India imports canola oil after 5 years as local prices surge
A shipment of 6,000 tons of canola oil from the United Arab Emirates is expected to arrive at Kandla port in Gujarat this month, said Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research, an edible oil trader.
India mainly buys palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
In July, rapeseed oil prices in the spot market surged to 167,000 rupees ($1,914.02) per ton — the highest since February 2022 and almost 34% above year-ago levels.
"The price rally is creating an opening for imports, and we might see more coming in since the new local crop won't hit the market until March next year," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.
India's soyoil imports have also been rising, with some buyers substituting costlier rapeseed oil with the cheaper alternative, he said.
($1 = 87.2510 Indian rupees)
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Reuters
13 minutes ago
- Reuters
Defence tech revolution already redefining future battlefield
LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) As the billionaire founder of one of the world's fastest-growing defence technology companies visited Taiwan earlier this month, he had a stark message for the island's next generation of IT engineers: In the face of a mounting threat from mainland China, the survival of their democracy might well depend on them. In Asia for the opening of a new office in Taiwan and agreement of a production deal with South Korea, Anduril chief executive and founder Palmer Luckey also announced the delivery to the island of Anduril's Altius 'loitering munitions', within six months, he said, of the contract being signed. It was a reminder of the way in which unmanned systems and the AI that increasingly operates them are redefining a defence sector more often known for huge delays and cost overruns. Such systems have created a new generation of 'defence tech' whose political connections are often as significant as the new technology they wield. But Luckey's speech to Taiwan's Artificial Intelligence Academy at its national university on the outskirts of the capital made a rather different point. It was that Taiwan itself must also move forward with its own defence technology revolution, emulating Ukraine where hundreds of small firms have proven crucial to national survival against Russian invasion by building hundreds of thousands of combat, strike and surveillance drones a month. 'Taiwan is on the verge of a techno-industrial renaissance for its national defence,' Luckey said, arguing that it had the workforce, industry, government enthusiasm and available private capital to leap ahead of many other nations. The weaponry as well as systems produced by firms like Anduril are fast becoming central to U.S.-led strategic planning in both Europe and the Pacific. They are now already tested in battle in Ukraine and increasingly critical to the plans of U.S. commanders to defend Taiwan if it is attacked by China – or indeed if Russia attacked deeper into Eastern Europe. Anduril's aggressive approach this year has seen it race ahead with building its 'Arsenal-One' facility in Ohio, an enormous manufacturing plant that hopes to have its first weapons systems in production by the start of 2026. It has also now acquired another plant in Mississippi to deliver solid rocket motors for the U.S. military. Manufacture of solid rocket motors – a key part of both air defence and longer-range strike missiles now increasingly in demand – was hitherto largely the preserve of longer-established defence firms like Northrop Grumman and Finland's Nammo. Anduril is just one of several incoming new entrants to that market. Multiple firms ranging from established 'defence primes' to start-ups are also now working fast to build and scale unmanned systems at sea, including surface and subsurface vessels, with some of the firms looking to strike deals with major shipyards to deliver mass production ahead of enduring any major conflict. September and October will see several major arms industry fairs in Europe and the United States, including Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) in London, the London Defence Tech Week shortly afterward, the Global Security and Innovation Summit in Hamburg, and the annual Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference in Washington D.C. All those events will likely see a plethora of defence technology firms pushing their wares and announcing deals of various sizes. How many of those firms will truly survive and thrive, however, remains unclear – as does the balance between established 'defence primes', the new 'defence tech' giants led by Palantir and Anduril, and the thousands of much smaller firms vying for their own piece of the action. How fast that weaponry is truly developing is also a mixed picture. In July, the New York Times noted that drone tests in Alaska conducted by the U.S. Army had indicated multiple problems with unmanned aerial vehicles struggling to perform the missions they were purchased for. This month, Reuters and Defense Scoop reported similar issues with U.S. naval trials. What is clear is that while many of those systems are not yet in service, those that are have already become increasingly central to U.S. and allied military planning. Integrating more