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The cabin of a Comac C919, the Chinese aircraft manufacturer’s most high-profile plane

China ‘unlikely to overthrow Boeing-Airbus duopoly’

China’s state-owned planemaker, Comac (Commercial Aircraft Corp of China), is decades away from breaking up the global dominance of Boeing and Airbus, according to the head of the world’s largest airline trade association. The result will be that Gulf Arab carriers such as Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have little choice but to stomach […]

An oil tanker docks at Qingdao Port in China's Shandong province, where most of the crude imported from Iran is delivered

Seaborne oil exports from Iran to China hit record levels

Chinese imports of oil by sea rose in March to their highest in 17 months, with imports from Iran hitting a record, according to tanker tracking consultancy Vortexa. Seaborne crude arrivals – which account for about 85 percent of total Chinese oil imports – rose to 10.6 million barrels per day in March, up from […]

China is to build wind turbines in Oman

Chinese company to build $200m wind turbine plant in Oman

China’s Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group has signed a $200 million agreement to build a wind turbine factory in Oman’s central industrial city of Duqm. Duqm, which sits on international shipping routes, has attracted over $15 billion in project spending, including a 230,000 barrels per day oil refinery, a crude oil storage facility, a free […]

Tunisia trade gap

China and Turkey imports widen Tunisia’s trade gap

Tunisia’s trade gap rose by two thirds in the first quarter as the government prioritised goods from China and Turkey, official figures show. Imports increased by 5 percent to 20 billion Tunisian dinars ($6.8 billion) in the first three months of 2025 from 19 billion dinars in the same period last year, the National Institute […]

Visitors to the Cityscape Global construction fair in Saudi Arabia. Supplier competition could bring down construction costs in the medium term, despite current inflationary pressures

Global trade war prompts Gulf construction reassessment

The global trade tensions triggered by Donald Trump’s tariff hikes is sending shockwaves through the Gulf’s construction sector, leading Saudi Arabia and the UAE to rethink sourcing materials and supply chain networks. The risk of costs accelerating has risen, but over the longer term prices could temper, providing a cost opportunity for the GCC, industry […]

A container vessel operated by China's Cosco in Dubai's Jebel Ali terminal, which handles huge amounts of cargo moving from Asian to Western markets

US-China trade war brings pros and cons for the Gulf

The growing trade war between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, presents the Gulf Arab states with a complex puzzle. International commerce may shift towards new consumer and trans-shipment markets, while a recession-driven collapse in oil prices and higher-for-longer inflation because of tariffs are further risks to the region. Sectors of the […]

Turkey hopes that its exports to the US may benefit from heavier tariffs on competing nations

Turkey looks for positives from tariff fallout

Turkey is eyeing a potential upside in its international trade as Donald Trump takes on China and much of the rest of the world in a trade war. As one of the countries initially hit with Trump’s baseline 10 percent tariff, many in Turkey had nonetheless forecast export doors to the US would open for […]

Falling oil prices is a sign that the world is heading for recession

Oil prices set to drop for a second week

Oil prices increased slightly on Friday morning but were still set for an overall drop for a second week due to concerns about a prolonged trade war between the United States and China. If the the world’s largest economies continue their tit-for-tat tariff increases, the fear is they will crush crude consumption as their dispute curtails economic […]

Sinopec, China National Offshore Oil Corp and private refiner Shenghong Petrochemical will all be lifting more Saudi crude in May

Saudi oil exports to China will rise in May after price fall

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China will surge in May from the prior month as a sharp price cut by the kingdom attracted more demand, sources said on Friday. State oil company Saudi Aramco will ship about 48 million barrels to China in May, a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners showed, up from April’s 35.5 […]

2HPYETY Shop window inside the Dubai Gold Souk in the Deira district. One of the most popular shopping destinations and gold markets in the Dubai.

GCC investors bank on gold as US-China tensions escalate

Gulf investors are joining the gold rush as they look for a safe haven amid the biggest swings in global markets since the Covid pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis. “Demand for gold in the region remains elevated despite the high price levels, likely a sign of rushing to safety,” Azza Al Habsi, an economist […]

Cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama. Carmakers in Japan, Europe and China could seek more Gulf buyers in the wake of US tariffs

Gulf car buyers may benefit from competing non-US manufacturers

The UAE and other Gulf markets may benefit from more competitively priced cars from China, Europe and Japan after the US imposed tariffs on imported vehicles this month and pledged to introduce similar duties on auto parts in May. The auto tariff has left international car exporters, of which China is the largest, scrambling to […]

Algerian energy minister Mohamed Arkab. Renewable sources currently account for just 1 percent of Algeria’s energy mix

Chinese companies spearhead Algeria’s solar drive

Algeria has broken ground on two new solar power projects over the past week as part of a drive to build 15 plants with the help of Chinese companies. The drive aims to largely expand the use of renewable energy and release oil and gas for export by the Opec producer. Renewable sources currently account […]

BF5Y47 A factory employee clamping and sodding small parts.

Oil demand growth to halve in wake of Trump tariffs

Global growth in demand for oil this year may be as much as 40 percent less than forecast before last week’s announcement by Donald Trump of a near tripling in effective tariff rates on US imports to their highest in a century, S&P and other oil analysts have said. On average, demand for oil was […]

Saudi Aramco has signed an agreement with Sinopec and Yasref for petrochemical expansion

Aramco and Sinopec move ahead with petrochemical expansion

Saudi Aramco says it has signed an agreement to move forward with expanding a petrochemical complex on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. The oil major, which trades on the Saudi stock exchange, has signed a venture framework agreement with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (Yasref) to carry out engineering […]

Natural gas flaring in Rumaila. Iraq is aiming to halt decades of gas flaring during oil production

Iraq offers gas site concessions amid power generation issues

Iraq is offering 15 natural gas concession sites to international investors as part of a post-conflict drive to develop its hydrocarbon resources and increase production capacity, the state-owned Iraq news agency reported. Opec’s second largest oil producer is prioritising the development of its gas deposits to stop the long-standing practice of burning them off, or […]

Aramco's oil field in the Empty Quarter, Shaybah, Saudi Arabia. A tariff war between China and the US is triggering fears of a global recession

Oil at four-year low as US hits China with 104% tariff

Oil prices dropped to their lowest in more than four years in early trade on Wednesday fuelled by an escalating tariff war between the US and China, the world’s two biggest economies, and a rising supply outlook. Brent futures lost $2.13, or 3.39 percent, to $60.69 a barrel as of 01:08 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate […]

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People November 9, 2017 in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China

China’s investors seek shelter from Trump in Saudi Arabia

President Trump’s trade war is strengthening economic ties between Saudi Arabia and China and encouraging Chinese investors to increase their holdings in the kingdom, analysts say.  As China and its near neighbours face the imposition of economic tariffs – “the most beautiful word in the world”, according to the 47th president – Saudi Arabia has […]