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Saudi Industry Minister Advances Strategic Partnerships with US Industrial and Mining Leaders 

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef and other officials during one of his meetings. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef and other officials during one of his meetings. (SPA)
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Saudi Industry Minister Advances Strategic Partnerships with US Industrial and Mining Leaders 

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef and other officials during one of his meetings. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef and other officials during one of his meetings. (SPA)

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef held on Tuesday a series of meetings with leaders of major American industrial and mining companies during his official visit to the United States.

Talks addressed joint investment opportunities in the industrial and mining sectors, as well as the key enablers provided to facilitate the investment process for companies in the Kingdom.

The meetings also focused on strengthening industrial and mining cooperation between both sides, and identifying joint investment opportunities in mining and other priority industrial sectors, including chemicals, aviation, and food.

Officials also tackled opportunities to exchange expertise and transfer the latest manufacturing and mining technologies to the Kingdom. This aligns with the ambitious plans of the national strategies and helps achieve the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

Alkhorayef met with the Vice President of Global Emerging Markets at General Mills, with talks centered on food processing and manufacturing technologies. Separate talks were held with the CEO of Lilac Solutions on innovations in lithium extraction technology.

He also met with the Senior Vice President of International Government Affairs at RTX to discuss defense and aerospace collaboration. He met with the CEO of International Flavors & Fragrances to address opportunities in specialty chemicals and flavor production.

The minister’s meetings are a key step toward achieving Saudi Vision 2030's goals of transforming the Kingdom into a leading industrial power and global hub for mining and minerals through strengthening international partnerships, attracting investments, transferring knowledge and innovation, and localizing the latest technologies.

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Business

Saudi Aramco Chief: Any Interruption Can be Fixed 'Within Days'

Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser speaks during a press conference. Reuters file photo
Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser speaks during a press conference. Reuters file photo
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Saudi Aramco Chief: Any Interruption Can be Fixed 'Within Days'

Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser speaks during a press conference. Reuters file photo
Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser speaks during a press conference. Reuters file photo

Saudi Aramco can restore disrupted operations within days and is looking at building alternative oil export routes, its President and CEO Amin Nasser said.

Nasser told Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on Thursday that Aramco was studying "a fourth and a fifth route" for crude oil exports in addition to its three primary routes.

Nasser added that the company is considering expanding overseas storage capacity, including in Japan, to strengthen its ability to withstand disruptions.

He stated that Aramco's operations are built with abundant flexibilities in place to continue serving its customers even during disruptions.

He added that observers often assumed Aramco had only two major export pathways, through the Strait of Hormuz or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea after using the East-West pipeline. In reality, Nasser said, the company could also access the 320km Sumed pipeline, which carries crude from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean through Egypt.

"People think about interruptions in Hormuz, interruptions in Bab-el Mandeb, [but] we never stopped. We continue to supply our customers," he said. "The only thing you do [is] shift more vessels, one way or the other. ... We do have this multiple optionality that allows us to meet our customers' demand."

The chief executive said that the company was also keen to add more optionality in its oil supplies, including building up additional storage capacities abroad to meet short-term disruptions, as well as "a fourth and a fifth route" for exporting crude.

The company was in discussions with the relevant ministry and its partners in Japan on expanding its storage capacity in the country, as well as "doing the engineering and the feasibility and all of the work that is required" for the additional export routes, Nasser said.

Business

Fed's Williams Says it is Reasonable to See Another US Rate Hike this Year

FILE PHOTO: US dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Fed's Williams Says it is Reasonable to See Another US Rate Hike this Year

FILE PHOTO: US dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Thursday it was reasonable to think that the US central bank might need to raise interest rates again before the end of the year to help bring down inflation risks.

Forecasts among market participants showed investors thought "it's likely that another rate hike may be appropriate by the end of the year. That seems to me a reasonable way of thinking about it," Reuters quoted Williams as saying.

"But we have to see. We're going to collect the data and do what we did between July and September" in assessing the information, he told ⁠a conference in ⁠London organized by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a think tank.

Williams stressed the high levels of uncertainty clouding the economic outlook.

The US central bank under new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh last week raised its policy rate to the 3.75%-4.00% range and 16 of 18 policymakers signaled the Fed would probably need to deliver ⁠at least one more rate hike before the end of 2026.

Williams — who also serves as vice-chair of the interest rate setting Federal Open Market Committee — said the US and other economies around the world had proven resilient to the shock of higher energy prices caused by the Iran war.

But inflation posed the "big challenge" for policymakers seeking to balance growth and price risks.

"We really want to see not only inflation get back to 2% which is absolutely essential to achieve that, but also we want to see that ⁠happen ... in ⁠a timely manner," Williams said.

The Fed lifted rates last week to target inflation pressures that have overshot its 2% target for years and are building further on the back of President Donald Trump’s trade tariff agenda and the Middle East war.

Fed officials now expect inflation will not be back at target until 2029.

Futures markets are putting strong odds of another increase to borrowing costs at the Fed's October policy meeting, as well as another increase in December.

Asked about the likely timing of the next rate hike, Williams noted that September's move had been triggered by a build-up of pressures rather than a sudden change in data.

Business

EBRD Cuts Growth Outlook Again as Iraq, Lebanon, Ukraine Hit by War Pressures

FILE - A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
FILE - A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
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EBRD Cuts Growth Outlook Again as Iraq, Lebanon, Ukraine Hit by War Pressures

FILE - A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
FILE - A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

Growth is slowing across a range of emerging market nations, with economies in Iraq, Lebanon and Ukraine hamstrung by the effects of war, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday.

High energy prices, rising borrowing costs and issues ranging from drought in Europe to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz are combining to depress economic growth, the EBRD regional economic outlook found.

Across the 41 economies it covers, the EBRD expects growth of 2.5% this year, 0.6 ⁠percentage points below ⁠its June forecast and its second consecutive downgrade.

"What's a cause for concern is that there are multiple pressure points, from diesel to cost of wheat to cost of borrowing," EBRD chief economist Beata Javorcik said, according to Reuters. "Pressures are building up, and there are considerable downside risks to our forecast."

The sharpest downgrades were for Iraq and Lebanon. The EBRD expects Iraq's economy to contract ⁠by 12% this year after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz curbed oil exports, while Lebanon is expected to contract 5% as conflict with Israel weighs on economic activity.

The EBRD also lowered its forecasts for Ukraine, owing to intensifying Russian attacks, and for Türkiye, where it said persistent inflation pressures were forcing tighter financing conditions.

Price pressures, meanwhile, were less intense than the EBRD had feared. Average inflation in EBRD regions stabilized at around 6%, the report found, and energy accounted for roughly a quarter of the headline figure.

But wheat prices globally are ⁠up roughly ⁠30% since February as Black Sea attacks cut Ukrainian exports to the lowest level since April 2022, Javorcik said.

This could cut Ukrainian wheat, seed oil and metals exports by $5.5 billion this year, equivalent to 2.5% of GDP, as low water levels on the Danube and Russian attacks on rail links limit alternative export routes.

"This of course has big implications for economic activity in Ukraine," Javorcik said, adding that, if farmers cannot export their crops, it could harm their ability to buy fertilizer for the next planting season.

Elevated wheat prices threaten food-importing economies, particularly countries such as Egypt that heavily subsidize bread and grain products.

Russia and Ukraine combined account for roughly a quarter of global wheat exports.