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Saudi Arabia Signs Agreement to Develop Aviation-Grade Titanium Alloy Value Chains

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Signs Agreement to Develop Aviation-Grade Titanium Alloy Value Chains

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed on Monday an investment cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Tasnee and Boeing to explore the potential investment and development collaboration opportunities to advance the aviation-grade titanium alloy value chain in the Kingdom for mid and downstream applications.

Tasnee CEO and board member Mutlaq al-Morished stressed that the agreement aims to explore potential cooperation investment and development opportunities between the two companies to enhance the titanium value chain to serve intermediate industries.

Morished told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Ministry of Investment supports the two parties by facilitating their collaboration with the relevant government sectors and addressing the challenges.

He indicated that Tasnee is the only company in the Middle East that manufactures titanium "sponge," used in manufacturing aircraft, nuclear submarines, missiles, and satellites. It produces 15,500 tons annually, equivalent to 10 percent of global production.

The CEO added that the metal is strategic and contributes to achieving Vision 2030 aimed at further localizing technology for advanced industries that raise the competitiveness of the national product and boost the contribution of the private sector and non-oil exports to the gross domestic product.

The Advanced Metal Industries Cluster (AMIC) was established jointly by Tasnee and Cristal in 2014 with a mandate to develop the Titanium Value chain in the Kingdom.

AMIC has established the Upstream projects by setting up a Titanium Sponge plant in Yanbu Industrial City through a JV with Toho – Japan.

The company has established a titanium smelter plant in Jazan City for primary and downstream industries which are considered the world's largest, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons of titanium slag and 250,000 tons of pig iron.

In 2021, Tasnee announced that the Titanium Ilmenite Smelter Plant is forecast to start trial operations in Q4 of 2021. The first batch was produced in early December of the same year.

Tasnee announced that after implementing all required modifications by Metso Outotec and the relevant contractors, the mechanical completion was achieved in 2021, followed by start-up preparations and heat-up of the furnace.

The furnace load will ramp up from the current 18MW to 30 MW by mid-January 2022. It is the first holding point planned to last 90 days, to optimize the operating parameters of the furnace.

The success of the operation run at the first holding point will then be followed by ramping the load up gradually to around 45MW (70 percent of design capacity) by the end of Q2 2022, the target load for the execution of the sustainable operation test.

The operation was targeted to achieve this milestone in Q4 2022, and the furnace would increase its load to a design capacity of 60 MW.

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Business

Oil Rises After 4 Sessions of Decline... Brent Above $101

FILE PHOTO: Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 12, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 12, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via REUTERS
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Oil Rises After 4 Sessions of Decline... Brent Above $101

FILE PHOTO: Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 12, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 12, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via REUTERS

Oil prices gained on Tuesday after declining for four consecutive sessions as investors awaited developments on potential US-Iran talks at the United Nations General Assembly this week after more supplies emerged through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

The Brent crude futures November contract rose $1.29, or 1.29%, to $101.63 a barrel at 0758 GMT. The WTI October contract, which expires on Tuesday, climbed 92 cents, or 0.96%, to $96.70 a barrel, Reuters reported.

The more actively traded November contract was up 80 cents, or 0.87%, at $93.17 a barrel.

Tehran and Washington exchanged threats on Sunday, though US President Donald Trump said he would be open to ⁠meeting Iranian President Masoud ⁠Pezeshkian, who is expected to be in New York this week for the UN meeting.

The rebound in crude suggests traders need fresh developments on supply risks or diplomatic efforts before pushing prices materially lower, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Over the weekend, Iran also reportedly conveyed its conditions to mediators for re-engaging in negotiations.

"Oil exports from the Middle East have recovered but remain well below pre-conflict averages," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Hansen said he does not see much further downside in oil prices until there is increased supply through the Strait of Hormuz, particularly refined products, where the real crunch remains.

Separately, an armed group closed valve seven on Libya's Sharara crude pipeline to Zawiya port on Monday, resulting in a significant decline in production at the Sharara oilfield, Libya's National Oil Corporation said in a statement.

Production at the field has fallen by around 200,000 barrels per day and is currently between 100,000 and 105,000 bpd, two engineers at the field told Reuters.

Business

Binance Reportedly Under US Scrutiny Over Possible Iran Sanctions Violations

FILE PHOTO: Smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Binance Reportedly Under US Scrutiny Over Possible Iran Sanctions Violations

FILE PHOTO: Smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

US federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance violated sanctions on Iran by failing to prevent certain trading activity on its platform, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Here are a few details:

The probe is being led by the Manhattan US attorney's office, with the Justice Department's criminal division in Washington ⁠also involved, Bloomberg News ⁠reported, adding that authorities are examining whether Binance knowingly allowed the trading.

