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Saudi Ministry Launches Investment Opportunity for Detecting Gypsum Ore West of Kingdom

Saudi Arabia shifts towards maximizing benefit from the kingdom’s natural wealth (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia shifts towards maximizing benefit from the kingdom’s natural wealth (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Ministry Launches Investment Opportunity for Detecting Gypsum Ore West of Kingdom

Saudi Arabia shifts towards maximizing benefit from the kingdom’s natural wealth (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia shifts towards maximizing benefit from the kingdom’s natural wealth (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has announced the launch of a tender for the exploration of gypsum ore in the Al-Qasab wells in Madinah Al-Munawwarah region, north of Yanbu Governorate over an area of about 0.6 km.

Lately, the ministry revealed the 13 qualified bidders in the pre-qualification stage for a license at Umm Ad Damar mining site.

The announcement of the tender comes as the ministry aims to support investors, enhance investment in the mining sector and encourage national industries.

The ministry aims to enhance transparency and justice in offering mining competitions. It also looks to encourage national industries and help along the development of local content.

Moreover, the ministry revealed that the winners of the tender will be listed on the Kingdom’s mining platform, TAADIN.

TAADIN is a platform aimed at boosting investment in the mining sector.

All competitors are requested to submit the required documents and apply via the platform.

The ministry pointed out that the stages of the competition include announcing the fulfillment of the qualification requirements to enter the competition, then announcing those qualified, launching the bidding process on the gypsum ore website, and finally revealing the results and the winning company.

It explained that the gypsum ore appears in the license area in the form of stratigraphic deposits, the thickness of which reaches several meters.

Moreover, the ministry pointed out that the geology of the area northwest of Yanbu Governorate consists of coastal marine deposits.

In other news, King Abdullah Port has recently launched the "MSC Indus 2", provided by the leading global container shipping company, MSC, to help the port contribute to the development of the Kingdom's booming export market, by facilitating trade between North America and the Indian subcontinent, which is one of the Kingdom's major trading partners.

The port will provide highly efficient logistics services for containers transported on board MSC cargo ships arriving from the port of "Mundra", which is the largest private container port in India to King Abdullah Port, through the shipping line linking India and the main ports in the Mediterranean with the United States.

This service will also provide the necessary support for exporters to major European ports up to the port of "Halifax" in Canada, and then to the midwestern cities of the United States such as Chicago and Detroit.

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Business

Oil Rises as Investors Weigh Outcome of Trump–Zelenskiy Meeting

Vehicles drive past the El Palito refinery in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP)
Vehicles drive past the El Palito refinery in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP)
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Oil Rises as Investors Weigh Outcome of Trump–Zelenskiy Meeting

Vehicles drive past the El Palito refinery in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP)
Vehicles drive past the El Palito refinery in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP)

Oil prices rose on Monday as investors weighed the outcome of talks between the US and Ukrainian presidents on a potential ​deal to end the war in Ukraine, as well as Middle East tensions that could disrupt supply.

Brent crude futures rose 67 cents, or 1.1%, to $61.31 per barrel at 0751 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 65 cents, or 1.15%, to $57.39.

Both benchmark prices fell more than 2% on Friday as investors weighed a looming global supply glut and ‌the possibility of a ‌Ukraine peace deal ahead of weekend ‌talks between ⁠Ukrainian ​President ‌Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump.

Trump said on Sunday that he and Zelenskiy were "getting a lot closer, maybe very close" to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, while acknowledging that the fate of the disputed Donbas region remains a key unresolved issue.

The two leaders spoke at a ⁠joint press conference late Sunday afternoon after meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. ‌Trump said it will be clear "in ‍a few weeks" whether negotiations to ‍end the war will succeed.

The peace talks did not ‍reach an agreement on territorial issues, so a Russia–Ukraine peace deal may remain deadlocked with no quick breakthrough, said Mingyu Gao, energy and chemical chief researcher at China Futures.

The reason prices are rising also includes ​that geopolitical tensions remain elevated, as Russia and Ukraine continued striking each other's energy infrastructure over the weekend, said Yang ⁠An, a China-based analyst at Haitong Futures.

"The Middle East has also been unsettled recently, in Yemen and Iran saying the country is in a 'full-scale war' with the US, Europe, and Israel. This may be what's driving market concerns about potential supply disruptions," Yang added.

WTI is expected to trade within a $55-$60 range with an eye also on US enforcement actions against Venezuelan oil shipments and any fallout from the US military strike against ISIS targets in Nigeria, which produces about 1.5 million barrels ‌per day, IG analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.

