distributor Perusahaan Gas Negara to boost domestic gas supplies, according to PT Pertamina. Pertamina stated in a press release that the gas swap scheme is designed to meet demand for natural gas in Indonesia, especially in the power and industrial sectors. MedcoEnergi, an Indonesian gas producer whose units are part of the West Natuna Supply Group (WNSG) and Corridor Block (also parties to the agreement), will replace the flows from the Corridor Block to Singapore with those coming from WNSG....

It was announced on Monday that the Indonesian Attorney General's Office had contacted a number trading firms in Singapore about a corruption probe involving Pertamina. In the first half of this year, a number of Pertamina subsidiaries executives were arrested for alleged corruption in relation to oil imports from 2018 through 2023. This allegedly caused state losses of $12 billion. Pertamina apologized publicly and promised to improve the transparency after the arrests. Harli Siregar, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office said that investigators want to speak with some Singapore trading firms about the case. Siregar stated that earlier attempts...

The England & Wales Cricket Board has not selected Phil Salt for the upcoming home white-ball series against West Indies. Will Jacks, a batting all-rounder, has been recalled to the England squads that will face West Indies in three ODIs (over 20-overs) and three T20s between May 29 and July 10. Harry Brook, the white-ball captain, is leading both teams. Luke Wood and Tom Hartley have both returned to England's T20 and ODI teams, respectively, after not playing white-ball cricket since September 2023. Jacks was playing in the Indian Premier League along with Jos buttler, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton,...

Singapore's energy regulator announced on Wednesday that the country had established a wholly government-owned company called Singapore GasCo, to centralise gas procurement and supply to the power sector of the city-state. Energy Market Authority (EMA), in a press release, said that the entity would also benefit from economies of scale, negotiate better gas contracting terms and procure gas from different sources. It would sign contracts for longer periods to ensure a more stable gas supply and price. Alan Heng was also named as Singapore GasCo CEO by the EMA. He was previously the Group Chief Executive of Singaporean LNG company...

Puma Energy, a Trafigura-owned refinery products company, reported a 5% increase in net profit for 2024 in financial results published on Thursday. This is the third consecutive year that the business, which was once in a state of struggle has made a profit. Trafigura, a global commodity trading company, bought Sonangol’s stake in Puma Energy (then a loss-making company) in 2021. It took full control of the company and integrated it to its company as a way to increase its downstream market share. The company announced that its net profit was $39million. The company will not be paying a dividend....

Trafigura’s top executive for Mongolia has been suspended pending an investigation into a fraud scheme worth billions of dollars at the Swiss trading firm. The executive, however, lent more than $500 million from Trafigura to a company owned by his aunt. Lex Oil is Trafigura’s main counterparty in Mongolia. According to three sources and a document, it belonged to Erdenetuul who is the aunt of Trafigura’s suspended local boss Jononbayar Erdenesuren. Trafigura announced last October it had suffered a loss of $1.1 billion after an internal investigation found that employees within its Mongolian petroleum product supply business had engaged in...

The Singapore-based Jadestone Energy PLC, an oil and gas company that develops offshore gas fields, has submitted to the state-controlled PetroVietnam a plan for a joint development of two offshore gasfields in southwest Vietnam. Jadestone stated in a press release that the proposal included drilling two wells at the Nam Du and U Minh field to support a plateau production rate of 80 millions standard cubic feet per day. Jadestone, a separate company, said that the development of Nam Du and U Minh's gas fields will reduce Vietnam's future dependency on expensive liquefied gas imports. Gas will be transported to...

Mark Russell will replace Hadi Hallouche as the chief executive officer of Trafigura's downstream energy company Puma Energy. Trafigura, a Swiss company, said that Hallouche would work as co CEO with Russell until June's end. Hallouche, who is the CEO of Puma, has held this position since October 20, 2021. Prior to that, he was Trafigura’s Asia Head of Oil and Global Head of Liquefied Natural Gas. He was previously an LNG trader at Shell. Richard Holtum, who replaced Jeremy Weir in January as Trafigura's group CEO, is the latest Trafigura leader to leave. This was followed by a number...

Brava Energia, a Brazilian company, will add four wells to the Atlanta field by 2025. It will also begin shipping oil to Trafigura as part of a six-million barrel supply agreement. The head of Brava's offshore operations, Carlos Mastrangelo, told reporters during a Tuesday visit that the number of wells connected with the floating production storage unit and offloading (FPSO) will now be six. We currently have two wells. In a little more than a month we will be connecting two more, and by the end June, two more. Mastrangelo said that Atlanta produces about 26,000 barrels per day. Mastrangelo...

Exxaro Resources, a South African miner, is looking at increasing shareholder returns after it closes the deal it announced in May for manganese assets. It will not need a large cash buffer to finance acquisitions anymore, said its CEO on Thursday. The company's shares rose 9% following the announcement of a 13% rise in its half-year profits thanks to increased coal income. The company announced on May 13 that it had entered into an agreement with Ntsimbintle Holdings, and OM Holdings to purchase manganese mines in South Africa. This is part of the company's strategy to diversify its business away...