subsystems in the next three years could help deter China from launching an invasion of Taiwan and Russia from any further attacks in Eastern Europe. Speaking to the podcast 'War on the Rocks' at the start of June, the new head of the U.S. Army in Europe, Lieutenant General Christopher Donahue, said his forces expected that 'manned systems' – crewed weaponry such as tanks, helicopters and infantry teams and trenches – would now only meet the enemy directly once they were 'deep in the fight'. U.S. Indo Pacific commander Admiral Sam Paparo has also talked of using unmanned systems – both on the surface and drone submarines – to create a 'hellscape' in the Taiwan Strait to stop or at least slow a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That scheme, first announced in 2023, was backed up by a broader Pentagon project known as 'REPLICATOR', launched in 2024 to boost the mass-production of unmanned systems to be prepared for a major conflict. Exactly how the Trump administration will approach the same problem is not yet entirely clear - although U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spoken of cutting through 'red tape' to allow individual military formations to buy their own drones. This summer's collision between two drone vessels from rival manufacturers in U.S. Navy trials, later leaked to Reuters, pointed to the challenges of taking such technology to the next level by making the unmanned systems more autonomous. Sources told Reuters the incidents appear to have prompted the Navy to indefinitely pause a $20 million contract with L3Harris, the sixth largest defence contractor in the United States. The firm itself declined to comment. That, however, is unlikely to stop the race to invest in and embrace such systems. In Europe, analysis firm Taylor Wessing estimated that roughly 10 percent of all venture capital investment in 2024 went on defence systems, many of them also high-tech. Although the much larger U.S. venture capital market means that while the proportion going into defence is likely smaller, the overall numbers are much bigger – all leading to rapid growth in the U.S. and allied nations. Another report produced for the London Resilience Conference last September showed $18 billion in total invested by venture capital firms across the U.S., UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand between 2018 and last September, with over 370 defence and defence-linked start-ups then valued at more than $160 billion. Those numbers have probably grown since then. Anduril's latest funding round in June saw it raise $2.5 billion in return for equity that valued the company itself at more than $30 billion, roughly twice its estimated value as recently as 2023. Palantir, founded in 2004 by billionaire Peter Thiel – whose capital 'Founders Fund' is also a major Anduril investor – has also seen its share price rocket this year to take its own valuation to in excess of $250 billion. Palantir has been at the heart of much of the Pentagon's embrace of AI for analysis and targeting, particularly its Project Maven in which the company has worked with multiple other contractors to greatly boost the number of targets to be generated for weapons systems such as HIMARS long-range rockets. The past week, however, has seen it lose at times roughly 20 percent of its market value: the Economist described Palantir as the most overvalued company in the world. Palantir is reportedly looking to grow beyond the defence sector to tap much wider opportunities, but appears to be resisting the temptation to follow other defence tech firms into making actual weaponry. For others, however, that remains the perceived area of maximum opportunity, particularly with almost all more established Western defence projects from warship and submarine building to aircraft and missile manufacture often suffering heavy delays and budget overruns. The biggest growth, though – as well as the greatest innovation – may well be in the nations and regions that judge themselves most at risk of possible attack. In Finland, drone and electronic warfare firms increasingly attend paintball tournaments to test their skills against each other as part of wider simulated battles – while in Estonia, several tech millionaires who made their money in prior decades are now investing heavily in new defence technology. Finland and Estonia both have a long border with Russia. Many of those firms are now working directly with Ukrainian counterparts and will be showcasing their work at the Brave1 arms fair in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv next month. That event will offer bomb shelters at the venue to protect visitors and investors. While many of Ukraine's drones have components built in China, Taiwan has stipulated that none of those it is purchasing can contain parts built on the mainland. Taiwanese Major General Lou Woei-jye told a news conference on Monday that Taiwan was now following the U.S. in reclassifying smaller drones as "ammunition". That means they will be judged expendable and expected to be used in large quantities from the start of a conflict. Taiwan also announced this week that it aims to procure almost 50,000 drones of multiple types over the next two years. If it comes to a Chinese invasion, though, the experience of Ukraine suggests that might not yet be enough.
