Britons voted in a referendum on Thursday to leave the European Union. Following are answers to key questions on what will happen next in Britain’s relations with the bloc:

1. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

The EU is in shock and entering uncharted territory. No member state has ever left and Article 50 of the EU treaty, which sets out how a state can exit the bloc, offers little detail. Although it provides a sketchy legal framework for a two-year period of withdrawal (see below), many fear the process can quickly become acrimonious, disrupting the economy and European affairs across the board.

Cameron has said he will notify the Union “immediately” that Britain is leaving by invoking Article 50. But it is not clear how quickly Britain will set that two-year clock ticking and the EU itself cannot, officials believe, trigger the process itself.

Having lost, Cameron faces huge pressure from his divided Conservative party to resign, although he should remain premier until the party elects a successor. Pro-Brexit potential successors may try to prevent him launching the departure process right away. EU leaders have hoped Cameron might deliver formal notice when they meet him at a summit on Tuesday but many seem willing to give Britain several weeks to get organised.

Some Brexit campaigners have suggested Britain should wait before triggering Article 50 to give more time for negotiation, possibly even to win better EU membership terms or to secure a deal to retain British access to EU markets once it has left.

EU leaders have ruled out further talks on membership — “Leave means leave,” they say — and many want a quick, two-year divorce while negotiating terms for a future, arms-length relationship may take much longer. However, major EU powers appear keen to see as orderly a transition as possible to a new relationship. That could involve Article 50 negotiations being extended beyond two years to allow time for a broader deal. But such an extension requires the consent of all 28 member states, and reaching that unanimity could be problematic.

A deal Cameron struck with EU leaders in February to curb immigration, protect London finance interests from the euro zone and opt out of “ever closer union” is killed by the referendum.

If no treaty is agreed, EU law simply ceases to apply to Britain two years after it gives formal notice it is leaving.

Until a departure treaty is signed — which requires assent from Britain and a majority of the remaining 27 states weighted by population — Britain remains, in principle, a full member of the EU but will be excluded from discussions affecting its exit terms. In practice, many expect British ministers and lawmakers to be rapidly frozen out of much of the Union’s affairs.

Some Brexit campaigners have also said Britain should act more quickly, for example to stop funding the EU budget or curb immigration from EU states. That could provoke EU reprisals.

“The Article 50 process is a divorce: who gets the house, who gets the kids, who gets the bank accounts,” a senior EU official said, referring to priorities such as settling the EU budget and the status of Britons living in other EU states and of EU citizens in Britain — several million people in total.

Failing to stick to Article 50 would be “messy divorce territory”, the official told Reuters: “It is spouses, instead of working through lawyers, throwing dishes at each other.”

An array of laws and EU entitlements will cease to apply to British business and citizens, creating what Brexit campaigners say will be opportunities for more growth and more selective immigration but which Cameron has said will do long-term damage to the economy and Britain’s global influence.

New trade barriers would hurt both sides’ economies. But the EU fears a political “domino effect” would cost more long-term.

2. WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?

European Parliament leaders meet at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT).

European Council President Donald Tusk, who will chair the summit next week and has spoken to all the leaders in the days before the vote, will deliver a statement in the name of the Council, the EU’s governing body, once the result is official.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU chief executive, hosts Tusk and European Parliament President Martin Schulz at his Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels at 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT). Also present will be Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose government holds the rotating EU presidency.

Look for a mantra of Three Rs: Regret – at losing nearly a fifth of the EU economy and more of its military and global clout; Respect – for the will of the British people; and Resolve – to keep the rest of the Union together. Leaders will also remind Britain that it remains a full member for the time being.

Foreign ministers are gathering for a regular meeting in Luxembourg. The German and French foreign ministers will meet counterparts from the other four EU founders — Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. All the bloc’s ministers will discuss the vote over lunch from 1 p.m.

Tusk has plans, as yet unconfirmed, to fly to key capitals, Rome, Berlin and Paris over the weekend to discuss the next steps. Foreign ministers of the founding six may meet in Berlin on Saturday. EU envoys meet in Brussels on Sunday and Juncker may bring forward to Sunday from Monday a meeting of the 28 members of the Commission. French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet in Berlin on Monday.

