According to China's Ministry of Finance, tariffs on coal imports would be temporarily eliminated beginning May 1 in order to support the economy's development. "China's State Council Tariff Committee has agreed to introduce a zero tariff rate on coal imports from May 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, in order to safeguard energy supplies and boost qualitative growth," the ministry said in a statement...

The Bank of Japan has cut its prediction for fiscal year 2022 GDP growth to 2.9 percent from 3.8 percent. In a statement, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) lowered its GDP growth prediction for fiscal year 2022 (1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023) to 2.9 percent. In January, a growth rate of 3.8 percent was expected. The Bank of Japan forecasts 1.9 percent growth in the coming fiscal year, up from 1.1 percent...

The world's reliance on coal is growing as a result of the Ukraine situation. Coal-fired power facilities that were previously dismantled in Germany and Italy will now be relaunched, reports Bloomberg. Increasingly more coal-laden ships are leaving South Africa for Europe. As the agency points out, coal is seeing its strongest recovery in a decade in the United States, while China is reviving old...

Bloomberg has discovered that the EU intends to resume trade discussions with India in order to reduce the country's reliance on Russia. The European Union is to relaunch free trade talks with India in order to provide the country with a "genuine alternative" to its trading connections with Russia, says Bloomberg citing a senior EU official familiar with the plans. In addition, the EU intends...

According to a report published in the scholarly journal Joule, China is creating internal transportation infrastructure to distribute local coal and minimize reliance on energy imports. China's coal consumption will increase by 2.2 percent to 4.37 billion tonnes in 2022, according to China Energy Investment Corporation. In the meantime, coal imports plummeted by 24.2 percent in January-March, to...

Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the world community needs to act quickly to avoid a food crisis in the poorest countries. "High and growing food prices are a major source of concern, particularly in developing nations where the risk of a food crisis is increasing. We require immediate international action," Georgieva stated during a press...

Several EU countries have proposed freezing Russian nuclear fuel imports, banning Russian TV news channels, suspending Russian visas, and applying fresh penalties against allegedly "Kremlin-connected" individuals and enterprises, reports Reuters. According to the newspaper, the European Commission is currently working to improve availability of alternative energy sources in order to "lower the...

The plenum of Mexico's upper house of congress has generally approved a reform of the mining law, establishing lithium as a national treasure and giving the state exclusive rights to its exploration, development and industrial use. "By 87 votes in favour, with 20 against and 16 abstentions, the draft reform of the Mining Act on the exploration and exploitation of lithium was passed as a whole,...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not forecast a recession in the US economy. This was reported by the director of the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department Tobias Adrian. Adrian noted that so far the fund does not expect recession, but there are still risks of unfavourable developments in the American economy. "If further negative supply shocks or real activity follows, we could...