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Oil Prices Edge Lower as IEA Reduces Demand Forecast

Oil platforms and pumpjacks at Lake Maracaibo, in Cabimas, Venezuela, January 26, 2026. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
Oil platforms and pumpjacks at Lake Maracaibo, in Cabimas, Venezuela, January 26, 2026. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
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Oil Prices Edge Lower as IEA Reduces Demand Forecast

Oil platforms and pumpjacks at Lake Maracaibo, in Cabimas, Venezuela, January 26, 2026. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
Oil platforms and pumpjacks at Lake Maracaibo, in Cabimas, Venezuela, January 26, 2026. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo

Oil prices slipped on Thursday as investors weighed the International Energy Agency's lowering of its global oil demand forecast for 2026 against potential escalation of US-Iran tensions.

Brent crude oil futures were down 19 cents, or 0.27%, at $69.21 a barrel by 1232 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 8 cents, or 0.12%, to $64.55.

Global oil demand will rise more slowly than previously expected this year, the IEA said on Thursday while projecting a sizeable surplus despite outages that cut supply in January.

The Brent and WTI benchmarks reversed gains to turn negative after the IEA's monthly report, having derived support earlier from concerns over the US-Iran backdrop.

US President Donald Trump said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that they had yet to reach a definitive agreement on how to move forward with Iran but that negotiations with Tehran would continue.

Trump had said on Tuesday that he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal is not reached with Iran. The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced.

A hefty build in US crude inventories had capped the early price gains. US crude inventories rose by 8.5 million barrels to 428.8 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said, far exceeding the 793,000 increase expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

US refinery utilization rates dropped by 1.1 percentage points in the week to 89.4%, EIA data showed.

On the supply side, Russia's seaborne oil products exports in January rose by 0.7% from December to 9.12 million metric tons on high fuel output and a seasonal drop in domestic demand, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.

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Business

Safran to Open Landing Gear Plant in Morocco

Safran Group logo is seen in this illustration taken July 26, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Safran Group logo is seen in this illustration taken July 26, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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Safran to Open Landing Gear Plant in Morocco

Safran Group logo is seen in this illustration taken July 26, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Safran Group logo is seen in this illustration taken July 26, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Safran Landing Systems, a subsidiary of French aerospace group Safran, signed a deal with Morocco to set up a landing gear factory near Casablanca worth 280 million euros ($332 mln) to supply the Airbus A320, Safran Chair Ross McIness said.

The new plant will help Safran support the production pace of the Airbus A320 family and prepare the next generation of short and medium-haul aircraft, McIness said at the deal's signing ceremony chaired by Morocco's King Mohammed VI at the Royal Palace in Casablanca.

The plant is a step forward in Morocco's plan to strengthen its position in global aerospace industry supply chains, Moroccan industry minister Ryad Mezzour said on the same occasion.

The factory, set to be one of the largest of its kind, is expected to start production in 2029, Safran's communications said.

In October, Safran signed deals with the Moroccan government to set up a new engine assembly line for Airbus jets and a new maintenance and repair plant in Midparc, an industrial zone near Casablanca dedicated to aerospace manufacturers.

With 150 firms, Morocco's aerospace sector employs 25,000 people. Its exports rose to 29 billion dirhams ($3 billion) in 2025 from 26.4 billion dirhams a year earlier.

Business

China to Scrap Tariffs for Most of Africa from May

Visitors walk past illuminated lantern displays ahead of Lunar New Year in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Visitors walk past illuminated lantern displays ahead of Lunar New Year in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
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China to Scrap Tariffs for Most of Africa from May

Visitors walk past illuminated lantern displays ahead of Lunar New Year in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Visitors walk past illuminated lantern displays ahead of Lunar New Year in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Beijing's scrapping of tariffs for all but one African country will start May 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday, according to state media.

China already has a zero-tariff policy for imports from 33 African countries, but Beijing said last year it would extend the policy to all 53 of its diplomatic partners on the continent.

China is Africa's largest trading partner and a key backer of major infrastructure projects in the region through its vast "Belt and Road" initiative.

From May 1, zero levies will apply to all African countries except Eswatini, which maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

China claims the democratic island as its own and does not rule out using force to take it.

Many African countries are increasingly looking to China and other trading partners since US President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs worldwide last year.

Xi said the zero-tariff deal "will undoubtedly provide new opportunities for African development", announcing the date as leaders across the continent gathered in Ethiopia for the annual African Union summit.

The announcement came as Africa’s top regional body hosted its annual summit in Ethiopia this weekend to discuss the future of the continent of some 1.4 billion people.

Business

Trump to Roll Back Some Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum

A worker in the coal fields at US Steel's Clairton Coke Works in Clairton, Pa., on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh's Public Source via AP)
A worker in the coal fields at US Steel's Clairton Coke Works in Clairton, Pa., on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh's Public Source via AP)
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Trump to Roll Back Some Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum

A worker in the coal fields at US Steel's Clairton Coke Works in Clairton, Pa., on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh's Public Source via AP)
A worker in the coal fields at US Steel's Clairton Coke Works in Clairton, Pa., on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh's Public Source via AP)

US President Donald Trump plans to scale back some tariffs on steel and aluminum goods, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Officials in the Commerce Department and US trade representative’s office believe the tariffs are hurting consumers by raising prices for goods including pie tins and food-and-drink cans, the FT report said.

Voters nationwide are worried about prices, and cost-of-living concerns are expected to be a major factor for Americans heading into the November midterm elections.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 30% of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of the rising cost of living, while 59% disapproved, including nine in 10 Democrats and one in five Republicans.

Trump hit steel and aluminum imports with tariffs of up to 50% last year and has repeatedly used levies as a negotiating tool with a range of trading partners.

The Trump administration is now reviewing a list of products affected by the levies and plans to exempt some items, halt the expansion of the lists and instead launch more targeted national security probes into specific goods, the FT report added.

Trump recently touted his economic record in Detroit, aiming to refocus attention on US manufacturing and his efforts to tackle high consumer costs as the White House seeks to show it is addressing the economic anxieties gripping US households.

The US Commerce Department last year hiked steel and aluminum tariffs on more than 400 products including wind turbines, mobile cranes, appliances, bulldozers and other heavy equipment, along with railcars, motorcycles, marine engines, furniture and hundreds of other products.

Prices Sink in Markets

Aluminum prices sank to a one-week low on Friday after the report Trump may trim some import tariffs.

On the London Metal Exchange, the benchmark three-month aluminum contract slipped more than 1.18% to $3,063.50 a ton by 0740 GMT, while the most-active contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.76% to 23,195 yuan ($3,355.27) a ton.

The metal has also recently received support from South32, an Australian company, which announced that it would place the Mozal aluminum plant in Mozambique, under care and maintenance next month.

Traders said the removal of tariffs would help ease the flow of aluminum into global markets, but the decision’s impact on supply and demand is limited.

On Friday, the price of aluminum dropped as trading has slowed in China since the Shanghai Futures Exchange will be closed from February 15 for the nine-day Lunar New Year break and reopen on February 24.

The most-active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange tumbled 2.24% to 100,380 yuan a metric ton.

In return, the three-month benchmark copper price rose slightly by 0.02% to $12,878 per ton, still hovering below the $13,000 level.