Oil prices slid to their lowest levels since March on Monday after Washington and Tehran said they had reached an initial deal aimed at ending the war and restoring traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing fears that months of disruption to one of the world’s most important energy corridors would deepen. Brent crude futures fell $4.08, or 4.7 per cent, to $83.25 a barrel by 0415 […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Washington and Tehran have accepted a preliminary framework aimed at ending their war, lifting the U. S. blockade of Iran and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a move that pushed oil prices lower while leaving Iran’s nuclear programme for another round of negotiations. President Donald Trump declared the agreement “complete” on Truth Social on Sunday evening in Washington, shortly after Pakistan’s Prime Minister […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai US President Donald Trump’s assertion that an interim agreement with Iran would be signed on Sunday and immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz has exposed a widening gap between Washington’s public confidence and Tehran’s more guarded account of the negotiations. Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that “the Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow” and that, once completed, the […]
Global peace has deteriorated for a 12th consecutive year as armed conflicts, military build-ups and geopolitical fragmentation deepen instability across much of the world, the 2026 Global Peace Index has found. The latest index, covering 163 countries and territories, recorded a 0.7 per cent decline in the average level of peacefulness over the past year, the 15th deterioration in 18 years. Ninety-nine countries became less peaceful, while […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company has begun an AED1.8 billion share repurchase, opening the first tranche of an approved AED5 billion buyback after a sharp rise in first-quarter profit and continued expansion across its investment portfolio. The initial purchase, launched on 12 June, represents 36 per cent of the total programme approved by shareholders at the company’s annual general assembly on 16 March […]
Refined fuel exports from the Persian Gulf have climbed this month as more tankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz, easing pressure on diesel, jet fuel, gasoline and naphtha markets starved of supply since the waterway was disrupted by the Iran war. The rebound marks a break from the squeeze that followed the closure of the world’s most important energy chokepoint after the February 28 attack on Iran […]
Elon Musk is on the brink of becoming the world’s first trillionaire as SpaceX prepares to open trading on Nasdaq after pricing the largest initial public offering on record, a deal that places one of the most strategically important technology companies at the centre of a debate over wealth, markets and power. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. priced 555,555,555 Class A shares at $135 each, raising about $75bn […]
Greenlogue/AP Climate stress is tightening its grip on vulnerable communities across the Middle East and North Africa, where water scarcity, conflict, weak public services and economic pressure are combining to narrow the choices available to millions of people. The region’s exposure is no longer defined by heat and drought alone. Families in fragile rural districts, informal urban settlements, refugee camps and conflict-affected towns are being pushed into […]
The Persian Gulf Strait Authority has said the Strait of Hormuz will be “completely closed” to transit traffic, escalating fears of a wider maritime disruption at the world’s most sensitive energy chokepoint as tensions involving US military operations intensify. The notice, issued through a post on X, cited “aggressive US forces” and an announcement by the IR Armed Forces as grounds for the planned closure. It told […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai has established the Dubai Longevity Authority under Law No. 17 of 2026, setting up a dedicated regulator to oversee one of the fastest-growing areas of healthcare, wellness and life sciences as the emirate seeks to build a global hub for advanced medicine and healthy ageing. The law was issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai President Donald Trump said the United States and Iran could sign a peace agreement as early as this weekend to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran pushed back against his claim, saying no final decision had been made on any settlement. The competing statements left diplomacy in a delicate phase on Friday, with Washington presenting the outline of a breakthrough while Iran […]
Wall Street’s AI trade came under pressure as investors reassessed stretched technology valuations before SpaceX’s planned market debut, with Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Oracle losing more than $200 billion in combined market value during the session. The sell-off hit some of the largest companies tied to artificial intelligence spending, cloud infrastructure and data-centre expansion. Alphabet fell about 2.5 per cent, Microsoft lost nearly 2.7 per cent, […]
Abu Dhabi’s L’IMAD Holding has deepened its grip on TAQA after its subsidiary Abu Dhabi Power Corporation bought a further 8.09 per cent stake in the listed power and water utility, lifting its holding to 98.12 per cent. The transaction, disclosed on Wednesday, involved the acquisition of 9.1 billion TAQA shares from Two Point Zero Group. Based on TAQA’s closing share price that day, the stake was […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai US forces struck military targets across Iran overnight, widening an air campaign that has pushed Washington and Tehran closer to open conflict as President Donald Trump warned that further attacks would follow unless a peace deal is secured. Central Command said the operation was completed about four hours after it began, shortly after midnight in Tehran, with strikes aimed at military surveillance assets, […]
By K Raveendran Resolution of the US-Israel war with Iran now appears further away than at any point in the conflict, with the latest American strikes pushing global markets into a more unsettled phase. The US launch of retaliatory attacks on Iranian defence and radar systems after Washington accused Tehran of responsibility for the downing […]
The article India’s Fiscal Shield Comes Into Focus As Hormuz Crisis Darkens Outlook appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
Dubai has moved to shorten the waiting time for tourist entry permits, with 30-day and 60-day single-entry visas now expected to be processed within 48 hours through approved channels, sharpening the emirate’s appeal as peak summer and year-end travel planning gathers pace. The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai has indicated that the service applies to single-entry tourist visas issued for visits of either […]
ADNOC is exploring investment opportunities in Canada’s upstream oil and liquefied natural gas sectors through XRG, its international energy investment arm, as Abu Dhabi intensifies its search for overseas assets aligned with long-term energy security and gas demand. Musabbeh Al Kaabi, ADNOC’s chief executive for upstream, said at the Global Energy Show in Calgary on Tuesday that the company was encouraged by Canada’s renewed emphasis on energy […]