Britain’s commissioner, close Cameron ally Jonathan Hill, faces being stripped of his sensitive portfolio overseeing banks and financial services. He may choose to resign. That would allow a new British premier to appoint someone else to the Commission, albeit for a limited period until Britain leaves.

Some euro zone finance ministers have said they may meet at the weekend, though Eurogroup officials say there are no plans.

EU leaders meet in Brussels for a 24-hour summit starting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. EU officials expect Cameron to report on the vote and what Britain will do next, then go home that evening.

Leaders may agree to meet again in July.

3. WHAT IS ARTICLE 50?

This 261-word section of the Lisbon Treaty has the following key phrases:

– A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention … The Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union.

– It shall be concluded … by the Council, acting by a qualified majority.

– The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification … unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.

– The member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions … or in decisions concerning it.

4. WHERE DOES THE EU GO FROM HERE?

The Union needs quickly to fill a 7-billion-euro hole in its 145-billion-euro annual budget, which is currently fixed out to 2020, as it loses Britain’s contributions while saving on what Britons receive from EU accounts.

The EU will also want to clarify as quickly as possible the status of firms and individuals currently using their EU rights to trade, work and live on either side of a new UK-EU frontier.

Britain is likely give up its six-month presidency of EU ministerial councils, due to start in July next year. Its place may be filled by Estonia or, possibly Malta or Croatia.

EU leaders may push for a quick show of unity on holding the bloc together in the face of eurosceptics inspired by the result in Britain — including National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who leads polls for next April’s French presidential election.

Divisions between Berlin and Paris on managing the euro zone probably rule out a big move on that front before both hold elections in 2017. Closer EU defence cooperation, without sceptical Britain, may be revived. A major EU security policy review is already on the summit agenda as is a new push to tighten control on irregular immigration from Africa.

Many leaders caution against alienating voters by moving too fast on integration, which they say has alienated voters. Summit chair Tusk wants to launch a formal process of reflection on where the Union has failed to connect with people.

5. SO WHAT CHANGES?

In principle, nothing changes immediately. Britons remain EU citizens and business continues as before. In practice, many believe trade, investment and political decisions will quickly anticipate British departure from the bloc. The EU could also face a Britain breaking apart if europhile Scots make another push for independence and seek to join the EU on their own.

There is a “Brussels consensus” that Britain must be made an example of for leaving and will face a chilly future, cast out to perhaps talk its way back later into some kind of trade access in return for concessions such as free migration from inside the bloc and contributions to the EU budget – things which Brexit voters want to end but which the likes of Norway and Switzerland have accepted in varying forms.

However, cautious diplomats do not rule out surprise turns.

http://www.mineweb.com/news-fast-news/five-questions-britain-europe-brexit-vote/

---

Attached Files

Commodities were swept up in global market turmoil as investors sold off growth-related assets including oil and copper and sought haven in precious metals as U.K. voters opted to leave the European Union after more than four decades.

The Bloomberg Commodities Index fell as much as 2 percent, the most in more than a month, as Brent crude futures slumped 6.6 percent and copper in London tumbled 4 percent. Gold rose the most in almost 8 years and silver rallied in its biggest intraday gain in 18 months. BBC projections showed voters backing “Leave” by 52 percent to 48 percent as of 5:11 a.m. London time, in a surprising rejection of Europe’s postwar political and economic order.

As results rolled in to show voters in the world’s fifth-largest economy opted to leave the EU, markets across the globe plunged into turmoil. The British pound slid to the lowest since 1985 and Asian stocks tumbled while safe-haven assets including U.S. Treasuries rose. Energy and raw material companies led losses in equities across Asia.

“It’s a big shock, the fear is spreading,” Kang Yoo Jin, a Seoul-based commodities analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co., said by phone. “Everything else in commodities except precious metals is getting slammed right now as the general expectation throughout this week was that Brexit won’t happen. Once markets open in the U.S., it could be a ‘Black Friday’ as there is a chance that prices will be hit harder.”

Volatile Markets

Energy and industrial metals, where demand is tied to expectations for global economic growth, were hardest hit. Brent crude traded 5.9 percent lower at $47.90 a barrel, after tumbling the most since April 18. Copper slid the most since Jan. 7 to $4,588 a metric ton and nickel fell as much as 4.7 percent. Agricultural commodities had smaller losses, with wheat down as much as 2.4 percent in Chicago and corn losing as much as 2.6 percent.

