Closing post
Time to play the closing credits….
David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is not giving up in its aggressive campaign to acquire Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), launching a hostile bid despite the announcement on Friday that Netflix had agreed to buy the company’s studio and streaming operation.
Netflix’s accepted bid valued the company at $27.75 a share, though the entertainment company did not agree to acquire WBD’s traditional television assets, including the news network CNN.
Paramount’s all-cash tender offer sent directly to shareholders on Monday morning is for $30 a share and would be for the entire company, offering a total enterprise value of $108.4bn, a major premium to the company’s stock price.
In making its case to shareholders, Paramount claimed its acquisition of the company provides significantly better value for shareholders would be much likelier to survive regulatory scrutiny. David Ellison and his father, Larry, whose family is financially backing the deal, are both friendly with the Trump administration. Larry Ellison had already had early conversations with a senior Trump aide about what changes he might want to see at CNN.
Donald Trump had earlier warned of potential competition problems over Netflix’s $83bn (£62bn) deal to buy Warner Brothers’ movie studio and streaming networks.
The US president, speaking at an event in Washington DC on Sunday, confirmed he would be involved in deciding whether the government approved the takeover.
He said Netflix had a “big market share” and the companies’ combined size “could be a problem”.
In other new…
China’s trade surplus has hit the $1tn mark for the first time, despite the tariffs imposed by the US this year.
The averate rates on UK fixed-term mortgages have hit their lowest levels since September 2022.
Unilever has spun off its ice-cream business, prompting the appearance of an “Angry giant magnum” at the London stock market.
The boss of fashion chain Asos took a pay cut to £905,920 last year when former finance director Dave Murray was handed a £1m pay off.
Murray, who left in June after just over a year in the job, was paid £430,824 in salary and benefits for the period between September 2024 and 30 June 2025 and then was handed a further £583,574 package including payment in lieu of a notice period and accrued holiday pay.
José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, the chief executive, saw his pay fall almost 23% in the year to 31 August from £1.2m a year before after his annual bonus was cut to zero as he missed profits and sales targets.
Asos’s annual report published today says:
“Whilst the business has made significant progress throughout [the 2025 financial year] and the mechanical outcome of the scheme would have resulted in an annual bonus achievement of 4.56% of base salary … [the board] exercised its discretion and determined that no bonus would be payable.”
Updated
In the aerospace business, Airbus has confirmed that it will take on 4,000 workers from supplier Spirit Aerosystems, in a deal that will lead to an awkward site share in Belfast with the European planemaker’s bitter rival, Boeing.
The deal will include 1,600 employees making wings for the Airbus A220 in Belfast, 1,200 employees in Prestwick, Scotland, who make wing components for A320 and A350, plus an assortment of operations in North Carolina, France and Morocco.
Boeing announced the takeover of Spirit in July 2024 as it tried to regain control over its supply chain after a string of emergencies that plunged it into crisis. That immediately triggered talks over who would take on the parts of Spirit’s business serving Airbus.
Airbus and Spirit announced a deal in April, under which Airbus will receive compensation of $439m.
In the Northern Irish capital, Boeing will take on employees who do not work on Airbus parts, after failing to find another buyer. It means the world’s two dominant players will be next-door neighbours at the site, which was historically known as Short Brothers.
Unions have previously expressed concern for the future of the 2,400 non-Airbus jobs. Boeing made no reference to job cuts, and said it would operate as an independent subsidiary called “Short Brothers, a Boeing Company”.
Jerome Blandin, head of wing operations forAirbus Commercial Aircraft, said the company would invest in Belfast, and that it was “critical to Airbus’ production ramp-up”. He added:
Our immediate focus is on ensuring a smooth transition for all employees and providing stability to our operations. We will continue close engagement with our new teams, union representatives and government partners, underscoring our investment in the sustainable, long-term future of these high-value industrial sites and their skilled workforces.
The world flies on UK wings!
Paramoun will hope it has knocked Netflix’s bid for Warner Brothers aside with its own, higher, offer, says Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot:
“Paramount’s blockbuster bid for Warner Brothers underscores that we are just at the beginning of this saga rather than at the end point. Following Netflix’s surprise bid for the entertainment giant at the end of last week, a rival bid from Paramount was expected and as expected they have looked to push Netflix to the sidelines with a significantly higher value.
“Paramount ultimately needs this deal more than Netflix, and that may be a driving factor in the valuation it is putting on Warner Bros. Paramount remains a legacy entertainment provider that lacks the scale required for the modern age. Consolidating amongst peers is the sensible play and gives them the best opportunity to rival Disney for that number two slot behind Netflix.
“For Netflix, meanwhile, this sort of asset remains a nice to have rather than a necessity. There is an element of defensiveness in that it won’t want a player like Paramount to significantly increase its size and reach, at the same time as taking ownership of a prized asset like HBO. Getting this deal over the line, for Netflix, would give it more engagement and ultimately more pricing power. However, it has historically been a builder, not a buyer, and as such its next move will be watched closely.
“The ball is in Netflix’s court and it will likely want to show some discipline. Paramount will hope that it has blown the streaming giant out of the water with this bid, but even if it has, any review by the DoJ is likely to result in a long process.”
Some unions have also expressed concerns about the Netflix and Warner Bros merger.
In the US, the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East have claiming it would eliminate jobs, push down wages and worsen conditions for entertainment workers, and should be blocked.
