The two parties have also agreed on a 20-year asset management programme

International News via Reuters:

South Africa’s logistics company Transnet on Thursday said it has agreed a 10-year partnership deal with German equipment maker Liebherr for the supply of cranes as it seeks to upgrade and modernise its port operations.

The two parties have also agreed on a 20-year asset management programme, which will see Liebherr provide equipment maintenance, repairs and spares, Transnet said in a statement.

The state-owned Transnet, which operates South Africa’s ports and freight rail network, has been struggling to provide adequate services due to under-investment. Its port operations have been hobbled by equipment shortages, often leading to lengthy backlogs that have impacted retailers and exporters.

“This strategic collaboration empowers us to significantly boost operational efficiency, streamline port logistics, and reduce long-term operational costs,” Transnet Port Terminals Chief Executive Officer Jabu Mdaki said.

Transnet said it had already placed substantial orders for Liebherr equipment, including four ship-to-shore (STS) cranes for the Durban port. It has also ordered 48 rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes for the Durban and Cape Town terminals.

Reporting by Nelson Banya

Teachers, train drivers, pharmacists and hospital staff were among those who went on strike as part of the day of protests, while teenagers blocked dozens of high schools for hours

International News via Reuters:

Hundreds of thousands took part in anti-austerity protests across France on Thursday, unions said, urging President Emmanuel Macron and his new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to acknowledge their anger and scrap looming budget cuts.

Teachers, train drivers, pharmacists and hospital staff were among those who went on strike as part of the day of protests, while teenagers blocked dozens of high schools for hours.

Protesters called for the previous government’s fiscal plans to be scrapped, for more spending on public services, higher taxes on the wealthy, and for the reversal of an unpopular change making people work longer to get a pension.

“Block your high school against austerity,” read a placard raised by a student in front of the Lycee Maurice Ravel high school, where the gathering included teachers and workers’ representatives.

“Workers are currently so despised by this government and by (President Emmanuel) Macron that, in fact, it can’t continue like this,” bus driver and union representative Fred said at the rally in front of that Paris high school.

UNIONS WANT TO PRESSURE GOVERNMENT ON BUDGET

Sophie Binet, head of the CGT union, said 400,000 took part in morning rallies across France with more, including the Paris one, not yet counted. The interior ministry said over 280,000 took part in rallies outside of Paris.

“The anger is huge, and so is the determination. My message to Mr. Lecornu today is this: it’s the streets that must decide the budget,” Binet said.

Macron’s new prime minister is scrambling to put together a budget for next year, and a new government.

He and Macron are under pressure on one side from protesters and left-wing parties opposed to budget cuts and, on the other, from investors concerned about the deficit in the euro zone’s second largest economy. Parliament is deeply divided and none of its three main groups have a majority.

“This is a warning, a clear warning to Sebastien Lecornu,” Marylise Leon, the head of the CFDT union, said of Thursday’s protests. “We want a socially fair budget,” she said.

PROTESTS HIT SCHOOLS, TRAINS

There were brief clashes on the margins of some of the protests including in Nantes, with police firing tear gas, and in Lyon, where French media said three people were injured.

In Paris, police at one point threw teargas to disperse black-clad troublemakers who threw a few projectiles at them ahead of the rally, allowing the protest march to carry on. Police said they also stepped in to stop people targeting a bank.

More than 140 people have been arrested so far, the interior ministry said. Some 80,000 police and gendarmes were set to be deployed throughout the day, including riot units, drones and armoured vehicles.

One in three primary school teachers were on strike nationwide, and nearly one in two walked off the job in Paris, the FSU-SNUipp union said.

Regional trains were heavily affected, while most of the country’s high-speed TGV train lines worked, officials said. Protesters gathered to slow down traffic on a highway near the southeastern city of Toulon.

WORKERS ANGRY OVER FISCAL PLANS

France’s budget deficit last year was close to double the EU’s 3% ceiling but much as he wants to reduce that, Lecornu – reliant on other parties to push through legislation – will face a battle to gather parliamentary support for a budget for 2026.

Lecornu’s predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted by parliament last week over his plan for a 44 billion euro budget squeeze. The new prime minister has not yet said what he will do with Bayrou’s plans, but has signalled a willingness to compromise.

Reporting by Stephane Mahe, Zhifan Liu, Makini Brice, Dominique Vidalon, Mathias de Rozario, Juliette Jabkhiro, Marc Leras; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Frances Kerry, Philippa Fletcher, Alexandra Hudson

The diamond market is currently going through a prolonged downturn with demand hurt by global economic uncertainty and the rising popularity of lab-grown stones

International News via Reuters:

The sale of diamonds through tenders and auctions is opaque and inefficient and should be revamped for producers to earn more and to survive the current price slump, a leading gem trader said on Thursday.

Oded Mansori, co-founder and managing partner of Belgian gem trader HB Antwerp, said the impact on producers could be reduced by doing away with inefficiencies in the industry.

The diamond market is currently going through a prolonged downturn with demand hurt by global economic uncertainty and the rising popularity of lab-grown stones.

Producer countries such as Botswana have been hard hit by lower revenues, while miners such Burgundy and Lesotho’s biggest diamond mine Letseng have had to lay off workers.

“For years, miners relied on tenders and auctions, systems that look efficient on paper but in practice resemble a casino,” Mansori said in a statement, as the industry battles a crisis considered to be its deepest in history.

“Rough stones are pushed into opaque markets where value is anyone’s guess. When global demand softens, as it has in cycles over the last decade, producers are left exposed. Workers pay the price, while shareholders watch assets decline,” he added.

Rough diamonds are typically sold through a competitive bidding system where buyers place confidential bids on individual stones or parcels.

Mansori, whose company operates a profit-sharing model with miner Lucara Diamond Corp, says producers’ revenues should be tied to the eventual polished value of its stones “rather than gambling on rough sales in opaque auctions”.

Under its partnership with Lucara, HB Antwerp buys stones of 10.8 carat quality and above from the Toronto-listed company’s Karowe Mine in central Botswana at prices based on the estimated polished value of each diamond.

HB Antwerp accounted for 72% of Lucara’s $74 million diamond revenue in the six months to June 30, up from 65% the year before.

The trader says producers can earn up to 40% more revenue if they sell through this model.

Reporting by Brian BenzaEditing by Nelson Banya and Frances Kerry