
South Korea's OCI Plans $265 Million Solar Cell Plant in Texas
OCI Holdings Co. plans to spend $265 million building a solar-cell production facility in Texas, despite shifting priorities around clean energy in the US following the election of Donald Trump as president.
The plant is expected to have production capacity of around 2 gigawatts of solar cells, with commercial operations slated to start by 2026, according to a statement from the South Korean company on Thursday. The project will be developed by OCI's US subsidiary, Mission Solar Energy.

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Forbes
31 minutes ago
- Forbes
Why It Will Take Strong Character To Address The Alarming U.S. Deficit
The public and bitter split between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk has once again spotlighted a glaring deficit in the personalities of both leaders. Although the breach erupted after Musk criticized Trump's 'big beautiful bill,' a tax and spending plan projected to result in an additional budgetary shortfall of $2.4 trillion over the next decade, that is not the deficit I'm referring to here. The void that has further polarized our country is a lack of character and values at the highest levels of government. Aside from the clear lack of decorum, the Trump-Musk feud has turned into an outrageous display of insults and retaliation. As the former chair and CEO of Baxter International, I can say that if such a level of public acrimony had happened in the corporate world, it would have raised serious governance concerns that would need to be addressed. Without values and a strong moral character, leadership is weakened. That's why in today's polarized environment, values-based leadership is not only relevant, it should also be a yardstick against which we evaluate leaders in business and government. As my good friend and former chair and CEO of Medtronic, Inc., Art Collins, wrote in an insightful LinkedIn post: 'While past performance should always be examined, I firmly believe that an individual's character is a crucial attribute to be considered when selecting and appraising a leader.' After reading his post, I asked Art to engage in a discussion on values, character, and leadership. Here are some highlights from our conversation. As the Trump-Musk breakup fills the news headlines and late-night television monologues, we cannot let ourselves be distracted by political theater playing out in Washington. This is a matter of character, not only among our leaders, but for our country and how we are perceived around the world.


CNBC
33 minutes ago
- CNBC
Oil rises on optimism about U.S.-China talks easing trade tensions
Oil prices climbed on Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks and as Saudi Arabia's crude supply to China is set to dip slightly. Brent crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $67.20 a barrel by 0849 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 14 cents, or 0.2%, at $65.43. On Monday, Brent had risen to $67.19, the highest since April 28, buoyed by the prospect of a U.S.-China trade deal. U.S.-China trade talks were set to continue for a second day in London as top officials aimed to ease tensions that have expanded from tariffs to rare earth curbs, risking global supply chain disruptions and slower growth. "There's a sense of optimism around these trade talks, the market is waiting to see what this will produce and that is supporting prices," said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital Group. Prices have recovered as demand concerns have faded with the trade talks between Washington and Beijing and a favourable U.S. jobs report, while there are risks to North American supply due to wildfires in Canada, Goldman Sachs analysts said. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the talks with China were going well and he was "only getting good reports" from his team in London. A trade deal between the U.S. and China could support the global economic outlook and boost demand for commodities including oil. Saudi Arabia's state oil firm Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels to China in July, a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners showed, 1 million barrels less than June's allotted volume, Reuters reported. "The Saudi allocations could be an early sign that OPEC+'s unwind may not actually mean that much additional supply," Tchilinguirian said. "After all these unwinds, one would have thought that we would be getting more from the country that can produce more." OPEC+, which pumps about half of the world's oil and includes OPEC members and allies such as Russia, put forward plans for an increase of 411,000 barrels per day for July as it looks to wrestle back market share and punish over-producers. It is set to unwind production cuts for the fourth straight month. A Reuters survey found that OPEC oil output rose in May, although the increase was limited as Iraq pumped below target to compensate for earlier overproduction and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates made smaller hikes than allowed. "The prospect of further hikes in OPEC supply continues to hang over the market," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, said in a note. Elsewhere, Iran said it would soon hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the U.S. in response to a U.S. offer that Tehran deems "unacceptable", while Trump made clear that the two sides remained at odds over whether the country would be allowed to continue enriching uranium on Iranian soil. Iran is the third-largest producer among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and any easing of U.S. sanctions on Iran would allow it to export more oil, weighing on global crude prices.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
World Bank sharply downgrades forecast for global economic growth to 2.3%
US President Donald Trump's trade wars are expected to slash economic growth this year in America and around the world, the World Bank forecast. Citing 'a substantial rise in trade barriers' but without mentioning Mr Trump by name, the 189-country lender predicted that the US economy – the world's largest – would grow half as fast (1.4%) this year as it did in 2024 (2.8%). That marks a downgrade from the 2.3% US growth it had forecast back for 2025 back in January. The bank also lopped 0.4 percentage points off its forecast for global growth this year. It now expects the world economy to expand just 2.3% in 2025, down from 2.8% in 2024. In a forward to the latest version of the twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report, World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill wrote that the global economy has missed its chance for the 'soft landing' – slowing enough to tame inflation without generating serious pain – it appeared headed for just six months ago. 'The world economy today is once more running into turbulence,' Mr Gill wrote. 'Without a swift course correction, the harm to living standards could be deep.'