BHP Billiton approached Anglo American to create the world's largest copper producer.
Yesterday, mining giant BHP Billiton has offered to buy rival Anglo American (ex-its South African iron ore and platinum assets) for USD 39 bn. According to Bloomberg, if the deal proves successful, “BHP-Anglo could control 11% of the mined copper supply”. This deal highlights copper’s dominance as the primary metal in the energy transition and underscores the significant consequences of the recent disruptive events affecting global supply. Copper’s upward trajectory is accelerating.
State Fund added China ETFs to lift sentiment during rout
According to Bloomberg, China’s sovereign wealth fund has “likely bought at least USD 43 bn of onshore exchange-traded funds in the first quarter” vs. USD 6.8 bn in the second half of 2023. The extent of the buying provides insight into the government willingness to stabilize the markets during challenging periods.
Commodities are currently undervalued vs. equities
Source: Vontobel
Despite facing the typical challenges of a frontier market, Vietnam offers many attractive characteristics contributing to its rapid economic growth.
Thanks to its young and well-educated workforce and its competitive labor costs, the country has emerged as one the main beneficiaries of the “China+1” trend; it is one of the preferred destinations of global manufacturers looking to diversify their supply chains away from China. Source: Lumen Vietnam Fund
Electric Vehicles: batteries discharged
The end of internal combustion engines is scheduled for 2035 in the EU and Switzerland, yet electric cars sales are not taking off mainly due to their steep prices as well as drivers’ apprehensions surrounding the sparse recharging infrastructure. The mounting skepticism toward electric vehicles has cost Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr his position, last week, as he had heavily invested in electric vehicles only to reverse course. Apple has also recently halted its electric vehicle project after sinking USD 1 bn into it. For those who take the step, the preference goes to affordable Chinese models. China’s BYD has already overtaken Tesla becoming the world's largest EV manufacturer. In the face of this Chinese wave, western manufacturers are struggling to keep pace, and Tesla’s profitability has been declining due to the massive price reductions it has been making. In light of this shifting landscape, a question arises: should Europe and Switzerland reevaluate their strategy and consider easing or postponing their ban on combustion engines cars?
One billion obese in the world according to a large study published today by British medical journal The Lancet
The study showed an acceleration of the epidemic in low-income countries. Even more worrying, in 30 years, the obesity rate among children and adolescents has quadrupled and doubled among adults. NovoNordisk and Eli Lilly the two main pharma companies in the weight loss race
Just like Japan last year, yesterday, the Korean authorities have officially launched a corporate reform plan named the “Corporate Value-Up Program” in order to address the “Korean discount” issue.
Companies trading below book value have been asked to improve shareholders returns, albeit on a voluntary basis. Stricter measures could follow. For the time being, the country is benefiting from the semiconductor recovery cycle. Source : Bloomberg