Business

China's Finance Ministry: Fiscal Policies Will be More 'Proactive' in 2026

A man walks on a street in Beijing, China, 24 December 2025. EPA/WU HAO
A man walks on a street in Beijing, China, 24 December 2025. EPA/WU HAO
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China's Finance Ministry: Fiscal Policies Will be More 'Proactive' in 2026

A man walks on a street in Beijing, China, 24 December 2025. EPA/WU HAO
A man walks on a street in Beijing, China, 24 December 2025. EPA/WU HAO

China's finance ministry on Sunday said fiscal policies will be more proactive next year, reiterating its focus on domestic demand, technological innovation and a social safety net.

The statement comes as trading partners urge the world's second-biggest economy to reduce its reliance on exports, underscoring the urgency to revive confidence at home where a prolonged property crisis has rippled ⁠through the economy, weighing on sentiment.

China will boost consumption and actively expand investment in new productive forces and people's overall development, the ministry said in a statement after a two-day meeting at which it set ⁠2026 goals.

In addition, Reuters quoted the ministry as saying that it will support innovation to foster new growth engines, and improve the social security system by providing better healthcare and education services.

Other tasks for next year include promoting integration between urban and rural areas, and propelling China's transformation into a greener society.

China is likely to stick to ⁠its annual economic growth target of around 5% in 2026, government advisers and analysts told Reuters, a goal that would require authorities to keep fiscal and monetary spigots open as they seek to snap a deflationary spell.

Leaders this month promised to maintain a "proactive" fiscal policy next year that would stimulate both consumption and investment to maintain high economic growth.

Business

Bulgaria Adopts Euro Amid Fear and Uncertainty

Customers shop in a grocery store in the village of Chuprene, northwestern Bulgaria on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)
Customers shop in a grocery store in the village of Chuprene, northwestern Bulgaria on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)
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Bulgaria Adopts Euro Amid Fear and Uncertainty

Customers shop in a grocery store in the village of Chuprene, northwestern Bulgaria on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)
Customers shop in a grocery store in the village of Chuprene, northwestern Bulgaria on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)

Bulgaria will become the 21st country to adopt the euro on Thursday, but some believe the move could bring higher prices and add to instability in the European Union's poorest country.

A protest campaign emerged this year to "keep the Bulgarian lev", playing on public fears of price rises and a generally negative view of the euro among much of the population.

But successive governments have pushed to join the eurozone and supporters insist it will boost the economy, reinforce ties to the West and protect against Russia's influence.

The single currency first rolled out in 12 countries on January 1, 2002, and has since regularly extended its influence, with Croatia the last country to join in 2023.

But Bulgaria faces unique challenges, including anti-corruption protests that recently swept a conservative-led government from office, leaving the country on the verge of its eighth election in five years.

Boryana Dimitrova of the Alpha Research polling institute, which has tracked public opinion on the euro for a year, told AFP any problems with euro adoption would be seized on by anti-EU politicians.

Any issues will become "part of the political campaign, which creates a basis for rhetoric directed against the EU", she said.

While far-right and pro-Russia parties have been behind several anti-euro protests, many people, especially in poor rural areas, worry about the new currency.

"Prices will go up. That's what friends of mine who live in Western Europe told me," Bilyana Nikolova, 53, who runs a grocery store in the village of Chuprene in northwestern Bulgaria, told AFP.

The latest survey by the EU's polling agency Eurobarometer suggested 49 percent of Bulgarians were against the single currency.

After hyperinflation in the 1990s, Bulgaria pegged its currency to the German mark and then to the euro, making the country dependent on the European Central Bank (ECB).

"It will now finally be able to take part in decision making within this monetary union," Georgi Angelov, senior economist at the Open Society Institute in Sofia, told AFP.

An EU member since 2007, Bulgaria joined the so-called "waiting room" to the single currency in 2020, at the same time as Croatia.

The gains of joining the euro are "substantial", ECB president Christine Lagarde said last month in Sofia, citing "smoother trade, lower financing costs and more stable prices".

Small and medium-sized enterprises stand to save an equivalent of some 500 million euros ($580 million) in exchange fees, she added.

One sector expected to benefit in the Black Sea nation is tourism, which this year generated around eight percent of the country's GDP.

Lagarde predicted the impact on consumer prices would be "modest and short-lived", saying in earlier euro changeovers, the impact was between 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points.

But consumers -- already struggling with inflation -- fear they will not be able to make ends meet, according to Dimitrova.

Food prices in November were up five percent year-on-year, according to the National Statistical Institute, more than double the eurozone average.

Parliament this year adopted empowered oversight bodies to investigate sharp price hikes and curb "unjustified" surges linked to the euro changeover.

But analysts fear wider political uncertainty risks delaying much needed anti-corruption reforms, which could have a knock-on effect on the wider economy.

"The challenge will be to have a stable government for at least one to two years, so we can fully reap the benefits of joining the euro area," Angelov said.