The slowdown in world trade has been much worse than previously reported, with global trade volumes plateauing over the past 18 months amid a rise in protectionism, according to a new report, the Financial Times reported. The analysis illustrates why business leaders such as GE’s Jeff Immelt are anxious about trade and the world economy as politicians such as US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump rail against “globalism” and promise to erect new barriers to commerce. Policymakers and economists have grown increasingly concerned about a slowdown in global trade growth.

Incensed Hamilton steelworkers are calling for a public inquiry into U.S. Steel Canada's bankruptcy protection process, CBC.ca reported. This is the latest move in a long fight the union has spearheaded while U.S. Steel Canada searches for a buyer. "Our retirees deserve to live in dignity and stop having to worry whether what they earned will be swindled from them," United Steelworkers 1005 president Gary Howe said in a statement.

Key stakeholders of Essar Steel Algoma Inc. are pursuing a multi-pronged effort to block the purchase of the steel maker by a New York-based private equity fund and a group of lenders, The Globe and Mail reported. Holders of Essar Algoma’s junior and senior notes, the United Steelworkers (USW) union and the port of Algoma are urging the Ontario Superior Court to halt a bid by KPS Capital Partners LP, which is seeking approval by the same court of a purchase agreement it has signed with the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.-based company.

The slumping oil market is taking a heavy toll on consumers in Canada, new federal statistics suggest, as personal insolvency filings spiked in energy-producing provinces over the past year, CBC.ca reported. Consumer insolvency filings were about five per cent higher in April 2016 than they were during the same month last year, according to a report recently released by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. The increase was led by huge spikes in Canada's major oil-producing provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Canada’s largest newspaper publisher is proposing a restructuring plan that would wipe out nearly half its debt and slash its annual interest payments, easing immediate financial pressure that threatened to turn the company insolvent, The Globe and Mail reported. Postmedia Network Canada Corp. outlined a planned recapitalization on Thursday that would eliminate more than $268-million (U.S.) in debt. In exchange, those creditors would receive 98 per cent of the company’s equity, all but eliminating the stake owned by existing shareholders.

Mexican homebuilder Urbi said on Monday it expects to generate income worth roughly 1.9 billion pesos ($103.08 million) in the 12 months following its latest cash injection, and 29 billion pesos ($1.57 billion) over the next five years, Reuters reported. In May, Urbi, which was forced to restructure its outsize debt load after sales of its cheap, single-unit homes slumped, said it got a capital injection of 886.8 million pesos that will allow it to resume operations.

The latest figures show that Alberta's insolvency rate has climbed dramatically since a year ago compared to the national rate, CBC News reported. The total number of insolvencies — bankruptcies and consumer proposals — filed by individuals increased 52.8 per cent from April 2015 to April 2016 in Alberta, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. Across the country, the number of insolvencies was up 4.9 per cent over the same period.

Struggling Mexican construction company Empresas ICA SAB said Friday it has secured a $215 million loan to fund current and future work as it outlined a plan to become a much leaner company, The Wall Street Journal reported. ICA, which has $1.35 billion in bonds, missed interest payments late last year and early this year and is in the process of debt restructuring. The company ran into financial difficulties the past two years as earnings fell at its construction division and the depreciation of the Mexican peso led to problems meeting its dollar-denominated debt obligations.

Struggling Mexican construction company Empresas ICA SAB said Friday it has secured a $215 million loan to fund current and future work as it outlined a plan to become a much leaner company, The Wall Street Journal reported. ICA, which has $1.35 billion in bonds, missed interest payments late last year and early this year and is in the process of debt restructuring. The company ran into financial difficulties the past two years as earnings fell at its construction division and the depreciation of the Mexican peso led to problems meeting its dollar-denominated debt obligations.

Buoyed by an improving steel market, Essar Steel Algoma is now hinting it may be healthy enough to emerge from insolvency protection without a new buyer or outside investment, SooToday.com reported. In addition to reviewing bids from prospective purchasers, company officials "have been evaluating other potential restructuring alternatives, including a potential replacement [debtor-in-possession financing] and a standalone restructuring plan," Rajat Marwah, Essar Algoma’s chief financial officer, said in a sworn affidavit.