CHINESE LITHIUM GIANT BUYS RIGHTS TO ARGENTINE DEPOSIT Ganfeng Lithium, the Chinese company ranked as the world’s biggest lithium producer by market capitalization, has agreed to buy Argentine mining company Lithea for $962 million. The deal hands Ganfeng rights to two brine deposits capable of producing the lithium carbonate essential to the batteries that power...
Tag: july 19 2022
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA
INVESTORS CIRCLE BACK TO CHINA In June, investors put more than $6 billion into 20 international funds focused on Chinese stocks, more than in any month since early 2021, according to Morningstar. Investors are betting on signs that China’s crackdown on its tech sector may be easing and that the worst of the country’s property...
HEATHROW CAPS PASSENGER NUMBERS, ASKS AIRLINES TO STOP SELLING TICKETS
London’s Heathrow airport, one of the world’s busiest, has limited the number of departing passengers it will accommodate and has told airlines to stop selling tickets for the summer travel season. The injunctions will remain in place until 11 September. The mandates were imposed a day after the airport told carriers to cancel 61 flights...
EURO HITS DECEMBER 2002 LOW AGAINST THE DOLLAR
On 12 July, the euro fell to a value of $0.9998, its weakest value in 20 years, as the Eurozone’s economy was battered by record inflation, energy shortages, record-high fuel prices, and the threat of a global economic slowdown. The euro closed at $1.01 on 18 July. On the same day, the U.S. dollar booked...
EUROPE’S FACTORY PRODUCTION REMAINS WEAK
Bad economic times are getting worse. The Eurozone’s factory production rose 0.8 percent in May from April as the U.K.’s economy crept back after contracting in April. However, the greater factory output was largely due to a 13.9-percent burst in Irish output by U.S. companies operating there. The increase was attributed to the full restoration...
TOP TREND 2022, DRAGFLATION: EC ADJUSTS FORECASTS
Inflation across the Eurozone will reach 7.6 percent this year, the European Commission (EC) said, adjusting its forecast of 6.1 percent issued this spring. Prices will inflate by 4 percent in 2023, the EC predicted, twice the European Central Bank’s 2-percent target rate. The EC had forecast 2.7 percent in its spring outlook. In Estonia...
GASOLINE PRICE SPIKE RIPPLES THROUGH THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Demand for gasoline, as well as its price, have soared in recent months, spurring oil refiners to produce more of the engine fuel. To do so, refiners have claimed a larger share of other petroleum derivatives needed to make gasoline. As a result, the world is seeing a shortage of chemicals needed to make plastics,...
CENTRAL BANKS AROUND THE WORLD RAISED INTEREST RATES LAST WEEK
At least a half-dozen central banks raised their key interest rates last week as inflation continues to surge unchecked. The Bank of Canada (BoC) surprised observers by hiking its overnight rate from 1.5 percent to 2.5, the biggest single bump since 1998 during the Asian financial crisis. The rate is now at its highest since...
RUSSIA: MORE SANCTIONS, LESS GAS
Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled natural gas company, says it is unable to guarantee gas deliveries to Europe because of “extraordinary”’ circumstances, Reuters reported. Russia closed the pipeline earlier this month for 10 days of “routine maintenance.” Deliveries are scheduled to resume this week on Thursday. Now, in a 14 July letter to several European gas customers,...
TOP 2022 TREND, DRAGFLATION: IMF AGAIN CUTS GLOBAL GROWTH FORECAST
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is trimming its global growth projections for this year and next as inflation continues unchecked and the war in Ukraine shows no signs of ending, the Financial Times reported. “Recent indicators imply a weak second quarter and we will be projecting a further downgrade to global growth for 2022 and...