Binance said in a statement that it has a zero-tolerance approach to sanctions violations. "We fully cooperate with law enforcement, and ⁠we remain committed to rooting out and shutting down bad actors."

The DOJ declined to comment to Reuters, while the Manhattan US attorney's office could not immediately be reached for a comment outside regular business hours.

Binance has faced US scrutiny in the past. In 2023, Binance's then-chief Changpeng Zhao stepped down and pleaded guilty to breaking US ⁠anti-money ⁠laundering laws as part of a $4.3 billion settlement resolving a years-long probe into the world's largest crypto exchange.

The US government earlier this month imposed sanctions on firms and individuals it says are helping Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies in the Middle East, intensifying its campaign to isolate Iran economically.

Business

World Bank, IMF Back Changes to Debt Framework for Poor Countries

01 November 2009, US, Washington: The logo of the World Bank is seen at the headquarters in Washington. (dpa)
01 November 2009, US, Washington: The logo of the World Bank is seen at the headquarters in Washington. (dpa)
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World Bank, IMF Back Changes to Debt Framework for Poor Countries

01 November 2009, US, Washington: The logo of the World Bank is seen at the headquarters in Washington. (dpa)
01 November 2009, US, Washington: The logo of the World Bank is seen at the headquarters in Washington. (dpa)

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund said on Monday that both their executive boards had approved proposed reforms of their joint framework for evaluating the debt of low-income countries to reflect a more complex and riskier environment.

A joint review, the first since 2017, recommended changes in several areas, including beefing up the analysis of domestic debt held by poor countries, and broadening consideration of long-term development challenges, including climate change. It stopped short of calling for a wholesale redesign.

The reforms are intended to refine how the IMF and World Bank measure a country's debt-carrying capacity and provide new tools to better differentiate between countries facing some risk of debt stress and those whose debt is deemed unsustainable.

The World Bank and IMF said they would also work ‌to enhance the tools ‌and stress tests used to ensure the consistency and accuracy of forecasts, while ‌encouraging ⁠countries to improve reporting ⁠and transparency of their debt data. They left the discount rate used in making assessments unchanged at 5%.

"Overall, our goal is a very practical one. It is to help countries identify vulnerabilities earlier and also more precisely, so that they can make better-informed financing choices and better-informed policy choices," said Allison Holland, who worked on the new debt sustainability framework and now serves as deputy director in the IMF's African Department.

Holland said recent shocks had reversed improvements in the debt landscape seen since 2021, taking the number of countries at high risk or already in debt distress back ⁠to pre-pandemic levels.

"Around 14% of low-income countries are in debt distress, and another 33% ‌are at high risk. About 23% of emerging market countries are at ‌high risk of overall sovereign stress," she said.

The revised framework could help inform a debt restructuring requested earlier this month ‌by Senegal in exchange for a $2.2 billion IMF bailout two years after a hidden debt scandal that pushed ‌it into crisis. The IMF has said it will assess Senegal's debt sustainability using the current framework, "while taking into account the implications of the transition" to the new one.

The IMF has not provided details on how the revised framework — with consideration of domestic debt — could affect Senegal's debt restructuring.

TAKING EFFECT IN SECOND HALF OF 2027

The changes, which will become operational in the second half ‌of 2027, should help countries better assess how much they can invest in needed development and climate adaptation measures while containing debt vulnerabilities over the long ⁠term, the IMF and World ⁠Bank said.

A review completed in July confirmed that the debt sustainability framework, first introduced in 2005, had worked well to identify debt distress episodes ahead of time and help countries make informed borrowing and lending decisions.

But it recommended changes to account for higher debt levels in many low-income countries and a shift in financing sources to include more domestic and external borrowing on commercial terms. The IMF and World Bank have a separate framework for assessing the debt sustainability of advanced and emerging market economies that will be reviewed in coming years.

The IMF said near- and medium-term economic projections that feed into the analyses had generally been reliable, but longer-term forecasts of exports and revenues had shown some "optimism bias" and left data gaps, including for state-owned enterprises.

The new framework introduces a long-term module to add granularity to risk assessments, as well as specific thresholds for overall public debt stress.

But IMF board members agreed to temporarily hold off publishing the models used to assess unsustainable debt to give time to adjust to the new methodologies. Stand-alone staff notes would be used to share data with the board for now, it said.