In a referendum in 1992, the citizens of Switzerland rejected joining the European Union. However, it has negotiated 120 separate treaties with the EU that give Switzerland almost unfettered access to the EU’s markets. Because the country lacks both membership and a “framework agreement” with the union, every time the EU changes its regulations, any...
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT
Post
THE NEXT COMMODITIES CRUNCH: MILK
Milk prices could climb to record levels over the next 12 months as China’s demand for dairy surges, New Zealand-based Fonterra, one of the world’s largest milk exporting companies, predicted on 25 May. A kilogram of milk solids – about 2.2 pounds – will leave dairy farms priced at about US$5.79 to US$6.34 over the...
Post
FORD RAISES SPENDING, SALES FORECAST FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Ford Motor Co. will increase its investment in electric vehicle (EV) development from $29 billion by 2025 to $30 billion and expects 40 percent of its total sales to come from EVs by 2030, the company announced on 26 May. Ford will reach that 2030 target through sales of its commercial E-Transit vans, the Mustang...
Post
SOARING IRON ORE DEMAND DRAWS WAVE OF NEW INVESTMENT
Spot prices for iron ore, steel’s main ingredient, have zoomed from around $70 a metric ton a year ago to a record $233.10 in late May under rising demand from China, luring investors to back an array of new mining ventures. Chinese companies are planning one of the world’s biggest iron ore pits, this one...
Post
RENMINBI HITS THREE-YEAR HIGH AGAINST DOLLAR
China’s renminbi currency traded domestically at 6.4052 to the dollar on 25 May, its strongest performance since June 2018. The high mark came on the same day that China’s CSI stock index rose 3.2 percent to reach its highest value since last July. The renminbi has gained more than 10 percent against the greenback over...
Post
DOLLAR UNDER ASSAULT AS WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY
The proportion of dollars making up nations’ foreign currency reserves fell to 59 percent in 2020’s fourth quarter, according to the International Monetary Fund’s May report on its most recent Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves survey. The dollar’s share is the lowest in 25 years and compares to 71 percent in1999 when the...
Post
SHAREHOLDERS, COURT DARKEN OIL INDUSTRY’S FUTURE
Oil prices edged higher late last week as the world’s economy continued its bumpy recovery, even as shareholders and a Dutch court clouded Big Oil’s already uncertain future. On Wednesday, a court in the Netherlands ruled that Royal Dutch Shell must slash its greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent by 2030, compared to the company’s 2019...
Post
METAL PRICES FALL AFTER CHINA WARNS SELLERS
Global prices of industrial metals fell 24 May after China warned commodities producers and brokers to “maintain market orders” and not drive prices higher. The world’s economic recovery now underway has pushed prices for lumber, copper, cobalt, and other key metals to record levels. In April, Chinese imports grew 43 percent compared to a year...
Post
CHINA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY SLOWS
China’s economic growth slowed in April because consumer spending remained weak. Industrial output rose 9.8 percent year on year, decelerating from March’s 14.8 percent; investment in fixed assets grew at 19.9 percent in January through April, compared to a year earlier, but slower than the 25.6 percent notched from January through March, the National Bureau...
Post
MAJOR BANKS FINED FOR COLLUSION
UBS Group, Nomura Holdings, and UniCredit SpA will collectively pay $450 million worth of fines for illegally colluding in trades involving European government bonds, under a ruling by the European Union. Seven banks traded information about customer prices and other sale-related details in advance of bond auctions, the European Commission found. The collusion took place...