Latest news with #Singapore-based
Nikkei Asia
3 hours ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Don't let the near-term LNG glut derail long-term investment discipline
Vandana Hari is founder of Vanda Insights, a Singapore-based global energy market intelligence provider. The global gas market is navigating a complex intersection of short-term volatility and long-term structural shifts. For policymakers and industry leaders, the risk is not just misreading near-term noise, but losing sight of the enduring signals demanding sustained investment in LNG infrastructure and supply.
Time Out
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Chef-owner of Singapore's AMI Patisserie wins Pastry Talent of the Year Award 2025 by La Liste
If you haven't already savoured the delectable creations at Japanese dessert café AMI Patisserie – arguably Singapore's most scenic – then here's some news that should convince you to travel down for a bite. Its chef-owner Makoto Arami, an established third-generation sweets master hailing from Japan's Shiga prefecture, has just been crowned the Pastry Talent of the Year 2025 by global gourmet ranking guide La Liste, under the La Liste Pastry Special Awards. Take that as a testament to just how much his bakes are worth the calories. Chef Makoto is the only Singapore-based chef and one of the very few from Asia to be recognised in this year's La Liste Pastry Awards. In last year's edition, chef Janice Wong did our nation proud by being the first Singaporean to score the Pastry Innovation Award. Started in 2021, AMI Patisserie had humble beginnings as an online fine pastry business during the Covid-19 pandemic. After seeing fast success and a surge in popularity, Chef Makoto ventured out to start his current brick-and-mortar concept, marrying European pastry techniques with fresh seasonal Japanese ingredients. And this isn't any other Japanese sweets café, because AMI Patisserie is rooted in tsudo – a concept where desserts aren't simply meant to be the finishing touch to your meal, but rather, something to be enjoyed as and when you want, perhaps even as a meal on their own. As such, there is much emphasis placed on the whole experience of dining at AMI, and its zen, wood-furnished Kyoto-like space within the grounds of a colonial bungalow at Scotts Road is a reflection of that. Instead of being crammed in for the sake of profit maximisation, tables are spaced within comfortable distance of each other, and the floor-to-ceiling windows create an illusion of seamlessness between the indoors and the greenery outside. AMI Patisserie is located at 27 Scotts Road, a seven-minute walk from Newton MRT station. It's a stone's throw from other F&B establishments including The Bar Kakure, Iru Den, and Buona Terra. and see the full list of La Liste 2025 Pastry Special Award winners.
Mint
4 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
HSBC Said to Be Creating New Team for Tough Infrastructure Deals
(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc is setting up a dedicated team to finance infrastructure projects that would typically struggle to attract capital from other sources, according to people familiar with the matter. The corporate and institutional banking unit is looking for a global head of strategic financing partnerships, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private deliberations. HSBC started searching for someone to fill the role, which may be based in the US, a few months ago but has yet to settle on a candidate, they said. The role will report to Danny Alexander, who is chief executive of infrastructure finance and sustainability within HSBC's CIB unit, they said. A spokesperson for HSBC declined to comment. The new hire will build out a small team globally that will focus on so-called blended finance deals for infrastructure projects that pool together concessional and commercial capital, the people said. Blended finance is intended to channel a combination of private and public funds into sustainable projects, mostly in developing countries. A key challenge around such projects, however, is coming up with a risk-reward structure that can lure adequate levels of private capital. HSBC's new team will be tasked with establishing partnerships that are similar to a Singapore-based debt financing platform called Pentagreen Capital, one of the people said. Pentagreen, which HSBC established back in 2022 together with state investment fund Temasek Holdings Pte., is targeting assets related to renewable energy, storage, water and waste treatment as well as transport infrastructure. Citigroup Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. are among other lenders targeting new deals in the market for blended finance. Such transactions totaled $18 billion last year, down 21% from 2023, according to a report by data provider Convergence published in May. Blended finance faces a decline in public spending as the US pulls back from many of its developmental aid commitments. HSBC is creating its new blended-finance team as other parts of the bank undergo considerable upheaval. That includes a global restructuring program to cut costs by about $3 billion, a plan that includes ending businesses such as equity underwriting and advisory services outside the bank's core operations in Asia and the Middle East. --With assistance from Alastair Marsh. More stories like this are available on
Nikkei Asia
6 hours ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Jetstar Asia's closure highlights ASEAN's fierce LCC wars
NANA SHIBATA and NORMAN GOH JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR -- After operating for more than 20 years, Singapore-based budget airline Jetstar Asia announced its closure, citing increased competition and rising costs. The shutdown of Jetstar Asia, a subsidiary of Australia's flag carrier Qantas, highlights the difficulties that low-cost carriers (LCCs) face in Southeast Asia. Although the region's low-cost carrier market is expected to continue growing, operators are being forced to accept lower profit margins, with analysts predicting stiffer competition this year amid rising cost concerns.
