March 04, 2020
United States:
U.S. Steel Mill Finds a Savior in China But Rivals See a Trojan Horse
“Along the industrial corridor that bends with the Ohio River north and west of Pittsburgh, the future looked bright for hundreds of new blue-collar jobs when Allegheny Technologies Inc. and China’s Tsingshan Holding Group Co. announced they had the governmental green light to produce stainless steel together. What the companies didn’t foresee: that President Donald Trump would invoke U.S. national security two years ago and roll out broad-based steel tariffs in what he portrayed as a bid to save American industry from unfair foreign competition. It turned their investment into what Pittsburgh-based Allegheny now says is a money-losing debacle.”
Europe:
Swiss Negative Rates Make Homes Unaffordable, Credit Suisse Says
“Switzerland’s negative interest rates make owning a home increasingly unaffordable in a country where a single-family property can cost more than 10 times the average annual salary, according to research by Credit Suisse Group AG. Amid a declining threshold at which banks start to charge savers negative interest on cash balances, investor are looking to the property market for positive returns and low risk from buy-to-let investments, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank said in a property market report on Wednesday.”
Asia:
Hong Kong Business Outlook Plunges to Record Low on Virus
“Hong Kong’s business outlook fell to a record low in February as the coronavirus outbreak snuffed out an emerging stabilization in the city’s battered economy. The purchasing managers’ index for Hong Kong’s economy fell to 33.1, dropping below the previous low in April 2003, according to IHS Markit. The PMI averaged 39.9 so far for the first quarter, the report said. The gauge has been below the 50 level that divides expansion and contraction since April 2018, though it had risen in December and January.”
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