Crescent Petroleum Chief Executive Officer Majid Jafar has warned that the Gulf conflict has moved beyond an energy-market disruption into a whole-economy shock, exposing the vulnerability of global trade, industry and food systems to a narrow set of strategic maritime chokepoints. Speaking in Washington, DC, at the Arab Gulf States Institute’s Petro Diplomacy 2026 conference, Jafar said disruption to flows through the Strait of Hormuz had shown […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Washington carried out overnight strikes on Iranian military sites near the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump said Tehran had shot down a US Army Apache helicopter patrolling the strategic waterway. US Central Command said the operation was launched on Trump’s orders and described the action as self-defence. The strikes targeted air defence systems, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites positioned […]
Matein Khalid Only after I tried to read the 277-page SpaceX IPO filing did I grasp the truth of Winston Churchill’s observation that his sceptred isle and America were two countries separated by a common language. For my Brit friends and editors, SpaceX is a rocket launch, satellite and AI business. In the legal gobbledygook of SEC/Wall Street, American lingo, SpaceX is history’s first “orbital infrastructure conglomerate”. […]
Michael Saylor’s attempt to frame bitcoin’s sharp fall as a rotation of capital into artificial intelligence has drawn a blunt challenge from Arca, which argues that the more immediate trigger was Strategy’s sale of 32 bitcoin to meet preferred stock dividend obligations. The dispute has turned a small transaction into a larger test of confidence in one of the market’s most influential bitcoin treasury companies. Strategy sold […]
Customs figures showed a sharp rise in outbound shipments of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products, extending the strong performance seen in April, when exports reached 598,000 metric tonnes. The increase underlined China’s role as the main buffer for a global market unsettled by production cuts, shipping delays and higher insurance costs linked to the conflict around the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
The aluminium surge came as China’s wider trade machine gathered pace. Total exports rose 19.4 per cent from a year earlier in May, beating forecasts and widening the trade surplus to more than $105 billion. Imports also grew 27.4 per cent, but the headline gain masked a sharp fall in crude purchases, with volumes down about 29 per cent as refiners leaned more heavily on inventories and cut some buying amid elevated freight and geopolitical risks.
Aluminium has become one of the clearest channels through which the Middle East war is reshaping industrial supply chains. Producers in Gulf states account for a meaningful share of non-Chinese primary aluminium supply, and disruption to power-intensive smelting, port activity and shipping routes has tightened availability for consumers in Europe, Asia and North America. Prices in London climbed to a four-year high this month as traders priced in the risk of prolonged supply constraints.
Chinese exporters have benefited from the opening. Producers and traders have increased shipments of semi-finished products and other aluminium categories where overseas premiums have risen faster than domestic prices. The price gap has improved margins for exporters, even as Beijing continues to manage capacity growth in a sector long associated with heavy energy use and emissions.
The market shift is particularly important for manufacturers in transport, construction, packaging, power infrastructure and renewable energy. Aluminium is widely used in electric vehicles, aircraft parts, solar frames, building systems and high-voltage transmission equipment. A sustained shortage outside China could raise input costs for industries already dealing with expensive financing, disrupted shipping schedules and volatile energy markets.
China’s advantage rests on scale. The country dominates global aluminium production and has built deep processing capacity across provinces such as Shandong, Henan, Guangxi and Yunnan. Its producers can move quickly when export margins improve, though output remains constrained by power costs, environmental controls and the national ceiling on smelting capacity.
The export rise also carries political sensitivity. Western governments have long argued that China’s industrial policies create excess capacity and depress global prices. A fresh wave of metal exports, even if driven by war-related shortages, could sharpen trade friction at a time when the United States, Europe and other economies are expanding scrutiny of Chinese goods in sectors ranging from steel and batteries to solar components and electric vehicles.
Crude oil tells a different story. China remains the world’s largest crude importer, but May’s decline showed how refiners are adjusting to uncertainty in Gulf shipping. The Middle East supplied a large share of China’s crude last year, with Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar among key reported suppliers, while Iranian barrels have continued to reach Chinese buyers through opaque trading channels.
Refiners have drawn on commercial and strategic inventories built during earlier periods of lower prices and heavy discounted buying. Weak domestic fuel margins have also reduced the incentive to import aggressively. Independent refiners in Shandong and state-run plants have faced pressure from high crude costs, capped fuel prices and softer demand growth as electric vehicles erode petrol consumption.
The fall in crude imports may help ease immediate pressure on global oil markets, but it also reflects the vulnerability of China’s energy security to maritime disruption. The Strait of Hormuz remains central to crude and liquefied natural gas flows, and any prolonged interruption would force Beijing to rely more on stockpiles, pipeline supplies from Russia and Central Asia, and alternative seaborne routes.
For commodity markets, May’s trade data showed a split picture. Metals exports are expanding where China can monetise overseas shortages, while energy imports are being managed more cautiously to reduce exposure to war-driven price spikes. Copper imports slipped from April, suggesting that parts of the manufacturing supply chain remain uneven despite the strong headline export performance.
Oil markets lurched higher on Monday as renewed Israeli strikes on Iran and attacks on Lebanon revived fears that the Middle East conflict could threaten energy flows through one of the world’s most critical crude corridors. Brent crude rose by more than $4 a barrel at one stage, climbing above $98 before paring gains, while West Texas Intermediate also advanced sharply as traders priced in a higher […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai World Trade Centre generated a record AED25.03 billion in economic output in 2025, underscoring the growing weight of large-scale business events in Dubai’s wider growth strategy and its push to deepen links with global trade, investment and innovation networks. The 2025 performance, equal to about $6.82 billion, marked a 12 per cent year-on-year rise and was driven by 108 large-scale exhibitions, international […]
