Business

Iran has sold 70 tons of heavy water, a material used in nuclear reactors, to Russia and the US and is in talks with other countries, Iranian Vice-President and Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi told IRNA news agency on Tuesday. The official confirmed the statement by Russian corporation Rosatom’s CEO, Sergey Kiriyenko, that Iran had delivered 38 tons of heavy water to Russia, adding that the delivery had been completed 7-8 days ago, TASS reported. “Only eight months have passed since the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program began to be implemented. Other countries, in particular from Europe, are also displaying interest in Iranian heavy water,” Salehi said.

Russia will lift the ban on supplies of fruit and vegetables, expect potatoes, from Egypt within 3-5 days, a source in the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance told TASS Tuesday. Rosselkhoznadzor plans to carry out inspections in Egypt. The country reportedly exported 533,000 tons of agricultural products to Russia in 2015.

Developing economies in Asia are holding steady and will grow at the earlier forecast rate of 5.7 percent this year and next, buoyed by resilience in the region’s two largest economies, China and India, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday. The region’s developing economies grew 5.9 percent in 2015, and the bank was retaining its March forecasts, an ADB report said. China’s economy is forecast to grow by 6.6 percent in 2016 and 6.4 percent in 2017, or 0.1 percentage point more than was forecast in March, due to strong fiscal and monetary stimulus to boost domestic demand. Steady progress on reforms is helping India realize its growth targets, the report said, with earlier forecasts of 7.4 percent growth in 2016 and 7.8 percent in 2017 unchanged. (AP)

European stocks reversed course mid-morning on Tuesday as weakness in banks, led by another drop to record lows for Deutsche Bank, once again weighed on markets. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down by 0.5 percent, a full percentage point lower from the day’s highs. The STOXX Europe 600 banks index was down 1 percent, while the euro zone bank index fell 1.4 percent. Deutsche Bank hit new record lows, falling nearly 3 percent to extend losses following a 7.5 percent slump in its stock price on Monday, after Deutsche Bank said it had no need for German government help with a $14 billion US demand to settle claims it missold mortgage-backed securities. (Reuters)

Greenpeace activists on Tuesday blocked operations of Malaysian palm oil trader IOI at Rotterdam Port, accusing it of forest destruction and child labor, but other traffic at Europe’s busiest port was unaffected, a port spokesman said. Ten activists are blocking IOI, one of the world’s biggest producers and traders of palm oil, from accessing its refinery, and the Greenpeace ship Esperanza is preventing oil from being unloaded from incoming tankers, Greenpeace said. The action was focused only on one mooring place used for palm oil coming from Indonesia. Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb had traveled to the spot in order to seek a compromise. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Tuesday that talks among OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers in Algiers this week are consultative, casting doubt on the chances of any policy decision during the meeting. “We are optimistic about the fundamentals. The market is trending in the right direction, slower than what we had hoped for a few months ago but the fundamentals are moving in the right direction,” Falih told reporters. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum, which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria from September 26-28. Non-OPEC producer Russia is also attending. (Reuters)