UAE jeweler Damas’ major shareholders eye share sale
Wednesday, 04 January 2012
The largest shareholders of Middle East jeweler Damas International have appointed a financial adviser ahead of a potential sale of some of their shares, the firm said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. The three Abdullah brothers - Tawfique Abdullah, Tawhid Abdullah and Tamjid Abdullah - are aiming to sell the shares ... Read More
South Korea’s SK Energy to buy more Iran oil in 2012
Wednesday, 04 January 2012
South Korea’s SK Energy will import 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil this year under a term contract with Iran, up 10,000 bpd from a year earlier, a government source said on Wednesday. South Korea is the world’s fifth-largest crude importer and buys around 10 percent of its oil from Iran. The small increase ... Read More
Egypt economic measures seen possible benchmarks: IMF
Wednesday, 04 January 2012
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday it was still discussing with Egyptian authorities the timing of the IMF mission’s visit, adding that economic measures the government had published in June represent possible benchmarks for funding. “We are still discussing with the authorities the exact timing of a ... Read More
BP sues Halliburton for $42 million over huge 2010 oil spill
Tuesday, 03 January 2012
BP has called on contractor Halliburton to pay all costs and expenses it incurred to clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which the oil giant previously put at around $42 billion. Halliburton cemented the failed well that caused the United State’s biggest offshore oil spill. In a U.S. court filing, BP said it was ... Read More
Turkish official inflation rises to 10.45 percent in December
Tuesday, 03 January 2012
Turkish consumer prices rose by 0.58 percent in December from the November level, increasing 12-month inflation to 10.45 percent, official data showed Tuesday. Factory gate prices rose by 1.0 percent in the month, marking a 12-month increase of 13.33 percent, the Turkish Statistics Institute said on its ... Read More
Gulf carriers say EU scheme may inflate fares: report
Tuesday, 03 January 2012
Fast-growing Gulf airlines Emirates and Etihad Airways warned of higher ticket prices on Tuesday as they look to pass on costs of a European Union carbon trading scheme to passengers. Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, Dubai’s flag carrier and the world's largest long-haul airline, told the Gulf News newspaper ... Read More
Banque Saudi Fransi proposes 25-percent capital increase
Tuesday, 03 January 2012
Banque Saudi Fransi, part-owned by France’s Credit Agricole, has proposed a capital increase through a bonus share issue to help fund the bank’s expansion, it said in a stock exchange announcement. The 25-percent increase will see the bank’s capital raised to 9.04 billion riyals ($2.41 billion) from 7.23 billion riyals ... Read More
Iran’s currency slumps 12 percent as sanctions bite
Monday, 02 January 2012
Iran’s currency, the rial, slumped 12 percent in street trading Monday, accelerating a slide triggered on the weekend when the United States activated new sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear drive. The rial was being exchanged for 17,800 to the dollar late Monday. Before U.S. President Barack ... Read More
Emirates Steel eyes more expansion to reach 6.5 million tons/year
Monday, 02 January 2012
Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Steel has completed the second phase of its expansion plan and intends to further boost production to around 6.5 million tons per year within the next four years, the company said in a statement on Monday. Emirates Steel, a subsidiary of government-owned Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation ... Read More
Workers at Tripoli’s decaying port go on strike
Monday, 02 January 2012
Port workers in Libya’s capital Tripoli went on strike on Sunday to demand better working conditions and government investment to fix major damage caused by war and decades of negligence. The port, Libya’s largest non-oil harbor, was damaged during the civil war that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s rule. In May, NATO sank eight ... Read More
Egypt to cut energy subsidies for heavy industry
Sunday, 01 January 2012
Egypt’s government will increase natural gas and electricity prices paid by heavy industries by 33 percent this month to narrow its growing budget deficit, al-Ahram newspaper reported on Sunday. The higher rates would be applied to steel, cement and ceramics industries and are part of a plan to shave 20 billion Egyptian ... Read More
U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil awarded $908 million in contract dispute with Venezuela
Sunday, 01 January 2012
U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil said on Sunday an arbitration panel awarded it $908 million over a contractual dispute with Venezuela, following the South American nation’s 2007 nationalization of its assets. Exxon Mobil had filed a claim in 2007 with a World Bank arbitration tribunal seeking at least $7 billion in compensation ... Read More
Policymaker says Euro could become the top currency
Sunday, 01 January 2012
The euro could become the world’s leading currency in the next decade if leaders of the single-currency bloc succeed in tightening fiscal integration, European Central Bank policymaker Christian Noyer said in an article to be published in the Journal du Dimanche. European leaders struck a historic deal at an emergency ... Read More
Turkey’s economy roaring but Euro crisis may end party
Sunday, 01 January 2012
With the economy growing at a record pace, Turkey’s leaders exude confidence it can dodge any eurozone crisis fallout, but analysts warn a slowdown in its top trading partner will hit in 2012. Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan asserted recently that Turkey has managed to avoid any impact from the ... Read More
Washington 1st U.S. state to top $9 hourly minimum wage
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Washington will become the first U.S. state to require a minimum wage of more than $9 an hour when it joins seven other states on Sunday in automatically adjusting salaries to keep up with inflation. More than a million low-wage U.S. workers will see their hourly pay go up after the adjustment but many will remain in the ... Read More
Oil could hit $200 a barrel under new sanctions: Iran
Saturday, 31 December 2011
World oil prices could soar to $200 per barrel if Iran’s petroleum sector is hit with new Western sanctions, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi told Saturday's edition of a news weekly, Aseman. “There is no doubt that the price of oil will increase drastically and the international markets will have to pay ... Read More
China says yuan will be more flexible: report
Saturday, 31 December 2011
China’s central bank governor hinted in comments published Saturday that authorities would loosen their grip on the Asian powerhouse’s tightly controlled currency by widening its trading band. Beijing’s trading partners have long criticized its yuan exchange rate, saying it is kept artificially low, fuelling a ... Read More
Lockheed wins contract for UAE anti-missile system
Saturday, 31 December 2011
The Pentagon awarded U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. with a $1.96 billion contract Friday to supply the United Arab Emirates with a missile defense system. Under the contract, Lockheed will deliver two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or Thaad systems that include radar, interceptors and launchers, ... Read More
Markets in Europe and Asia end 2011 down but U.S. up
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Stock markets around the world were seeing out 2011 fairly positively Friday, but most posted big declines for the year in the wake of Europe’s debt crisis, a faltering U.S. economy and signs that China’s economy is no longer sizzling. Markets have also been rocked by natural disasters, trading scandals, and ... Read More
Commodity markets end 2011 with a whimper
Friday, 30 December 2011
Global commodity prices mostly fell this year on worries that the ongoing eurozone debt crisis and a potential global economic slowdown would hammer demand for raw materials. “Commodity prices are ending 2011 with a whimper,” said Capital Economics analyst Julian Jessop, noting that crude oil and gold were the ... Read More