Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. The UK has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use. The first vaccinations are expected to start this week. Following a week of intense negotiations, UK and EU negotiators issued a statement saying that “conditions for an agreement are not met, due to significant divergences on level playing field, governance and fisheries”.
Electronics and automotive products lift global merchandise trade in Q3
The third quarter of 2020 saw a partial recovery of world trade in manufactured goods, led by electronics, textiles and automotive products, as production resumed and lockdown measures were eased in major economies, new WTO statistics show. However, despite substantial improvement in recent months, merchandise trade is still well below 2019 levels. Read more →
Deutsche Bank sees rebound in trade finance volumes post Covid-19
Deutsche Bank sees global trade finance volumes rebounding by more than 7 percent in 2021. Deutsche Bank’s Head of Trade Finance and Lending, Daniel Schmand forecasts that trade finance will be one of the winners in a post-Covid-19 environment. Read more →
Gunvor Launches New US $540 Million BioDiesel Borrowing Base
Gunvor Group Ltd has successfully closed a new US $540 million borrowing base facility to support the Company’s biodiesel trading activity. The Facility drew strong support among Gunvor’s banking partners, which aligned with its strategy to promote cleaner products with greener feedstock components complying with EU climate targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more →
UK-EU talks to resume in final push for trade deal
Talks between the UK and EU are due to resume in Brussels in a final bid to reach a post-Brexit trade deal. Disputes over fishing and business competition rules are still going on, but the UK government said there was “still time to reach an agreement”. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday evening. Read more →
UK exporters to get extra aid to spur post-Brexit trade
British exporters will be given extra financial help by the government to encourage trade after Brexit and take advantage of new free trade agreements. Exporters will be able to apply for larger loans from the UK’s five high street banks backed by a partial state guarantee. This can be used to cover costs linked to exports but also to scale up business operations. Read more →
SMEs urge for preparation period on new EU-UK relations
The SMEunited General Assembly calls for an urgent agreement on EU-UK relations. They also insist on a phased implementation of any agreement of at least three months for SMEs to adapt to the new situation. Four weeks before the end of the transition period, SMEs still do not have clarity about the future rules. Read more →
SWIFT and Lloyds Banking Group announce world’s first go-live of gpi
SWIFT announced the activation of the world’s first live gpi Instant connection, a new service that enables consumers and businesses to send payments in seconds across borders, around the clock via their financial institutions. Lloyds Banking Group is the first to go live with the service and the UK is the first market where it is available. Read more →
