Markets & Industries
China to allow foreign banks to offer new types of financial services in special zones - 01/23/2025
Beijing will extend equal treatment to foreign financial institutions as it does to domestic ones when introducing new categories of financial services not currently accessible in the country, as reported by Reuters referencing the People's Bank of China. International banks will have the opportunity to provide new varieties of financial services in certain free trade zones. China has also...
Fitch predicts a shortage on the European gas market - 01/21/2025
Fitch, the international rating agency, forecasts that the European gas market will face a supply shortfall this year, resulting in elevated prices. “We anticipate that the European market will face a supply deficit in 2025, resulting in elevated and extremely fluctuating gas prices.” According to our EMEA Utilities Outlook 2025, "we anticipate the average TTF index gas price to reach $11 per...
US becomes Germany's largest trading partner for the first time since 2016 - 01/21/2025
In 2024, the United States became Germany's largest trading partner for the first time since 2016, thus relegating China, which has held the position for the last eight years, to second place. This information was provided by the German government agency, Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI) on January 20. As per its computations, the trade volume between Germany and the United States rose by 0.8%...
WEF analysts: Global trade growth will continue in 2025, but at a higher cost - 01/20/2025
The fragmentation of the global economy is expected to persist over the coming three years, predicts the Chief Economists Outlook survey conducted for the World Economic Forum (WEF, scheduled for Davos, Switzerland, January 20-24). During the survey preparation, interviews were conducted with representatives from international organizations (such as the World Bank, World Trade Organization, and...
World Bank maintains forecast for global GDP growth in 2025 - 01/17/2025
The World Bank (WB) has upheld its projection for global economic growth next year at 2.7%, according to the report from the organization. The WB also projects global GDP growth for 2024 at 2.7%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from its forecast in June. In 2026, the rate is projected to be 2.7%. "Global growth is projected to have steadied at 2.7% last year and is expected to stay at that...
Brazil ships record volume of coffee to overseas markets - 01/17/2025
Brazil exported a historic amount of coffee to international markets at the end of last year, with the volume rising by 28.5% from 2023 and by 12.8% from its peak in 2020, according to the Brazilian Coffee Association. The association stated that “considering the numbers from December, Brazil set a new annual export record in 2024, delivering 50.443 million bags of coffee to 116 nations, showing...
AccuWeather estimates damage from California wildfires at $275B - 01/15/2025
The weather forecaster AccuWeather has estimated that the destruction from California's wildfires could reach between $250 and $275 billion. Recent reports indicate that the fire has expanded across 160 square kilometers. “This is already among the most devastating wildfires in California’s history. If additional structures are consumed by flames in the following days, the wildfires may turn into...
US wants to set a critical minerals market with the EU - 01/14/2025
Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, stated that the U.S. focuses on establishing a joint market for vital minerals with the European Union to prevent China's dominance over the supply of these strategically valuable resources. “The key task for the United States and Europe in the coming four years is to establish a market for essential minerals that...
China cuts civilian drone exports to the U.S. eightfold - 01/14/2025
According to U.S. Customs data, China's civilian drone exports to the United States decreased by eight times last November compared to the same month previous year. The exports of drones from the Asian country to the States plummeted eightfold in November last year compared to November 2023 and decreased by half compared to October 2024, amounting to $2.9 million. That represented the smallest...
World Bank expects commodity prices to hit 5-year low in 2025 - 10/30/2024
The World Bank's Commodity Markets Outlook predicts that global commodity prices may drop to a five-year low by 2025 due to an excess of oil supply. WB analysts wrote that the surplus is so significant that it will probably restrict the price influence of a broader conflict in the Middle East. However, in general, commodity prices will stay 30 per cent above their levels in the five years prior...