Auto Blog
an hour ago
- Auto Blog
40% of Americans Say They'd Buy a Chinese Car — But Tariffs Block the Way
By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. View post: This 800-HP Hatchback Hits 62 MPH in 2 Seconds — But You Can Only Drive It in Gran Turismo But They Won't Be Able To Anytime Soon Some Chinese automakers have expressed interest in selling cars in the United States—GAC has even made occasional appearances at the Detroit auto show—but aside from the odd China-assembled Volvo or Buick, we haven't seen a Chinese car on sale in the U.S. Trade policies hostile to imported vehicles—especially those from China—will keep it that way for the time being. But many Americans are ready to consider Chinese cars, and dealers still anticipate a Chinese brand entering the U.S. market despite tariffs. Those are some of the takeaways from a new report by the David Cantin Group (DCG) and Kaiser Associates. The report surveyed car buyers and found that 40% would consider buying a Chinese-made vehicle. Disconnect Between Demand And Political Reality It's unlikely that American consumers will have the opportunity to buy Chinese cars, though. Remarkably, 75% of dealers surveyed expected a Chinese brand to begin selling cars in the U.S. within a year. As the report notes, that's unlikely in the current political climate. Cars have been a major target of the Trump Administration's trade war, with even vehicles produced in countries friendly to the U.S.—such as Canada, Japan, and the European nations—subjected to heavy tariffs or tariff threats. Relations with China are much cooler, and protectionist policies targeting Chinese cars were already in place under the Biden Administration, which quadrupled tariffs on them to over 100%. The Biden policies were intended to head off an encroachment of the Chinese auto industry that's already underway in Europe. As the report notes, Chinese brands doubled their European Union market share in the first half of 2025, with sales up 91% year-over year. BYD also outsold Tesla in Europe this spring. The report called Trump's re-election a 'major blow' to Chinese automakers, but added that a 'controlled rollout' of Chinese-made vehicles under the current administration was 'plausible.' It's unclear what conditions would set that rollout in motion, given the Trump Administration's hostility to foreign trade. Even importing cars from Mexico, which once seemed like a potential workaround for Chinese automakers under Biden, is likely no longer viable given Trump's trade spat with that country. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. What's The Appeal? American consumers' interest in Chinese cars is tried to concerns about affordability, the report indicated. 'Affordability is reshaping purchase decisions, driving interest in cheaper Chinese vehicles, and making any manufacturer decision to pass on tariff costs to consumers virtually impossible without the risk of losing market share,' DCG president Brian Gordon told Autoweek. And while Chinese brands, benefitting from subsidies, have released affordable EVs like the BYD Seagull, American automakers are still focused on expensive pickup trucks even as consumer demand shifts. 'We've reached peak truck, as consumers finally push back and demand more vehicle options, particularly sedans, that are more affordable, leaving some dealers struggling with their product mix,' the report says. While some relief is in sight in the form of the 2026 Nissan Leaf and returning Chevrolet Bolt EV, it will take some time to undo the damage of truck-centric product plans at the Detroit Three. About the Author Stephen Edelstein View Profile
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Japan's core inflation slows in July, stays above BOJ target
TOKYO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Japan's core inflation slowed for a second straight month in July but stayed above the central bank's 2% target, keeping alive market expectations for another interest rate hike in the coming months. The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food items, rose 3.1% in July from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, faster than a median market forecast for a 3.0% gain. The rise was smaller than the 3.3% increase in June, due largely to the base effect of last year's rise in energy prices, which came from the termination of government subsidies to curb fuel bills. A separate index that strips away both fresh food and fuel costs - closely watched by the BOJ as a measure of domestic demand-driven prices - rose 3.4% in July from a year earlier after increasing by the same rate in June. Rising food and raw material costs have kept Japan's core inflation above the Bank of Japan's 2% target for well over three years, causing some BOJ policymakers to worry about second-round price effects. The BOJ last year exited a decade-long, massive stimulus and raised short-term interest rates to 0.5% in January on the view Japan was close to durably hitting its 2% inflation target. While the bank revised up its inflation forecasts last month, Governor Kazuo Ueda has stressed the need to tread cautiously on further rate hikes, due to an expected hit to the economy from U.S. tariffs. The Japanese economy has been showing resilience even though sweeping U.S. tariffs are dragging down exports. Last week's unexpectedly strong second-quarter gross domestic product data, combined with a U.S.-Japan trade deal struck last month, has fuelled market expectations that a tariff-driven recession will be averted - bolstering the case for another rate hike later this year. Some analysts also point to Washington's pressure for more rate hikes, following rare and explicit comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who said the BOJ was "behind the curve" on policy. The latest Reuters poll showed 63% of economists surveyed this month expect the central bank to raise base borrowing costs to at least 0.75% from 0.50% by the end of this year, an increase from 54% in last month's poll.
