A large portion of the $160 million worth of rough diamonds that arrived in Dubai from Zimbabwe's Marange field are still in Dubai, according to Ahmed bin Sulayem, executive chairman of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).
According to Sulayem, the Kimberley Process (KP) has not cleared the goods remaining in Dubai. Those goods that were cleared were shipped to India, he said.
'The situation is unfortunate and the gridlock affects the KP and the whole diamond community. One way or another, it needs to be sorted out,' Sulayem added.
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Friday 5 August 2011
Mideast Crude Falls on Speculation Global Recovery Is Faltering - Bloomberg
Middle East crude oil for sale to Asia fell on speculation demand will decrease amid signs a recovery in the global economy is faltering.
Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude dropped 4.4 percent to $107.14 a barrel, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Qatar Marine slumped 4.6 percent to $103.61 a barrel, the data showed.
The U.S. added 85,000 jobs last month, leaving the 9.2 percent unemployment rate unchanged, according to economists surveyed before data today that will cap a week of economic reports that showed the recovery is slowing. Italian and Spanish bond yields surged to records yesterday after European Central Bank debt purchases failed to reassure investors that officials will solve the region’s fiscal crisis.
Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude dropped 4.4 percent to $107.14 a barrel, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Qatar Marine slumped 4.6 percent to $103.61 a barrel, the data showed.
The U.S. added 85,000 jobs last month, leaving the 9.2 percent unemployment rate unchanged, according to economists surveyed before data today that will cap a week of economic reports that showed the recovery is slowing. Italian and Spanish bond yields surged to records yesterday after European Central Bank debt purchases failed to reassure investors that officials will solve the region’s fiscal crisis.
* username: rupertbu
The Saudis Use Oil to Punish the Iranians - BusinessWeek
It’s no secret that Saudi Arabia and Iran are bitter rivals. The Sunni Saudis are deeply suspicious of Iran’s influence in Arab countries such as Bahrain and Iraq and want to weaken the Shiite republic, especially when it comes to both nations’ most important export: oil. “Iran is very vulnerable in the oil sector, and it is there that more could be done to squeeze the current government to join the world efforts toward peace,” said Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the ex-Saudi intelligence chief, in a speech at a Royal Air Force base on June 8.
Now the Saudis are showing how serious they are about hitting Iran where it hurts. Iran has long supplied four refiners in India, yet thanks to U.S. sanctions, the Indians have encountered ever-tougher obstacles to paying for their Iranian crude. Indian refiners used to settle payments with Iran through a regional organization called the Asian Clearing Union. Late last year the Indian central bank scuttled that arrangement out of fear Indian banks would be barred from doing business in the U.S.
By this summer the Indians owed Iran $5 billion and the Iranians said enough was enough, according to three executives at Indian refiners, who asked not to be named because, they say, the Indian government has told the companies not to talk. In mid-July, when the Indians still hadn’t received details about the dates or amounts of their August shipments from Iran, they contacted Saudi Aramco, the Kingdom’s national oil company, which also supplies India. The Saudis were glad to help. Saudi Aramco is expected to send around 3 million additional barrels to India in August, on top of the usual 12 million. The Saudis are trying for even more Indian business, according to the refinery executives. “Because of sanctions Iran seems unable to provide the reliability a refiner wants,” says Bhushan Bahree, an analyst at IHS CERA, the energy consultants. “The Saudis are benefiting from that.”
* username: rupertbu
Tehran bourse moves towards options launch - Zawya
Iran's bourse plans to expand its fledgling derivatives market by launching options in the coming months despite the cold shoulder traders have given to single stock futures.
Tehran Stock Exchange, whose operations are limited mostly to stocks, warrants and bonds, introduced single stock futures in July 2010 to help diversify, vowing to add options and stock index futures as next steps in the development of the country's capital markets.
Bourse officials have promised to launch the options by October but market analysts say the introduction could be delayed to the end of this year.
Tehran Stock Exchange, whose operations are limited mostly to stocks, warrants and bonds, introduced single stock futures in July 2010 to help diversify, vowing to add options and stock index futures as next steps in the development of the country's capital markets.
Bourse officials have promised to launch the options by October but market analysts say the introduction could be delayed to the end of this year.
* username: rupertbu
UAE's unequal development a challenge -U.N. agency - Maktoob News
Economic disparities between the seven-member United Arab Emirates are slowing the development of the Gulf state, the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) said on Thursday.
In an interview, Elissar Sarrouh, UNDP resident representative, said those gaps showed the need to rethink parts of the economic strategy that turned the country from a sleepy desert backwater in the 1960s into an oil powerhouse with the world's eighth highest per capita income at $47,000.
'The economic development model of the UAE is not unified and this calls for rethinking of the federal development paradigm,' she said.
In an interview, Elissar Sarrouh, UNDP resident representative, said those gaps showed the need to rethink parts of the economic strategy that turned the country from a sleepy desert backwater in the 1960s into an oil powerhouse with the world's eighth highest per capita income at $47,000.
'The economic development model of the UAE is not unified and this calls for rethinking of the federal development paradigm,' she said.
* username: rupertbu