UK windfall tax on oil and gas firms extended

The windfall tax on oil and gas firms has been extended by 12 months in UK Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt’s Budget despite opposition from the Scottish Conservatives.   The 35% surcharge on profits due to high energy prices had been scheduled to end in March 2028.   Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said he would not […]

Read More

China sets high economic growth target

China has set an ambitious growth target of around 5% for this year, as it outlined a series of measures aimed at boosting its flagging economy.   Premier Li Qiang made the announcement at the opening of the annual National People’s Congress (NPC) on Tuesday.   Mr Li acknowledged that China’s economic performance had faced […]

Read More

Major Chinese property developer facing winding-up petition

China’s largest private property developer Country Garden is facing a winding-up petition, which has been filed in Hong Kong by a creditor.   A firm called Ever Credit Ltd filed the case for non-payment of a loan worth HK$1.6bn ($204.5m).   Country Garden, which defaulted on its overseas debt in October, says it will “resolutely […]

Read More

India remains the world’s fastest growing major economy

India has retained its title of the world’s fastest growing major economy as it expanded 8.4% in the last three months of 2023, from a year earlier.   The data comes as the country is set to hold a general election this year.   Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on the social media platform X, […]

Read More

US says falling trade with China could be positive

The steep drop in trade with China could be a positive development, the United States’ top trade official has stated.   Ambassador, Katherine Tai said it “isn’t necessarily negative. It could be a positive indication of diversification on both sides.”   The amount of goods the world’s two biggest economies sold to each other fell […]

Read More

European polymers rise, Asian and US mixed. WTI and Brent Crude fall

European polymer prices rose over the week to 23rd February. There were increases of between 30 and 65 EUR per tonne reported in the prices of HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, Polypropylene and ABS. In the UK, prices rose against most grades as the Pound lost value against the Euro.   Asian polymers were mixed with increases […]

Read More

Bank of England boss says UK recession may be at an end

The UK recession may already be over and there are now “distinct signs of an upturn”, the Bank of England’s governor has said.   The UK economy entered a downturn at the end of 2023, official figures showed last week.   Nevertheless, the Bank signalled on Tuesday that there was unlikely to be an imminent […]

Read More

Ineos solar farm to be in operation by July

Ineos Inovyn has confirmed that its 60MW solar farm in Belgium will come online in July 2024.   The project is being developed with PerPetum Energy & Green4Power and will supply power exclusively to the Jemeppe production site, which employs over 540 people.   This is part of Ineos’s strategic decarbonisation roadmap to reduce CO2emission […]

Read More

Israel’s economy shrinks more than expected on Gaza war

Israel’s economy shrank by far more than expected in the wake of conflict with Hamas in Gaza, according to official figures.   GDP fell by 19% on an annualised basis in the fourth quarter of 2023.   That is the equivalent of a fall of 5% between October and December.   GDP was “directly affected” […]

Read More