Western Europe

Gunvor, a Swiss commodity trader, announced on Thursday that it had withdrawn its proposal to purchase foreign assets from Russian energy company Lukoil. The U.S. Treasury indicated it was against the deal so long as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues. In a recent post, the U.S. Treasury stated that Donald Trump has "made it clear that this war must be ended immediately" and that as long as Vladimir Putin (Russian president) continues to kill people in a senseless manner, Gunvor (the Kremlin puppet), will not get a license for operation and profit. Gunvor's corporate director Seth Pietras said that Treasury's...

The oil prices were mostly flat on Thursday morning, after having settled at two-week lows the previous session. This was due to the pressure of a weaker global demand and an oversupply of crude oil. Brent crude futures rose 2 cents or 0.03% to $63.54 a bar at 0127 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate futures were unchanged at $59.60. J.P. Morgan said that the global oil demand had increased by 850,000 barrels a day through November 4. This is below the 900,000 barrels a day growth projected earlier. The note stated that "high-frequency indicators indicate that U.S. petroleum consumption remains...

Orsted, the Danish offshore wind company, said that it has no plans to acquire the renewables division of Equinor. Equinor is its second largest shareholder and had proposed closer ties with Orsted. Equinor is a Norwegian oil and gas group that also produces renewable energy. It took a 10% share in Orsted in October last year, and invested close to $1 billion into the company. Last week, it said that offshore wind needed consolidation. Orsted shares are down 85% since their peak in 2021, due to rising costs, disruptions of the supply chain, and challenges in the United States, where...

People with direct knowledge of this matter expect that the EU will approve the ADNOC bid of 14.7 billion euros ($17 billion) for the German chemicals firm Covestro within the next few weeks. According to a Wednesday update, the European Commission, EU's competition enforcer reopened its investigation on the deal on 24 October after stopping it on 3 September while awaiting requested information. The new deadline is March 2. ADNOC offered last month to amend its articles of Association to address EU concerns about its unlimited state guarantees, and pledged to maintain Covestro’s intellectual property in Europe. The company then...

Spain continues to be the fastest-growing economy in the Eurozone, and has outperformed its peers again in the third quarterly. The Iberian nation's successful mix of policies offers lessons that are at odds with global political trends. Spain's economy has grown by 0.6% in the last three months, a rate slightly lower than the previous quarter but still well above the 0.2% for the Eurozone as a group. This continues a trend of positive growth over the past few years. The International Monetary Fund has recently ranked Spain the fastest-growing advanced country, increasing its growth forecast for 2025 to 2.9%...

People familiar with the plant's operations said that Motiva Enterprises’ 640,500 barrels per day (bpd), Port Arthur, Texas refinery, along with two other refineries in the east Texas Gulf Coast, were now operating normally following repairs. Sources at both plants say that the Motiva refinery in Louisiana and Valero Energy’s Port Arthur refinery with a capacity of 380,000 bpd suffered multiple malfunctions due to a loss of nitrogen gas. Sources familiar with the operations of the plant said that the TotalEnergies Port Arthur refinery, which produces 238,000 bpd, suffered a boiler failure on October 26. This caused the refinery's steam...

Angola’s rough diamond production in the nine-month period ending September reached 10,7 million carats, said a government official on Friday. The country is aiming to achieve another record haul of rough diamonds this year. In 2024, the southwest African nation produced a record of 14 million carats rough diamonds, ranking it third in terms of production behind Botswana and Russia. It aims to produce 14.8 million carats in 2018. Janio Correa Victor, the secretary of state for minerals resources, said that output was 23,2% higher at half-year but did not give comparative figures for 2024's first nine months. Victor said...

Yoshimichi M. Maruyama, chief financial officer of Japan's Seven & i, said that the company is working on a number of initiatives including potential M&A and partnership deals aimed at achieving substantial growth. 7-Eleven, the Japanese retailer that owns convenience stores in Japan, wants to show investors how it can grow after Canada's Couche-Tard pulled out of a $46 billion bid offer last July. Seven & i said that it would pursue a listing for its North American convenience-store subsidiary in the second half 2026 and buy back shares worth about 2 trillion yen (13 billion dollars) through fiscal year...

