Petrobras and Yara Sign Agreement for Diesel Exhaust Fluid Sales in Brazil
Petrobras, Brazil's state oil company, has signed agreements with ANSA and fertilizer firm Yara. Yara could sell AUS 32 diesel-exhaust fluid in Brazil. Brazil imports AUS32, or 32% solution of aqueous Urea, to reduce the emissions from diesel cars. ANSA will produce AUS 32 in its plant in Parana in the south of Brazil, which should be operational again in May. This is also another step in Petrobras's goal to enter the fertilizer industry. Petrobras stated that Yara will supply the urea for AUS 32, and then sell the finished product.
GE Signs Exelon In Its Largest Power-plant Software Deal
General Electric Co has signed up U.S. energy utility Exelon Corp to use its full software set to analyze and manage power plants in 48 states, the largest GE deployment in the power sector so far, the companies said on Tuesday. The Exelon deal, aimed at wringing greater efficiency from the business of generating electricity, marks another advance in GE's effort to lift annual digital technology revenue to $14 billion in 2020 from $5 billion in 2015, across its many industrial products. It also is one of the three largest sales of GE's Predix industrial operating system so far.
U.S. Rail Freight Falls as Coal Declines
Freight carried by major U.S. railroads fell by 7 percent in the second quarter of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014, confirming that large parts of the industrial economy are in recession. The major Class 1 railroads carried 431 billion ton-miles of freight in the three months ending June, down from 463 billion ton-miles in 2014, according to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board . Changes in freight volumes reflect broader difficulties in the industrial economy. Rail operators have been struck by a perfect storm which has hit both their traditional and new business lines (http://tmsnrt.rs/1GJfz89).
GE Energy Management Head to Retire
General Electric Co said on Monday it would bring its software and IT capabilities under one unit called GE Digital and announced a broader management shake-up, including the retirement of the head of its energy management division. GE, which under Chief Executive Jeff Immelt has made a big bet on marrying software and analytics with its industrial products, will bring all of the digital capabilities from across the company into one organization, it said. The unit will be led by Bill Ruh, who has been GE's software vice president and will become chief digital officer. The U.S.
GE to Defend Alstom Power Unit Buy at EU Hearing
General Electric has asked for a hearing of EU and national antitrust regulators in order to argue the merits of its bid for Alstom's power unit, the U.S. conglomerate said on Saturday. "We have requested an oral hearing," GE spokesman Jim Healy said. The move came after the European Commission warned the company earlier this month that the deal, its biggest ever and a key element of its expansion into industrial products and away from finance, would harm competition. Senior officials from the EU competition authority, their counterparts from EU agencies and rivals are expected to attend the closed-door hearing.
ICBC Finances EXMAR for FLNG project
EXMAR stated that on June 23rd 2015 under the witness of King Philippe of Belgium and President Xi Jinping, Mr. Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of Board of ICBC and Mr. Nicolas Saverys, CEO of EXMAR, signed the financing agreement for the world’s first floating LNG unit (FLNG – Floating Liquefaction and Storage Unit). ICBC will provide financing to EXMAR for the FLNG project in a total amount of USD 200,000,000. up to now, and also the highest technology project. It is known that Belgium is China’s 5th biggest trading partner in the European Union…
Keppel Appoints Vestring to its Board
Mr Vestring, 50, is a partner in Bain & Company's (Bain) Southeast Asia office. Of his 24-year career with Bain, Mr Vestring has spent over two decades in Asia advising leading companies on portfolio strategy, growth, mergers and acquisitions, merger integration, organisation and performance improvement. The companies he has advised include those in shipping, offshore & marine, industrial products, automotive, infrastructure, commodities, airlines and telecoms. Mr Vestring works closely with Asian and multinational companies to grow organically and inorganically across Asia.
S.Korea Producer Prices Deepen Fall as Oil Declines
South Korea's producer prices in November fell for a fourth straight month and at a quicker pace compared to the previous month in annual terms, central bank data showed on Wednesday, as global oil prices tumbled. The producer price index for November fell 0.9 percent from a year ago, the Bank of Korea said, quickening from a revised 0.8 percent decline seen in October. This matched a 0.9 percent fall seen in February earlier this year. The drop in producer prices was due to a fall in industrial products, which have the heaviest weighting on the scale. All other major sub-indices rose in November in annual terms.
Alstom Board Could Decide on GE Offer Sunday
The board of French engineering group Alstom will meet on Sunday to discuss a possible sale of its global power division to U.S. industrial products giant General Electric, French daily Le Figaro said on its website. "The project is so advanced that an Alstom board meeting, called for late on Sunday, could accept it," Le Figaro said without citing sources. The paper also said that GE Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt was set to meet with French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Sunday ahead of the Alstom board meeting. Alstom declined all comment on the report.