Precious metals were the lone bright spot, as investors expect them to hold their value in times of economic turmoil. Gold rose as much as 8.1 percent, the most since Sept. 17, 2008, days after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy at the height of the global financial crisis. Silver gained as much as 6 percent, the most since Dec. 1, 2014. In a sign of risk aversion, yields on U.S. 10-year Treasury notes slid.

“I have never seen volatility like this in my whole life,” Bob Takai, Tokyo-based president of Sumitomo Corp. Global Research Co., said by phone. “It’s definitely a flight to quality assets. In these kinds of circumstances, gold, and also silver a little bit, are the typical places to hide investors’ money.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-24/commodities-reel-in-world-market-tumult-as-u-k-votes-for-brexit

---

Attached Files

A Chilean court ordered that a prominent former senator be placed under nighttime house arrest, while authorities investigate him for possible tax fraud and bribery.

Pablo Longueira, who was a presidential candidate in Chile's 2013 election, is accused by prosecutors of receiving close to $1 million from specialty mining company SQM from 2009 to 2013, then hiding the donations through falsified receipts in contravention of Chilean law. He also is accused of accepting bribes while working on a 2010 law that regulates mining concessions.

The order for Longueira's arrest came late on Wednesday night, six days after a court jailed conservative senator Jaime Orpis after he was convicted of falsifying donation receipts.

It also comes the day after Chile's public prosecutor said it was investigating a former high-level cabinet official in leftist President Michelle Bachelet's government for bribery and tax offenses.

Longueira has maintained his innocence.

"I understand the charges and I don't agree with them," he said during a brief appearance before a judge.

The current scandal caused Longueira to resign in March from the UDI party, which was founded by right-wing allies of former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The UDI, like several other major political parties in Chile, has been wracked by a series of money-in-politics scandals in the past year and a half. That in turn has tarnished Chile's reputation for transparency and left Chileans disenchanted with politicians across the spectrum.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-crime-idUSKCN0Z91LO

---

Attached Files

Brazil police arrested former minister Paulo Bernardo and raided Workers Party headquarters in Sao Paulo on Thursday in the latest stage of its massive probe into corruption at state-run companies, Globo TV and O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper said.

Bernardo was planning minister and communications minister during Workers Party administrations for about 10 years. Police also carried out searches at the house of his wife, Senator Gleisi Hoffmann, Globo TV said.

Bernardo and Hoffmann were indicted in March on charges of corruption for their suspected involvement in an illegal campaign finance scheme uncovered in 2014. They have denied any wrongdoing.

Brazilian police were not immediately available to comment on the reports.

Some of Brazil's most powerful executives and politicians face charges or are in jail for taking kickbacks in public works and funneling part of the money to fund political campaigns.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics-idUSKCN0Z913Q

Manfred Weber, a senior German conservative MEP and a close ally of Angela Merkel, has warned Britain will receive "no special treatment" and must leave the EU within two years.

He writes in four tweets: "We respect and regret the decision of the British voters. It causes major damage to both sides.

Manfred Weber, a senior German conservative MEP and a close ally of Angela Merkel CREDIT: EPA

"This was a British vote, not a European vote. Co-operation within Europe is a question of self-assertion of the continent.

"We want a better and smarter Europe. We have to convince the people and bring Europe back to them.

"Exit negotiations should be concluded within two years at max. There cannot be any special treatment. Leave means leave."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/24/eu-referendum-results-live-brexit-wins-as-britain-votes-to-leave/

The average price of Bitcoin across all exchanges is 590.33 USD

@bitcoinprice

Australia's No. 1 telecommunications firm Telstra Corp Ltd has bought a mining technology company for an undisclosed sum, looking to tap the resource sector's appetite for cost-cutting in the face of slumping commodity prices.

Markets for everything from oil to iron ore have collapsed from record highs a few years ago due to swelling supply and a slowing economy in major consumer China, prompting mining companies to adopt new technologies which automate processes and boost production.

The decision by Australia's seventh-largest company to invest in resources automation will likely spur new interest in the sector, while offering miners new ways to save money.

