An affiliate of Elliott Investment Management wants to cut costs at Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum while a unit of Gold Reserve would largely focus on maintaining the status quo, five sources told Reuters, as a lengthy auction that will determine the refiner's future nears an end. Details of the two competing visions for Citgo emerged ahead of a U.S. court selecting the winner for an auction of shares in Citgo's parent company, PDV Holding.
Read more
The government of Canada is threatening to sue automaker Stellantis NV over its move to shift production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois from Brampton, Ont., The Globe and Mail reported. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly issued the warning in a letter to Antonio Filosa, chief executive officer of Stellantis, which on Tuesday unveiled a US$13-billion plan to boost auto production in the United States by 50 per cent over four years. Industry watchers say Stellantis is trying to avoid U.S.
Read more
Archer Aviation has emerged as the winning bidder for Lilium’s extensive portfolio of advanced air mobility patents, ZagDaily.com reported. The California-based company has secured around 300 intellectual property assets for €18 million following a competitive process that also involved Joby Aviation and the Ambitious Air Mobility Group (AAMG). Announced at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention in Las Vegas, the deal marks the latest chapter in Lilium’s drawn-out insolvency proceedings and underscores the growing consolidation in the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector.
Read more
Supertanker freight rates surged this week and are set to stay elevated on U.S.-China tit-for-tat hikes in port fees and concerns about the fallout from U.S. sanctions on a major Chinese crude oil terminal, Reuters reported. Chinese retaliatory port fees announced on Friday would add more than $7 a barrel in shipping costs for a Very Large Crude Carrier linked to the U.S., traders estimated. That would be equivalent to a charge of around $15 million - a sum that would put anybody off chartering ships related to the United States.
Read more
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday that Brazil and the U.S. will hold negotiation talks on tariffs on Thursday, Reuters reported. Lula's remarks at an event in Rio de Janeiro followed a call between him and U.S. President Donald Trump last week in which Trump designated Secretary of State Marco Rubio to continue tariff negotiations with Brazilian officials. Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and Rubio agreed on a meeting last week.
Read more
Mexican lawmakers will pause until late November the discussion of a government proposal to impose tariffs of as much as 50% on cars, steel and other products imported from China and several Asian nations that don’t have a trade deal with the country, according to a top congressman, Bloomberg News reported. Ricardo Monreal, leader of the ruling Morena party in the lower house of Congress, said that lawmakers must be careful with the proposal and review it “very seriously.” “We’re going to put it on hold,” Monreal told journalists.
Read more
Mexico's annual inflation rate quickened in September at a pace slightly below expectations, official data showed on Thursday, but remained within the central bank's target range of 3% plus or minus a percentage point, Reuters reported. Consumer prices in Latin America's second-largest economy rose 3.76% in the year through September, according to national statistics agency INEGI. Consumer prices rose 3.57% in the previous month.
Read more
The Bank of Canada’s No. 2 official endorsed a competition shakeup in the highly concentrated financial-services industry, saying the country’s banking sector is an oligopoly and changes could help lift Canada’s prolonged productivity slump, the Wall Street Journal reported. Carolyn Rogers, the central bank’s senior deputy governor, on Thursday said Canadian authorities have done a stellar job in regulating banks by ensuring they have enough capital to survive shocks such as the 2008-09 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read more
The U.S. is one week away from imposing port fees on certain vessels with links to China, a move expected to cost the top 10 carriers $3.2 billion next year as President Donald Trump seeks to address China's growing dominance on the high seas, Reuters reported. "While some observers believe the October 14 deadline may be extended — or even scrapped — as part of broader negotiations, the uncertainty has already unsettled carriers, adding another layer of geopolitical risk to fleet deployment strategies," S&P said in a report this week.
Read more