Google’s owner Alphabet lost just over $500bn in value on Thursday after it revealed its own artificial intelligence (AI) summaries were hitting search advertising revenue.   Chief business officer, Philipp Schindler said Google’s “AI mode”, where it answers questions conversationally, was eating into the money it makes from ads which appear next to results to […]

Families in China are for the first time supporting more elderly people than children, the country’s government has said.   Official data released in the last week, external show the ratio of China’s dependent elderly people compared to the working age population rose to 23% last year, overtaking the figure for children, which stood at […]

The US Federal Reserve has held interest rates steady at 3.75% – 4%.   The decision comes within a week of the midterm elections and after the central bank raised interest rates for the first time in three years at its September meeting.   “The overwhelming consensus, the overwhelming judgement, is that what we’ve done […]

European polymer prices rose over the week to 23rd October. There were increases of between 10 and 70 EUR per tonne reported in the prices of HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PVC and ABS. In the UK, prices fell across some grades as the Pound gained value against the Euro.   Asian polymers were mixed with increases […]

Qatar’s state-owned energy company, Qatar Energy has signed two long-term agreements with Cheniere Energy, the largest US exporter of gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), to purchase up to 4 million tonnes of LNG annually, Qatar Energy has announced.   Under the sale and purchase agreements, Qatar Energy will source LNG from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass […]

The Trump administration is lifting some of its 50% tariffs on Canadian goods two weeks before the midterm elections, after a Republican candidate in a key Senate race said she had lobbied for the change.   Starting on 30th October, tariffs will be eased on products including “plywood sheets, some paper products, certain machinery and […]

China’s economic growth picked up in the three months to the end of September, rebounding from a three-year low as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom helped boost exports.   The world’s second largest economy grew by 4.5% in the third quarter, up from the previous period but below the 5% expansion recorded from January to […]

European polymer prices were largely unchanged over the week to 16th October. There was an increase of 20 EUR per tonne reported in the price of ABS. In the UK, prices fell across most grades as the Pound gained value against the Euro.   Asian polymers rose with increases of between 20 and 50 USD […]

Russia has accused Ukraine of attacking an oil refinery on Thursday after President Volodymyr Zelensky said such strikes, halted at the request of the US, would resume.   Zelensky said he had restricted attacks for three days while Russia continued striking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. “We’re done,” he commented.   Russian President Vladimir Putin said Kyiv […]

A long-delayed road bridge linking China and North Korea has opened, Chinese state media report, as trade ties improve between the neighbours.   China is North Korea’s largest trading partner and a lifeline against heavy international sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.   The New Yalu River Bridge spans 3km from the Chinese border city […]