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Kia CEO awarded with Autocar's most prestigious honour

Kia CEO awarded with Autocar's most prestigious honour

Auto Car6 hours ago

The Innovation Award went to British firm Protean Electric, for its pioneering work in the field of in-wheel motors.
The McLaren Artura has come of age after some well-placed improvements, and proved its worth with a convincing victory in our contest to crown Britain's Best Driver's Car.
The Artura shone because it was a true mid-engined supercar that offered incredible versatility, making for a machine that would be as comfortable on a commute to the office as blasting round a test track.
The Alpine A290 is our Best Fun EV for showcasing that an electric car can offer fun, involved hot hatch handling at a reasonable cost, and without merely relying on ridiculous amounts of power and torque.
Three cars secured trophies for achieving an ultra-rate five-star verdict in the Autocar Road Test, which remains the most comprehensive and in-depth assessment in the industry. The Porsche 911 S/T, Skoda Superb Estate and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N were all celebrated for hitting the rarified air of 'exceptional, unsurpassed, all but flawless'.
MG was named Best Manufacturer for its remarkable sales growth in recent years, and an ability to mix competitively priced mainstream models with ambitious statements of intent such as the new Cyberster.
Other cars recognised at the awards include the Dacia Duster (Best Value Car), Lamborghini Revuelto (Best Dream Car), Volkswagen Golf e-Hybrid (Best Hybrid), Fiat Grande Panda (Best Small Car), Kia EV3 (Best Electric Car) and the Land Rover Defender Octa (Best 4x4). People award winners
Issigonis Trophy: Ho Sung Song
Sturmey Award: Peter Rawlinson
Editors' Award: Diane Miller
Mundy Award: Phillipe Krief
Design Hero: Francois Leboine
Outstanding Leader: Lawrence Stroll
Innovation Award: Protean Electric

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Reuters

time21 minutes ago

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LME's new position rules reflect a changed metals landscape

LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange's (LME) move to tighten the regulatory screws on long position holders comes at a time of turmoil in both aluminium and copper contracts. Traders have been scaling up bets even as LME warehouse inventory has been depleting, generating acute stress in the exchange's unique date structure. But it's no coincidence that it's these two contracts that have been most roiled. Both copper and aluminium physical markets have been massively distorted by tariffs and sanctions respectively. Having just emerged from its 2022 nickel debacle, the LME is understandably keen to avoid a new crisis and since it can't do much about either tariffs or sanctions, managing the consequences is its best bet. The danger as ever with this 148-year old market is that tweaking such a complex ecosystem causes unforeseen consequences. This week's upheaval in the copper market bears all the hallmarks of a mega clash of positions on the cash date. The "tom-next" spread, which is an overnight position roll, flared out to a backwardation of $69 per metric ton on Monday. That helped inflate the backwardation across the cash-to-three-months period to $397 per ton, the widest since 2021. One entity had bulked up on cash positions to the tune of 80-90% of available stocks coming into the week and whoever it is will be subject to the exchange's automatic lending rules. These are intended to prevent anyone cornering the market with positions so dominant they distort prices. The new rules introduced on Friday by the LME's special committee extend those lending caps beyond the cash date through the next monthly prompt. They are, for now at least, temporary. This follows the recent squeeze in the aluminium market, which was focused not on the LME's rolling cash date but on the June monthly prompt date. But it's clearly not the only mega long position that has given LME senior management cause for concern. There have been "a number of occasions" of significant positions in nearby prompt dates and the special committee has "at times" directed holders to reduce them "relative to prevailing stock levels," the LME said. And there's the rub. There's not much stock of either copper or aluminium. LME copper stocks have shrunk by 65% to 94,675 tons since the start of 2025 with the amount of available tonnage at a two-year low of 54,525 tons. This is not due to diminished global availability but rather reflects a massive redistribution of global inventory. Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump launched a so-called Section 232 national security investigation into U.S. copper imports in February, physical metal has been flowing to the United States to capitalise on the premium commanded by the CME's U.S. customs-cleared copper contract over the LME's international product. U.S. imports of refined copper jumped to more than 200,000 tons in April, the highest monthly arrival rate this decade. LME warehouses have been stripped to feed this physical tariff trade. CME stocks, on the other hand, have more than doubled this year to 184,464 tons, the highest they've been since August 2018. While the prospect of U.S. tariffs has upended global copper flows, those of aluminium have been fractured by sanctions on Russian metal. When the United States and Britain announced sanctions on Russian producer Rusal in April 2024, the LME suspended all deliveries of Russian aluminium produced after that date. Russian metal already in the LME system could continue trading but clearly wasn't as desirable as other brands. There have been sporadic dog-fights over available non-Russian stocks ever since, each involving large positions and spread turbulence. But the net result is that LME aluminium stocks are now at their lowest point since October 2022. Most of the stock awaiting physical load-out has departed and most of what remains is Russian metal. 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But given the growing mismatch between position size and available inventory, the LME is doubling down on precedence to try and avert another crisis. The problem is that smoothing out what the LME deems distortions in the exchange's price-setting function may reduce the financial incentive for metal to be delivered to what is supposed to be the market of last resort. Assuming, of course, it's neither Russian aluminium nor copper on its way to the United States. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters

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