Economy

Oil prices rise after new attacks in the Middle East

The US and Iran have attacked each other for the ninth day in a row overnight. When oil trading opened after the weekend, the price of Brent oil rose to over $90 per barrel for the first time since early June.

In connection with peace negotiations between the US and Iran earlier this summer, the price fell, but in line with new tensions and attacks, the price has risen again.

Rising oil prices also mean that inflation concerns are once again on the rise. 

The future of defense
Wallenberg invests in Swedish gunpowder

The Wallenberg family's private holding company, Wallenberg Investments, is backing the Värmland company Verkan, which manufactures gunpowder. DI writes.

- Gunpowder may not be as sexy as advanced weapon systems, but you will not get any effect if you do not have gunpowder to propel the ammunition, Hugo Carlsson, CEO of Verkan, tells DI.

At the end of June, the company submitted its permit application to the Land and Environmental Court. The plans are to be able to produce over 1,000 tons of gunpowder per year in Pjörneborg, a mill town between Kristinehamn and Degerfors. The company hopes to deliver the first gunpowder in 2028.

Wallenberg Investments' vice president Håkan Buskhe justifies the decision to start and develop Verkan by saying that there is a clear need to strengthen Sweden's total defense.

The chip battle
Giant bonuses to get employees to stay at the chip giant

Dutch ASML is taking on South Korean chip giants and offering generous bonuses to keep employees as the AI ​​boom lifts profits to new records, Reuters reports.

ASML, the world's leading manufacturer of equipment for manufacturing computer chips, plans to offer a bonus worth 20,000 euros for certain employees who stay until 2030. This corresponds to just over 220,000 kronor.

The bonus will be worked out via a share program that runs from January 1 next year, the company confirms.

Samsung and SK Hynix have previously offered employees extra compensation in an industry where profits are skyrocketing, but the supply of skilled labor is scarce, the news agency writes. 

Tariff crisis  Trump's tariff policy
Source: EU expects to live up to Trump's trade deal

The EU expects to reach the investment targets of the equivalent of $1.35 trillion in accordance with the trade agreement the Union concluded with the United States last year, a senior official told Bloomberg.

The European Commission is said to be confident that the Union will buy energy worth $750 billion and invest $600 billion in strategic sectors in the United States before President Donald Trump's term ends in January 2029.

Since the trade agreement was concluded in July last year, EU companies have announced plans to invest $280 billion in American energy, transportation and logistics, according to the source. 

The future of the automotive sector
China's car market on track for worst year since pandemic

China's car market is on track for worst year since 2021, CNBC reports.

According to new figures from the China Passenger Car Association, sales fell by just over 20 percent in the first six months of the year compared to last year. The new forecast for 2026 is a loss of 14 percent to 20.4 million passenger cars sold.

Hong Kong-based investment bank Citic CLSA expects a sales loss of around 20 percent. Tu Le, founder of the American research firm Sino Auto Insight, shares the gloomy picture:

- It's going to be a brutal year.

Behind the decline are rising energy and fuel prices and Beijing's removal of subsidies for electric cars, according to CNBC. 

The future of e-commerce
EU issues billion-euro fine to Chinese e-commerce company

Chinese Alibaba's e-commerce site Ali Express believes that the fine it was awarded by the EU for not doing enough to combat illegal and counterfeit products on its platform is disproportionate.

The fine amounts to 550 million euros, equivalent to 6.1 billion kronor.

The EU believes that the company has relied too much on automated systems and that they had too few staff.

- Risks must be identified and managed systematically to ensure that consumers can shop safely online, says Henna Virkkunen, Commissioner responsible for technological sovereignty, security and democracy in a press release.

Ali Express is now carefully considering how to proceed in the process.