Covestro, a German chemicals company, lowered its core profit forecast for the full year on Thursday because of soft demand. However, it said that its financial stability will be assured as ADNOC's $17 billion acquisition by Abu Dhabi is expected to close during the fourth quarter. Covestro's earnings before interest taxes, depreciation, and amortization are now expected to range between 800 and 700 million euros. This is a drop from the two previous cuts it made this year. The previous estimate was that the EBITDA would range between 700 million and 1.1 billion euro. The company's products, including foam chemicals...

The Financial Times reported that the Indian refiner HPCL Mittal Energy stopped buying Russian oil on Wednesday, just a few days after it was revealed by the Financial Times that the company had purchased Russian oil transported aboard blacklisted vessels. The U.S., Europe, and other countries imposed new sanctions last week on Russian oil. Washington targeted the country's two largest oil producers, Lukoil, and Rosneft. Indian refiners have halted their purchases of Russian oil while they wait for clarity. In a statement, the company stated that "HMEL has already decided to suspend any further purchases of Russian crude following recent...

On Wednesday, a U.S. court of appeals will decide whether Argentina has to pay $16.1 billion in compensation to investors who took control of the state-owned oil firm YPF over ten years ago. The 2nd U.S. The 2nd U.S. Burford Capital funded much of this litigation, and the investors could be rewarded with billions of dollars in the event that they prevail. Argentina would appeal a defeat to the U.S. Supreme Court. The midterm elections were a crucial event for Argentina and President Javier Milei. His party was able to win a decisive victory. Argentina warned that a large judgment...

OMV, Austria's oil, gas, and chemicals group, beat expectations for the third quarter profit on Wednesday. It benefited from higher contributions by its fuels, chemicals, and segment. According to the company, analysts had expected 1,17 billion euros. Clean operating results are based on current costs of supply and exclude one-off items, short-term gains or losses and energy inventory holdings. OMV's chemical division is considered its growth engine, as it transitions from polluting fuels to cleaner alternatives. It produces chemicals that are used in car parts, gas and water pipes and medical syringes. The division achieved a third-quarter operating profit of...

ArcelorMittal can capture a part of the market void caused by lower imports, once the EU steel quotas are implemented. This was the Chief Financial Officer GenuinoChristino's statement on Thursday. Christino told analysts that he did not see any problem in capturing that portion of the market. In October, the European Commission proposed a reduction of almost half in tariff-free import quotas for steel and a 50% tax on excess shipments. This was done to maintain viable steelmaking within the European Union. However, it is not yet clear when these new measures will be implemented. Christino stated that the current...

ICL Group, a fertiliser manufacturer, has waived its right of first refusal in order to bid for the concession it holds at the Dead Sea. The Israeli government announced the plan on Thursday. However, if the permit expires and it is not renewed by ICL Group it will still receive $3 billion. ICL has had exclusive rights for minerals at the Dead Sea site since 1950. The permit expires in 2030. Finance Ministry, however, stated that it was preparing a "competitive international and fair tender" to ensure that the public and state receive their rightful share of this unique natural...

The CEO of Solvay, a chemical group, said that the company would be interested to build a processing plant for rare earths in the United States where there is more financial support than in Europe. Solvay is one of only a handful of companies outside China that can perform the difficult rare earths separation. In April, it began processing minerals for permanent magnets in its French facility. However, commercial production will depend on government and customer support. In order to reduce dependence on China, the United States, Europe, and their allies are racing to develop domestic industries that can produce...

ArcelorMittal reported its third quarter core profit on Thursday, in line with the market's expectations. It also gave a positive outlook to 2026. According to LSEG, the Luxembourg-based company reported earnings before interest taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), of $1.51billion in the third quarter. This is in line with analyst estimates of $1.50billion. Aditya Mittal, chief executive of the company, said that "we are seeing signs stabilization" and were optimistic about our business outlook in 2026 when we would benefit from more supportive policies for industry in key markets. The company stated that the overall demand was still weak and...