Telstra in a statement on Thursday said it had bought resources-focused wireless technology company CBO Telecommunications Pty Ltd and hired the former chief automation researcher at mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd, Eric Nettleton, as the basis of a new mining technology unit.

A Telstra spokesman declined to give the value of the purchase.

"This downturn has created a once in a lifetime shift, where miners are looking to technology innovation," Telstra's head of global industries David Keenan said in the statement.

The company also hired a former head of technology and innovation at South Africa-listed Anglo American Platinum Ltd , Jeannette McGill.

http://www.reuters.com/article/telstra-mining-idUSL4N19F00Z

A newly commissioned gas-fired power plant in Bouchain, France has been rated the world’s most efficient by Guinness World Records.

The 605 MW combined-cycle plant, which was commissioned on Friday by operator EDF, features the first use of GE’s 9HA.01 gas turbine (pictured) which has achieved an efficiency rate of up to 66.22 per cent.

The turbine underwent validation testing in January at GE’s test centre in Greenville, US and in May the first 9HA.01 production unit was completed at GE’s gas turbine manufacturing facility in Belfort in France.

GE said the turbine is capable of reaching full power from a cold start in around 30 minutes.

On a press call, GE Power president and CEO Steve Bolze said the company has received confirmed orders for an additional 39 turbines, while 90 are on the “technically selected” list for projects around the world.

Bolze emphasized Bouchain’s status as part of the company’s Digital Power Plant scheme, with a digital control system featuring an increased number of sensors. He said the plant ushers in “a new era of combined-cycle power generation and digital integration”.

The company hopes to achieve up to 65 per cent efficiency by the early 2020s, as well as increased output and flexibility, according to Bolze.

The Bouchain plant, formerly a 500 MW coal-fired plant, was retired in 2015. GE said the new plant’s footprint is 25 per cent of the original plant’s, but its output is higher.  

“Today we are making history with this power plant for the future,” said Bolze. “We are thrilled to be acknowledged by Guinness World Records for powering the world’s most efficient combined-cycle power plant, and we are also very proud of the industry-leading flexibility and reliability this turbine provides to our customers. We look forward to continuing to work with EDF and providing services to ensure the ongoing high performance of the Bouchain plant in the years to come.”

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2016/06/french-gas-fired-plant-sets-efficiency-record.html

---

Attached Files

Together with announcing a major management reshuffle and division reorganization, Rio Tinto revived Tuesday rumours of an incoming $9 billion BHP-style spinoff.

Soon-to-be Rio’s chief executive, Jean-Sébastien Jacques, overhauled the group business divisions, leaving its least loved units — coal, uranium salt, borates and its Iron Ore Co. of Canada — under a new umbrella branded as the “energy and minerals” business.

The news division seems like a portfolio of unwanted assets that could be ready for a spinoff, said Paul Gait, a London-based analyst at Bernstein.

The new division, global asset management firm Sanford C. Bernstein believes, could soon be spun off, just as BHP did to its manganese, coal, alumina and nickel assets last year, when creating South32.

“This seems like a portfolio of unwanted assets that could be ready for a spinoff,” Paul Gait, a London-based analyst at Bernstein, said in a note quoted byBloomberg. “This division looks a lot like the South32 assets previously in BHP’s portfolio.”

The energy and minerals unit will be head by London-based Alan Davies, once tipped as one Jacques’s rivals to become chief executive.

It includes Rio’s iron ore operations in Canada, which are much smaller and less profitable than its western Australian mines.

The company resolved not to sell those mines three years ago, just before iron ore prices plummeted.

The rumours come as the world’s second largest miner also said Tuesday it would further cut its gross debt by $3 billion, after accepting the purchase of $1.25bn under its maximum tender offer, which began June 7, and $1.75 billion under its any-and-all offer.

Like most miners, Rio has been implementing a series of cost-cutting measures, which included selling off assets to help cut its debt load.

As of December last year, the group’s net debt sat at $13.7 billion.

http://www.mining.com/rio-tinto-may-planning-9bn-spinoff-la-bhp/

Overnight the bitcoin buying appears to have finally stumbled, and after hitting $785 just a few days ago, the digital currency tumbled over 10% earlier, and as of this moment was trading at around $640, which incidentally is where it was trading just ten days ago.

