The European steel industry will ask competition authorities in Brussels as soon as this week to investigate the iron ore market, escalating a price fight with miners Vale of Brazil, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.The move by Eurofer, the industry body, comes after the miners told European steelmakers that iron ore prices would rise by 80-100 per cent in the year starting April 1, and pushed for quar
Losses at Wolseley narrowed in the first half of the year but sales continued to fall, as the building supplies group raised the prospect of further disposals of underperforming businesses – such as Brossette in France and Build Center in the UK – following the results of its strategic review.
Icap, the world’s largest interdealer broker, is to close the broking arm of its cash equities business, with the loss of up to 114 jobs, as it admitted to a rare misjudgement of the potential of one of the key areas of financial markets.The move will see the broker cut nearly half of the staff it hired in an aggressive hiring spree 18 months ago, aimed at bolstering its cash equities business by
Government moves to exclude foreign businesses from parts of China’s booming market have led to a jump in dissatisfaction among multinational companies and growing complaints of protectionism, according to a survey released on Monday.The proportion of US businesses that feels foreign companies are increasingly unwelcome to participate and compete in the Chinese market rose to 38 per cent in Febru
Stern Hu, Rio Tinto’s executive iron ore salesman in China, on Monday admitted to taking bribes as his closely watched trial began in the Shanghai People’s Court nine months after he and three associates were put in detention.Mr Hu and Chinese citizens Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong were charged with taking bribes and stealing commercial secrets, offences that could carry a maximum jail se
09:45 GMT: Nagging worries over the Greek debt crisis and the fallout from India’s surprise rate rise on Friday continued to rumble through markets on Monday.The FTSE All-World index fell 0.4 per cent, the euro remained weak and commodities saw selling as investors worried that tighter monetary policy could damage the global economic recovery.
London’s equity market turned lower in early trade on Monday, tracking Friday’s losses on Wall Street, where US stocks snapped an eight-day winning streak, and weakness also in Asia.Concerns over sovereign debt repayments in Greece resurfaced, adding another layer of fragility in global equity markets.European leaders appeared to remain at odds over how to address the Greek funding problem, leavi
Air China, the country’s dominant international carrier, has agreed to buy control of smaller rival Shenzhen Airlines for Rmb682m (US$99.9m), giving it a strong foothold in southern China.Following the capital injection, China’s flagship carrier will control a 51 per cent stake in Shenzhen Airlines, up from 25 per cent.Li Zeyuan, current controlling shareholder of the regional airline, will see h
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