West Australian
12 hours ago
- Business
- West Australian
How Xi's giant iron ore trader is shaking up a $200 billion market
Just three years after its founding, a Chinese government-run trader has become the single biggest force in the country's $200 billion market for iron ore imports. The rise of China Mineral Resources Group has allowed it to tame one of the world's wildest commodities markets — sending volatility in iron ore futures to a record low. It's also playing a role in negotiations with global mining companies, potentially shifting the balance of power between China's vast steel industry and major suppliers like Rio Tinto and BHP. CMRG is transforming a market that has been a thorn in the side of Chinese leaders for 15 years. Now its clout is such that its stockpiles have become akin to a national reserve, to be released when steelmakers are struggling or built up when prices are cheap, according to people familiar with its activities. 'The existence of CMRG is primarily aimed at fundamentally solving the problem of excessive dependence on iron ore imports,' said Bancy Bai, a ferrous metals analyst at consultancy Horizon Insights. 'It has established iron ore inventories in over a dozen major domestic ports.' Chinese authorities have long tried to smooth market fluctuations in markets ranging from local stocks and the yuan to key commodities, but iron ore has been an especially tricky market to manage. As the main raw material for China's one-billion-tonne steel industry, price spikes risk fuelling inflation in Asia's biggest economy. Ever since 2010 — when a system of annually negotiated contracts was ditched in favour of floating spot rates — Chinese officials and steel-mill executives have bemoaned the pricing power of iron ore majors like Rio, BHP and Brazil's Vale. During a COVID-era price surge in 2021, for example, the market became a key target for intervention as officials raised trading costs, censored industry research, urged inventory sales, and cajoled traders to halt 'malicious' speculation. President Xi Jinping's government created CMRG in 2022 with a mission to reshape China's relationship with its iron ore suppliers, taking on an intermediary role rather than leave China's fragmented steel industry at the mercy of miners and traders. CMRG is now the biggest trader of the commodity after elbowing out other players, according to market participants. It also represents more than half of China's steelmakers in talks with suppliers such as Rio Tinto and BHP, they said. Price action has been unusually placid in the past six months. While China's slowing economy and the downtrend in steel demand are a major reason, observers say CMRG has also played a role. 'A shift in marginal bargaining power from miners to mills was inevitable once peak steel passed in China,' said Joel Parsons, a Singapore-based portfolio manager at Drakewood Prospect Fund. 'The interesting question is to what extent CMRG may be accelerating the process.' Iron ore is bought and sold in different ways: on the spot market for individual, up-front shipments, or via longer-term term contracts linked to daily reference prices. After a halting start, CMRG has pushed into the spot market and had over 40 cargoes on the water as of June 19, according to an offer sheet reviewed by Bloomberg. Those included products from BHP and Rio. Vale has been absent. The Brazilian company hasn't struck spot deals with CMRG because it believes long-term contracts with Chinese mills are sufficient, said a person familiar with the matter. So far, none of the big miners currently supplies CMRG in term contracts. Talks on doing so were continuing, Simon Trott, Rio's chief executive of iron ore, said recently. CMRG, Rio, BHP and Vale all declined to comment. One advantage is that CMRG has more tolerance for losses because it's state-run, and as its presence has grown, more established trading houses have retreated, according to people familiar with the matter. The group has helped 'keep prices at the level they should be with supply and demand, rather than having those short term spikes,' Aurelia Waltham, analyst at Goldman Sachs, told a conference in Singapore last month. In an earlier note, the bank said CMRG could be holding as much as 20 million tonnes of ore at ports, based on conversations with steel mills. For those mills, getting on board with CMRG as a reliable, steady supplier is a no-brainer. But for miners, the consolidation is likely to weaken their bargaining power, setting the stage for a tussle over pricing for a long time to come. 'The unique structure of the iron ore market, with its concentrated supply from very low-cost producers and the specific quality demands, means that CMRG's leverage, while enhanced, will not be absolute,' said David Cachot, iron ore research director at Wood Mackenzie. Bloomberg