There was no immediate catalyst for the resent drop, although if Chinese trading has been the reason for the recent surge, it is just as likely that Chinese traders, who are known to turn on a dime, simply became sellers as they chased the new momentum this time lower. Also worth noting: while rapidly closing, the Chinese bitcoin premium is still present and was about 4% higher than the coinbase price.

Ironically, the move lower takes place at the same time as the Winklevoss twins, sensing renewed excitement about the digital currency,told CNBC that they are expanding Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by the duo, into the U.K.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-21/bitcoin-tumbles-10

Marcelo Odebrecht, the former chief executive of Latin America's largest construction company, will admit in plea bargain testimony that he personally oversaw illegal campaign donations for suspended President Dilma Rousseff in 2010 and 2014, newspaper Folha de S. Paulo said on Tuesday.

The newspaper said Odebrecht will acknowledge having warned Rousseff on May 26, 2015 in Mexico that prosecutors were about to discover illegal transfers to Rousseff's re-election strategist, Joao Santana.

Odebrecht was arrested 24 days later as police deepened an investigation on a massive kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.

Folha said that under the terms of the plea agreement Odebrecht will testify that Rousseff did not pay attention to his warning.

Folha did not say how it obtained that information. A spokeswoman at Odebrecht's corporate offices declined to comment on the newspaper report. Representatives for Rousseff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Brazil, plea bargain testimony to prosecutors is confidential until approved by a judge. The strongest signal Odebrecht was seeking to collaborate came on June 2, when judge Sergio Moro suspended one of several lawsuits against Odebrecht executives for 30 days.

Marcelo Odebrecht, the scion of the family that controls the company, was sentenced to 19 years in prison after being convicted of corruption and money laundering in the Petrobras case. Under Brazilian law, plea bargain deals to reduce jail time can take place after sentencing in certain cases.

As a consequence of the Petrobras-focused corruption probe, known in Brazil as "Operation Car Wash," many of Odebrecht's 15 subsidiaries are refinancing up to 35 billion reais ($10.4 billion) in loans and stepping up asset sales.

Rousseff was suspended last month to face a Senate trial over allegedly breaking budget laws. She has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-corruption-odebrecht-idUSKCN0Z71SB

---

Attached Files

Incoming Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he would order a comprehensive review of mining projects in the country, warning he would cancel operations that are causing environmental harm.

"There will be a comprehensive review of the mining claims of concessions given. And you must endeavor, if you are into it, be sure that you have enough resources" Duterte told a business conference.

"For I will require you to go to Canada or Australia, learn how to mine the precious metals inside the bowels of the earth and do it. Because ... (if) you are spoiling the land, I will cancel it without hesitation."

The Southeast Asian nation has among the largest untapped mineral resources in the region but years of opposition from the Catholic Church and a strong anti-mining lobby, as well as insurgency and widespread corruption, have stalled many projects including the $5.9 billion gold-copper Tampakan project in the southern Mindanao island discovered in 1991.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-mining-idUSKCN0Z714Q

---

Attached Files

California's power grid operators warned homes and businesses on Monday to conserve electricity as rising demand for air conditioning stoked by a record-setting heat wave across the U.S. Southwest tested the region's generating capacity.

The so-called Flex Alert was posted until 9 p.m. Pacific time during a second day of triple-digit temperatures that strained Southern California's energy production, creating a potential for rolling blackouts on the first official day of summer.

But the peak hour for energy demand came and went Monday evening without disruption of the region's power delivery network, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) reported.

"Since we're past that and have not experienced any trouble, I think we're headed into the safe zone," agency spokeswoman Anne Gonzales told Reuters.

Temperatures were expected to begin abating on Tuesday, according to weather forecasts. As of Monday night, there were no plans to extend the Flex Alert, ISO officials said.

Monday's alert was the first big test of power generators' ability to meet heightened energy demands in the greater Los Angeles area without natural gas supplies normally furnished by the now-crippled Aliso Canyon gas storage field, effectively idled since a major well rupture there last fall.

The oven-like heat prompted the city of Los Angeles to keep its network of public "cooling centers" - libraries, recreation centers and senior centers - open for extended hours as a haven for people whose homes lack air conditioning.