Three sources familiar with the matter claim that the sale of a majority stake in Bank Pan Indonesia, or Panin Bank, listed on Jakarta's stock exchange by ANZ Australia and Indonesia’s Gunawan Family has been stalled because of a mismatch of pricing. The combined stake is equivalent to approximately 86% of Panin Bank. This bank was valued at $1.45 billion on Friday, based on the 1,140 rupiah share price on the Jakarta Stock Exchange. According to LSEG, the Gunawan family holds 46.5% of the shares. It is willing to reduce its holdings. ANZ, an Australian bank, owns around 39.2%. CIMB...

VinFast, a Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer, reported a net loss for the sixth consecutive quarter on Monday as it continues to increase spending in order to boost sales. VinFast has reported a loss of $712.4 millions for the first three months. This is less than the $1.3billion loss from the previous quarter, but 15% higher than one year ago. According to LSEG, the average analyst forecast was a loss of $616.3 millions. The revenue jumped by 150%, to $656.50 million between January and March. This compares with the analysts' estimated average of $520.50 million. The quarter saw a nearly 300%...

The global markets rose on Monday, and the euro also rallied. This was after U.S. president Donald Trump pushed back his threat to impose 50% tariffs on European Union products until July. It is another temporary reprieve in trade policy. The broadest MSCI index of world stocks rose by 0.2%. The pan-European stock index, which last rose.9%, has recovered to its previous trading level before Trump unexpectedly announced on Friday that he would impose 50% tariffs on European products, claiming that negotiations with the region were too slow. Trump changed his mind on Sunday and pushed the deadline for tariffs...

The global markets rose on Monday, and the euro also rallied. This was after U.S. president Donald Trump pushed back his threat to impose 50% tariffs on European Union products until July. It is another temporary reprieve in trade policy. The broadest MSCI index of world stocks rose by 0.2%. The pan-European stock index, which was last up 1% on Friday, has recovered to its previous trading level before Trump unexpectedly demanded 50% tariffs on European products, saying that negotiations with the region were too slow. Trump changed his mind on Sunday and pushed the deadline for tariffs from June...

The top Democrat of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabriel to provide proof of her alleged political bias, which led to her ousting the heads of intelligence community's most analytical body. Gabbard removed the two after the National Intelligence Council issued an assessment that contradicted the legal argument used to deport members of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua by U.S. president Donald Trump. The Trump administration used the claim that Tren de Aragua coordinates its U.S. actions with the Venezuelan Government of President Nicolas Maduro in order to invoke the...

Exxaro Resources announced on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with South Africa to purchase manganese mines. The deal is worth 11,67 billion rands. In a press release, the South African coal mining company announced that it had entered into a binding contract to purchase shares and claims on manganese assets owned by Ntsimbintle Holdings or OM Holdings. The coal miner is diversifying into manganese, copper and other minerals to take advantage of the booming demand for these minerals that are vital to the global shift from fossil fuels, which pollute the environment, to cleaner energy sources. In a...

Chinese media, citing anonymous sources, reported that Ant Group, a subsidiary of China's ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, plans to list Ant International on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Caixin reported, citing sources close to the company that Ant was in communication with regulators regarding the possible listing. The report didn't specify whether discussions took place with regulators from China or other countries. Ant International is a Singapore-based company. Alibaba controls 33% of Ant, which was founded by Jack Ma. It runs China's ubiquitous Alipay mobile payment app. Chinese authorities pulled Ant's $37-billion IPO in Shanghai & Hong Kong in 2020....

S ingapore-headquartered real estate investment manager SC Capital Partners has emerged as a potential bidder for British data centre group Global Switch, two people familiar with the matter told . One of the sources said that the firm, which is backed by the global real estate manager CapitaLand Investment is working with advisors to purchase the London-based Jiangsu Shagang Group. The matter is a private one, so both sources requested anonymity. The people cautioned that the talks are still ongoing and will depend on market conditions. The first person who spoke said that the transaction could be valued between $4...

A court order shows that an Indian court denied requests by JSW Steel and Trafigura for certain shipments of steelmaking raw materials. This is the latest setback since New Delhi's new import policy rattled the industry. India has since January restricted imports of met coke (metalurgical coke with low ash), and set country-specific quotas for domestic suppliers. This move has upset steel giants like ArcelorMittal Nippon India who are worried about the quality and business impact of locally produced met-coke. JSW Steel challenged New Delhi’s decision to refuse imports worth $90 million, which were ordered before the restrictions in January...

Two people familiar with this matter say that Blackstone, a private equity firm, is considering a minor minority investment in TikTok’s U.S. operation. Blackstone has discussed joining the existing non-Chinese shareholders of ByteDance, including Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic and General Atlantic to contribute fresh capital in order to bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations. The group is the front-runner. The proposal involves spinning off TikTok’s U.S. operation into a separate company and reducing Chinese ownership to below the required 20% threshold by U.S. laws. TikTok General Atlantic and Blackstone have declined to comment. Susquehanna has not responded to a comment...

Jewellers in Asia and the Middle East struggle with displays that are losing their sparkle, as customers rush to cash-in their old jewellery and coin. Retailers and industry experts warned that if the rush to sell continues it could lead to lower imports in major markets, which would potentially dampen gold's rise. The spot gold price surpassed $3,000 per ounce on 14 March, and has continued to climb since then to reach a year-to date gain of more than 15%. This is due to a powerful combination between political and financial uncertainties. This stunning rise follows a nearly 30% increase...