MPs urge govt to help protect dairy producers January 20, 2015 MPs urged the government yesterday to do more to protect dairy farmers against falling milk prices. A report published by the parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee Groceries Code Adjudicator suggests a raft of measures to help the dairy industry deal with volatile market. It wants the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator [...]
Unilever sales disappoint after China slowdown January 20, 2015 CONSUMER goods giant Unilever reported lower-than-expected fourth quarter sales yesterday as it continued to grapple with a slowdown in demand for its products in emerging markets, particularly in China. The owner of Lipton tea and Dove soap said like-for-like sales rose by 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, in line with the third quarter, [...]
Eurasia Drilling to merge with Schlumberger January 20, 2015 OIL AND gas firm Schlumberger is set to acquire a 45.65 per cent minority shareholding in Russian company Eurasia Drilling for around $1.7bn (£1.1bn). The deal will involve Eurasia delisting from the public market, which is slated to take effect from 23 February. The transaction will deliver $22 a share to shareholders, which represents a [...]
Chinese growth data pushes FTSE 100 higher – London Report January 20, 2015 MINING stocks boosted the FTSE 100 yesterday, after Chinese data beat expectations which pleased mining companies that export to the country, although a tepid outlook from Unilever kept confidence in check. The FTSE 100 index closed 0.5 per cent higher at 6,620.10 points, after earlier reaching its highest point since the start of 2015 at [...]
World’s End Market head chef Bubker Belkhit offers a spiced treat January 20, 2015 Bubker Belkhit, head chef at the World’s End Market, on his signature tuna tartare dish with cumin mayo. In Morocco, where I’m from, they eat aubergine salad on its own. I thought it would go well with the tuna tartare, but I needed something to make the flavours really come out so I made a [...]
F1 grands prix time changes January 20, 2015 FORMULA One’s season opener in Australia is one of five grands prix set for an earlier start in a change prompted by Jules Bianchi’s horror crash at Suzuka last year. Races in Malaysia, China, Japan and Russia are to be brought forward by an hour in an attempt to avoid the dusky conditions in which [...]
IMF slashes global growth forecast January 20, 2015 The forecast for global growth in 2015 and 2016 has been downgraded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The body predicts that this year, the world economy will reach 3.5 per cent – down from the 3.8 per cent it put forward three months ago. Next year's forecast has also been decreased, to 3.7 [...]
Saudi increased oil exports as Opec discussed output cuts January 18, 2015 Saudi Arabia’s oil exports rose to a seven-month high in November, the same month that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) decided to keep production levels unchanged in the face of falling oil prices. According to the statistics provider Joint Organisations Data Initiative, Saudi exports rose to 7.3m barrels a day, up from [...]
Opec is dead: The oil war could crown America as the global swing producer January 18, 2015 I well remember suffering through my college macroeconomic class, steeling myself to stay awake through the consumption of gallons of coffee. However, one of the rare things that piqued my interest was the theory of cartels. Properly defined, an efficient cartel possesses three basic properties: the ironclad discipline of its membership; a commanding market position; [...]
Rouble rout stops Russian tourists spending in the UK January 18, 2015 Russia's economic quagmire is affecting the spending habits of Russians tourists in the UK, with total spending plunging 28 per cent last year according to research by tax experts Global Blue. Amid global sanctions over the Crisis in Ukraine, and a glut in the supply of oil leading to tumbling prices, thing went from bad [...]