Area home improvement and hardware merchants were doing a brisk business in fans and AC window units.

Brett Lopes, 31, a freelance lighting technician, stopped in a Home Depot outlet near downtown to buy supplies for a homemade air conditioner he called a "swamp cooler" to use while he waited for his landlord to repair his broken AC unit.

"It's brutal," he said of the heat, explaining that he looked up directions on YouTube for assembling the makeshift cooling device. "It doesn't work as well as AC, but it's better than sitting in 100 degrees."

Others flocked to public swimming pools.

"It was really refreshing today, but more crowded than usual," said Paul Stephens, 31, a pastor who was swimming laps at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena, where the mercury climbed to 108 Fahrenheit (42 Celsius) .

The ISO, which runs the state's power grid, urged consumers on Monday to cut back on electricity usage, especially during late-afternoon hours.

Utility customers were advised to turn off unnecessary lights, set air conditioners to 78 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, and wait until after 9 p.m. to run major appliances, such as clothes washers and dryers.

Gonzales credited public cooperation with the flex alert for likely helping avert widespread outages on Monday.

Large stretches of three states sweltered in a second straight day of record, triple-digit temperatures, as the National Weather Service posted excessive-heat warnings through Wednesday for southern portions of California, Arizona and Nevada, though the hot spell appeared to have peaked on Monday.

Power customers ranging from homes and hospitals to oil refineries and airports are at risk of losing energy at some point this summer because a majority of electric-generating stations in California use gas as their primary fuel.

Since the energy crisis of 2000-2001, the ISO has imposed brief, rotating outages in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2015, mostly related to unexpected transmission line or power plant failures during periods of unusually high demand.

With California's largest natural gas storage field shut down indefinitely at Aliso Canyon, state regulators have warned that Los Angeles faces up to 14 days of gas shortages severe enough to trigger blackouts this summer.

Aliso Canyon, owned by Southern California Gas Co, a division of San Diego-based utility giant Sempra Energy, normally supplies the region's 17 gas-fired power plants, hospitals, refineries and other key parts of California's economy, including 21 million residents.

The gas leak there, ranking as the worst-ever accidental methane release in the United States, forced thousands of nearby residents from their homes for several months after it was detected last October. The leak was finally plugged in February.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-california-heatwave-idUSKCN0Z62B8

In less than six months of 2016, China's appetite for overseas acquisitions has already outgrown last year's record, as deal-hungry mainland buyers chase global assets such as real estate, chemicals and high-end technology.

China National Chemical Corp's $43 billion bid for Swiss agrichemicals maker Syngenta (SYNN.S) makes up almost 40 percent of this year's $111.6 billion total, but even without that deal the pace has quickened.

Bankers and lawyers say there could, however, be some slowdown in the second half, as mainland buyers face heightened scrutiny at home and abroad.

China International Capital Corp (3908.HK), the country's biggest investment bank, expects outbound deals to hit $150 billion this year.

Chinese acquirers announced $111.5 billion worth of deals in 2015 from 632 transactions, according to Thomson Reuters data. Completed deals, on which banks are paid fees, last year stood at $73 billion, compared with $45.6 billion so far this year.

Some recent Chinese technology deals have met with opposition, however, which could turn some buyers cautious. Midea Group Co's (000333.SZ) efforts to buy out German industrial robot maker Kuka (KU2G.DE), for example, provoked a political furor in Germany, and the company has had to offer numerous guarantees on preserving local sites and jobs.

"We expect outbound M&A activities will continue to rise, but not at the nose-bleeding rate of the first quarter of 2016," said David Wu, head of corporate finance, China, for ING Bank.

China's desire to temper the outflow of its foreign reserves, which dropped more than half a trillion dollars last year, could also curb deals.

Lawyers say the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the custodian of the country's $3.19 trillion reserves, is anxious that the deal outflows could weigh on the yuan currency.

"SAFE canceled the formal approval process for outbound transactions some time ago, but they are monitoring flows going out quite carefully, given the recent surge in money leaving the country," said Andrew McGinty, a partner at Shanghai-based partner at law firm Hogan Lovells International.

Uncertainty surrounding the outcome of this week's referendum in Britain over its membership of the European Union and the upcoming U.S. presidential elections in November are also factors likely to slow Chinese overseas purchases, bankers say.

