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Romania’s political turmoil triggers investor alarm ahead of presidential runoff
Romania is facing growing alarm from the international business community as political instability and fiscal strain threaten to undermine the country’s economic credibility and investment climate. In a rare coordinated warning, eight major foreign investor associations and business chambers, including those representing U.S., British, and German interests, issued a joint statement on Wednesday describing a “rapid deterioration of the business environment” in central Europe’s second-largest economy.
The group expressed concern that Romania’s political and fiscal volatility could derail the country’s Euro-Atlantic alignment and undermine long-term investor confidence. At the center of the crisis is the surging candidacy of hard-right nationalist George Simion, who emerged as the frontrunner in Romania’s presidential election first round, leading to the collapse of the pro-Western governing coalition.
May 14, 2025 -
China deepens footprint in Ethiopia with $1.7 billion resource investments
Ethiopia has secured over $1.7 billion in new investment commitments for its minerals and energy sectors, with most of the capital coming from Chinese firms, according to a statement released by the country’s Finance Ministry. The deals were signed during a two-day investment conference held in Addis Ababa as the country seeks to accelerate its economic reform agenda and attract more foreign direct investment.
The agreements mark a significant step in Ethiopia’s effort to revitalize its resource sectors and ease pressure on its fragile economy. In July 2023, Ethiopia signed a $3.4 billion program with the International Monetary Fund aimed at stabilizing its macroeconomic environment.
May 14, 2025 -
UK rethinks defense industry amid Ukraine War and U.S. pressure on NATO
Britain’s new government has unveiled a sweeping plan to strengthen its defense industrial base by accelerating procurement processes and channeling more investment into small and medium-sized defense firms and emerging technologies. Defence Secretary John Healey on Tuesday announced that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would slash procurement timelines for key military hardware and upgrades, in a bid to make the UK’s defense sector more agile and innovation-friendly.
The reforms are also aimed at ensuring that Britain captures a greater share of the economic upside from rising defense spending — an increase driven in part by U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed pressure on European allies to shoulder more of the continent’s security burden.
May 14, 2025 -
U.S.-Saudi $142 billion arms deal deepens strategic ties
The United States has agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package valued at nearly $142 billion, a record-breaking deal hailed by the White House as the largest defense cooperation agreement in U.S. history. Announced during President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh, the deal spans over a dozen U.S. defense contractors and encompasses a wide range of military systems, including air and missile defense, maritime security, communications, and advanced air and space capabilities.
A White House fact sheet described the package as a clear sign of Washington’s commitment to deepening its strategic partnership with Riyadh. While the statement did not list specific weapons systems or contractors, the deal is expected to include C-130 transport aircraft, missiles, radars, and possibly other systems from major defense firms such as Lockheed Martin, RTX Corp, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman.
May 14, 2025 -
Copper leads gains as markets welcome 90-day pause in trade war
Industrial metals rose on Tuesday as markets balanced optimism from the temporary US-China tariff truce with lingering concerns about inflation and economic growth. Copper led gains, climbing 0.8% to close at $9,599.50 per ton on the London Metal Exchange.
Zinc rose 0.9%, while aluminum edged up 0.4%. The gains followed the announcement of a 90-day pause in tariff hikes between the world’s two largest economies, a move that eased pressure on global commodities after weeks of intense trade-related volatility.
May 14, 2025 -
EV boom to drive cobalt deficit despite current oversupply
The global cobalt market is on track to shift from surplus to deficit by the early 2030s. The transition is expected to be driven by accelerating demand from electric vehicles (EVs), even as supply growth remains more moderate and geographically shifting.
In 2024, the cobalt market is experiencing a significant oversupply, with a surplus of 36,000 metric tons—about 15% of total demand—up from 25,000 tons in 2023. This surplus has pressured prices in recent years, pushing them to a nine-year low earlier in 2024. In response, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which supplies more than three-quarters of global cobalt, imposed a four-month export ban in late February in an attempt to rebalance the market.
May 14, 2025 -
Trump’s push to speed drilling permits highlights fossil fuel priorities
The Trump administration’s move to cut the review time for potential oil and gas leasing on federal lands to six months is a significant policy shift aimed at accelerating fossil fuel development under the banner of “Energy Dominance.” The change, announced by the Interior Department, will halve the current timeline for assessing whether parcels of federal land are suitable for leasing, aligning the process with President Trump’s broader strategy to expand domestic energy production.
This streamlining effort reflects the administration’s belief that quicker access to federal lands can unlock new oil and gas reserves, enhance national energy security, create jobs, and lower fuel prices. The Interior Department clarified that under the new policy, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will simultaneously conduct parcel reviews and congressionally-mandated environmental assessments, instead of doing them sequentially—reducing bureaucratic delays.
May 14, 2025 -
China eases rare earth curbs with targeted export licenses
China’s issuance of export permits to at least four rare earth magnet producers marks a significant step in stabilizing the global supply of critical materials, particularly for Europe’s and Asia’s high-tech and clean energy industries. This move comes less than a month after Beijing imposed curbs on exports of several rare earth elements and their derivatives, which are essential in the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced electronics.
Among the firms granted export licenses are Baotou Tianhe Magnetics, which supplies Volkswagen, Zhongke Sanhuan, Baotou INST Magnetic, and Earth-Panda Advanced Magnetic Material. These companies are key players in the global rare earth magnet industry, particularly in the production of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets used in EV drivetrains, industrial motors, and renewable energy systems.
May 14, 2025
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