Here are some company news and stories that could impact the markets in France and Benelux or even individual stocks. WORLDLINE: Worldline said it plans to raise 500 millions euros ($583million) as part a capital infusion, which will be used to help the French payments company recover from years' worth of setbacks, and restore investor trust. ELIS SA: A global leader in circular services in action Elis acquired 100% ownership of Lavanderia Hospitalar Acqua Flash Ltda (Acquaflash) in Brazil. The company is based in Brasilia and generated revenues of approximately 6 million euro in 2024. Integration into the Group's accounts...

African Rainbow Minerals, a South African company, announced on Wednesday that the mine, which is jointly owned by ARM and ArcelorMittal South Africa (the ailing steelmaker), will be put on "care-and-maintenance" following the cessation of purchases from its only customer. Beeshoek Mine is temporarily closed for maintenance and care as owners assess other options in case the market conditions change. The mine's mining operations ceased at the beginning of October. About 622 permanent employees will be laid off on November 30. Beeshoek - operated by Assmang – a joint venture of ARM and the international miner Assore – stopped deliveries...

The UK's FTSE 100 remained flat on Wednesday, as the losses of heavyweight banks were countered by gains in energy shares. Investors are now focusing on a Bank of England rate decision this week and on more corporate earnings. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index remained flat at 9712.2 by 1126 GMT. The rise in crude oil prices led to a 0.3% increase for heavyweight oil and gas companies. Standard Chartered, Barclays and other banks trimmed gains in the broader index. Personal goods were the leading gainers with a 1.6% increase. Precious metal miner's fell 2%. The Bank of England will...

Torbjorn Tornqvist, CEO of Gunvor Group, said on Wednesday that any potential deal for the purchase of foreign assets from Russia's second largest oil company Lukoil would not include a buyback provision. Lukoil has accepted Gunvor's offer to purchase its foreign assets, after Washington imposed sanctions against it last month. Tornqvist, speaking on the sidelines the ADIPEC Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi Tornqvist has ruled out any possibility of a Buyback Clause that would allow Gunvor the ability to sell back the assets to the Russian Oil Major if sanctions were lifted. When asked by whether such a provision could...

Nippon Steel is Japan's largest steelmaker. It expects to report an annual profit drop of 14% before one-offs in the current fiscal year. However, it did not include its outlook for U.S. Steel due to the significant challenges on the U.S. Market. The Japanese steelmaker is expecting a underlying business gain, or profit adjusted to remove one-offs of 680 billion dollars for the fiscal year ending March. This is down from last year's 793.7 billion dollars. Nippon Steel acquired U.S. Steel for $15 billion in June. The company said that it had excluded the U.S. Steel business from its fiscal...

BMW, the German automaker, increased its core profit margin for the third quarter following further reductions in research and development expenditure on electric vehicles. It is banking on its all-electric series as a growth booster amid fierce competition in China. BMW reported on Wednesday that its automotive division had an operating margin in the period of July to September of 5.2%, compared with 2.3% one year ago. This is higher than the forecast of 4.9% in a poll conducted by the company. Oliver Zipse, BMW CEO, said: "In the third-quarter we have once again proven that our business model has...

EU antitrust regulators warned on Tuesday that the plan of Hong Kong-listed MMG to purchase Anglo American's Brazilian Nickel business could allow MMG to divert Ferronickel away from Europe, and harm European stainless steel production. The European Commission, the EU's competition enforcer opened a detailed investigation into the deal amid global concerns over the supply of key mineral and China’s dominance. Anglo American announced The sale In February, two ferronickel projects and two greenfields in Brazil were completed. In a recent statement, EU Antitrust Chief Teresa Ribera stated that ferronickel is an important input for European producers in order to...

A letter seen by the Board shows that the activist fund Palliser capital has increased pressure on Rio Tinto, asking it to launch a "now-or-never" counterbid to acquire Teck Resources. The letter urges Rio Tinto's dual listed structure to be unified and to spin off the base metals division to create a powerhouse in copper. In a letter dated October 17, Rio shareholders Palliser and Palliser encouraged the company to contest Teck's merger agreement with Anglo American in order to gain control over a copper portfolio of tier one that could produce combined 1.3 million tons of copper a year....