After many years of focusing on the booming domestic economy, Chinese companies are increasingly looking to diversify their revenues as growth at home slipped to a 25-year low.

Chinese state-owned and private companies are also looking to upgrade their manufacturing prowess with overseas technology.

Other big purchases announced by China Inc this year include HNA Group's $6.3 billion acquisition of Ingram Micro Inc (IM.N) and Haier Group's $5.4 billion bid for General Electric Co's (GE.N) appliances unit.

"Whether it be from the private sector, government or even middle market firms, this expansion is strategic and long-term focused," said John Kim, head of M&A, Asia ex-Japan at Goldman Sachs.

"The appetite is particularly voracious for technology, media, healthcare and financial services, and for the foreseeable future it won't be going away," he added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-m-a-idUSKCN0Z60UI

Power consumption of China’s four energy-intensive industries dropped 3.6% on year to 677.4 TWh over January-May, accounting for 29.7% of the nation’s total power consumption, the China Electricity Council (CEC) said on June 16.

Of this, the ferrous metallurgy industry consumed 185.8 TWh of electricity over January-May, falling 10.2% year on year, compared to the drop of 6.5% from the previous year; while the non-ferrous metallurgy industry used 199 TWh of electricity, down 5% year on year, compared a 5% growth from the year prior.

The chemical industries consumed 177.3 TWh of electricity during the same period, up 4.4% year on year, lower than a 1.6% growth a year ago; while power consumption of building materials industry dropped 1.5% year on year to 115.3 TWh, compared to a 6.6% decline a year ago.

In May, the four industries consumed a total 150.7 TWh of electricity, decreasing 1% year on year, accounting for 31.9% of China’s total power consumption.

Of this, the ferrous metallurgy industry consumed 41.5 TWh of electricity in May, dropping 4.9% on year; while the non-ferrous metallurgy industry used 42.9 TWh of electricity, decreasing 3.5% from a year ago.

http://en.sxcoal.com/0/148127/DataShow.html

---

Attached Files

The ruling African National Congress may lose control of three of South Africa’s main cities including the capital, Pretoria, and the key economic hub, Johannesburg, in the August 3 municipal elections, according to a poll released on Thursday.

In Johannesburg, 31% of respondents said they would vote for the ANC, 29% supported the Democratic Alliance and 10% backed the Economic Freedom Fighters, the survey conducted June 6 and 7 by research company Ipsos for Johannesburg-based broadcaster eNCA found.

The DA topped the rankings in the Tshwane municipality, which includes Pretoria, with 33% support, while the ANC polled 28% and the EFF 10%. In the southern Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, which incorporates the city of Port Elizabeth, the DA had 34% backing, the ANC 30% and the EFF 7%.

The Ipsos poll results suggest support for the ANC has slipped following a series of scandals implicating its leader, President Jacob Zuma, and amid rising discontent grows over a lack of jobs, decent housing and education. Both the DA and EFF have said they are prepared to enter into coalitions with other opposition parties but not the ANC.

The ANC, which has ruled Africa’s most industrialised economy since the first multiracial elections in 1994, secured an outright majority in all three cities in the last municipal vote five years ago and won 62% support in the last national election in 2014.

http://www.mineweb.com/news-fast-news/anc-may-lose-control-capital-vote-poll-shows/

China ordered at least 255 Shanghai-based industrial facilities, including part of a major oil refinery operated by Sinopec Corp, to shut for 14 days to reduce pollution ahead of the G20 summit, according to an official document reviewed by Reuters.

The document, issued by the Shanghai Environment Protection Bureau, has ordered a wide range of companies from power and petrochemical plants to logistics firms to shut down between Aug. 24 and Sept. 6 for the upcoming G20 meet in Hangzhou.

Authorities in neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu province are set to issue similar orders to limit air pollution and safety hazards within a 300 km radius from Hangzhou, according to industry and government officials.

China has previously shut down factories and limited the operation of heavy equipment ahead of high-profile diplomatic and sporting events - such as meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Beijing Summer Olympics of 2008 - to cut the choking smog that afflicts many of its cities.

"Longer-term China needs to work out a market-based approach to tackle pollution rather than an ad-hoc order. Apart from social responsibilities, business has its profit and loss to take care," said Jing Chunmei, a researcher with China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

The G20 summit, hosted in the first week of September, has become China's biggest diplomatic event of the year and is expected to gather together world leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama.

Shanghai Petrochemical Corp, a subsidiary refinery of state refiner Sinopec Corp, will reduce its capacity by 50 percent, or about 120,000 barrels per day (bpd), for the G20 event during those two weeks, the document from the environment bureau said.

Coal-fired power plants in the area that do not meet emissions standards will be fully closed over the two weeks, it also said, and the usage of heavy machinery will be reduced by 30 percent across Shanghai.

An official with Sinopec's Jinling Petrochemical Corp, another major refinery based in the city of Nanjing in neighboring Jiangsu province, said his firm was also asked by local authorities to "appropriately reduce throughput", but was not given any specific reduction size.

The ruling came from local governments, rather than from Sinopec Corp, the official said.

Shanghai Petrochemical, according to the environment bureau's document, will be closing a 120,000 bpd crude unit, a 3.9 million tonne-per-year (tpy) residue hydrocracking unit, a 3.5 million tpy catalytic cracking unit, and another dozen or so secondary refining facilities.

OTHER REFINERIES, INDUSTRIES

Sinopec also operates in the vicinity the 440,000 bpd Zhenhai refinery, 270,000 bpd Shanghai Gaoqiao refinery and 250,000 bpd Yangzi Petrochemical Corp. A spokesman for Sinopec said the company was not immediately able to comment.

The 255 factories based in Shanghai, about 200 km from Hangzhou, cover sectors like chemicals, building materials, pharmaceuticals and printing, according to the document.

Operation of heavy machinery in the Jinshan district will be cut in half during the summit period, and sailings of dry bulk ships below 200 tonnes, oil tankers above 600 tonnes and all chemical tankers will be suspended.

The government is offering no subsidies for the shutdowns, according to four plants contacted by Reuters.

"We will try to reschedule plant maintenance to that two weeks to minimize the production loss," said Shi Yan, a manager at Budenheim Fine Chemicals (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

Other areas, including the port city Ningbo, have also issued lists of factory shutdowns ahead of the G20 summit in addition to the closures set for Shanghai, according to an official at the Ningbo Environmental Bureau.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-industry-pollution-idUSKCN0Z3145

British lawmakers called on Friday for an independent operator to take over National Grid's role running the country's energy transmission network, as more renewable power is being generated at a local level.

National Grid owns and operates Britain's main gas network and the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales, managing flows of power onto and around the grids.

It also owns interconnectors, which import power from continental Europe, and the UK's electricity infrastructure.

Different companies own regional distribution networks which carry electricity at lower voltages from the main grid via powerlines, cables and substations to homes and businesses.

There are similar regional distribution networks for gas, carrying it at ever lower pressure until it reaches customers.

British lawmakers on parliament's Energy and Climate Change committee said in a report the system needed to be changed so regional distributors could control power flows on their networks better, as more renewable power is generated locally.

Most of Britain's solar power is connected to local distribution networks and cannot be seen at the overall level, the report said. Instead, it is measured only as a reduction in the demand for power rather than as an input.

The report said smart grid technology would enable distribution network operators to move from a passive role to being responsible for balancing energy flows, effectively becoming system operators at a local level.

The committee said National Grid has conflicts of interest because it owns assets which bring in power, but also operates the system which buys the power from those assets.

"National Grid's technical expertise in operating the national energy system must be weighed against its potential conflicts of interest," said Agnus Brendan McNeil, chairman of the committee, which called for the creation of an Independent System Operator (ISO).

In the United States, an ISO coordinates, controls and monitors the operation of an electrical power system in one state or sometimes several states. Regional transmission organisations do the same, but cover a larger geography.

National Grid shares were 0.9 percent lower at 953.1 pence at 0814 GMT.

A National Grid spokeswoman said there was little evidence that the ISO model would provide any benefits which would justify the cost to households, potential disruption and the risks to security of supply.

"We are currently working with the Government and with regulators to ensure we continue to manage potential conflicts as our role develops," she added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-nationalgrid-idUSL8N1990W8

---

Attached Files