In the UK, broadcasting union Bectu also criticised the deal. Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said:
“The proposed takeover of Warner Brothers by Netflix is a hugely worrying development for anyone who values competition, and a plurality of voices and stories in entertainment and the media.
“There is a very real danger that the industry is becoming too skewed towards large streamers with homogenisation of content and the loss of much of the UK’s unique and distinctive output.
In an interview with CNBC today, Paramount CEO David Ellison said there is an “inherent bias” against his company in the bidding for Warner Brothers.
David Ellison told CNBC:
“We will be the largest investor in this deal. We’re literally sitting here today because we are fighting for our shareholders, and we’re also fighting for the shareholders of Warner Bros Discovery.”
[Technically, Ellison’s fiduciary duty only extends to his own shareholders, not those of the company he’s trying to buy….]
Reuters report that some analysts and industry experts see Paramount as the best candidate for acquiring Warner Bros Discovery, given Ellison’s deep pockets - backed by his father, Oracle co-founder and the world’s second-richest person, Larry Ellison, who has close ties with the Trump administration.
And Trump expressed concerns about Netflix’s bid just yesterday…
“The Warner Bros Discovery acquisition is far from over,” said Ross Benes, an analyst at Emarketer.
Benes adds:
“Netflix is in the driver’s seat but there will be twists and turns before the finish line. Paramount will appeal to shareholders, regulators, and politicians to try to stymie Netflix. The battle could become prolonged.”
Updated
The pre-market trading was correct!
Warner Brothers’ shares are up 7.6% in early trading on Wall Street, pushing them up to $28.07.
That’s still below Paramount’s new $30 per share all cash bid, but above Netflix’s $27.75 cash-and-share offer.
There is one crucial difference between the two takeover offers for Warner Brothers Discovery.
Paramount’s bid is for the entirety of Warner Bros – its cable businesses as well as its studio and streaming operations.
Netflix, though, is only trying to buy the Hollywood studios and streaming business.
Warner Bros had previously announced it would separate its Streaming & Studios and Global Networks divisions into two separate publicly traded companies.
Warner Bros shares are rallying...
Shares in Warner Brothers Discovery are soaring, after Paramount charged into the takeover battle a few minutes ago.
Warner Bros’s shares have jumped by 7.4% in premarket trading to around $28.
That’s slightly above Netflix’s offer of $27.75 per share, which Paramount has now trumped with its $30/share offer.
Updated
Paramount: Why our deal is better
Paramount cites three reasons why its offer is better than Netflix’s.
They say:
Price: an all-cash offer at $30.00 per share, equating to an enterprise value of $108.4 billion, which represents a 139% premium to the undisturbed WBD stock price of $12.54 as of September 10, 2025. In contrast, the Netflix proposal entails a volatile and complex structure valued at $27.75 mix of cash ($23.25) and stock ($4.50), subject to collar and the future performance of Netflix, equating to an enterprise value of $82.7 billion (excluding SpinCo).
Structure: Paramount proposal is for all of WBD, without leaving WBD shareholders with a sub-scale and highly leveraged stub in Global Networks, as the Netflix agreement assumes.
Timeline and regulatory certainty: Paramount is highly confident in achieving expeditious regulatory clearance for its proposed offer, as it enhances competition and is pro-consumer, while creating a strong champion for creative talent and consumer choice. In contrast, the Netflix transaction is predicated on the unrealistic assumption that its anticompetitive combination with WBD, which would entrench its monopoly with a 43% share of global Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) subscribers, could withstand multiple protracted regulatory challenges across the world. In many European Union countries the Netflix transaction would combine the dominant SVOD player with the number two or strong number three competitor. The Netflix transaction creates a clear risk of higher prices for consumers, lower pay for content creators and talent and the destruction of American and international theatrical exhibitors. Netflix has never undertaken large-scale acquisitions, resulting in increased execution risk which WBD shareholders would have to endure.
Paramount: Warner Bros wouldn't engage meaningfully, so we're going straight to shareholders
Paramount also accuses Warner Brothers of “never engaging meaningfully” with its proposals.
Paramount says it submitting six proposals over the course of 12 weeks during the sale process, so it is now taking its offer directly to WBD shareholders and its Board of Directors “to ensure they have the opportunity to pursue this clearly superior alternative” [to the Netflix offer, which was accepted last week].
Paramount’s David Ellison says:
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry.
We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction.
We look forward to working to expeditiously deliver this opportunity so that all stakeholders can begin to capitalize on the benefits of the combined company.”
Paramount makes $108.4bn bid for Warner Bros Discovery, challenging Netflix's offer
Newsflash: Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros Discovery, in an attempt to derail Netflix’s bid for the movie studio and streaming network.
Paramount claims that its offer “provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion to WBD shareholders” than the Netflix offer, which has led to a backlash since it was announced last Friday.
Paramount are offering to pay $30.00 per share in cash for Warner Brothers Discovery, which equates to an enterprise value of $108.4bn – ahead of Netflix’s offer which was worth $83bn.
David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Paramount, says:
“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company. Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.
We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process. We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”
Updated
Deal news: International Business Machines Corp. is buying the data-streaming platform Confluent.
IBM has agreed to pay $31 per share for Confluent, which values the company at $9.3bn, meaning the deal is worth $11bn once you include debt.
Confluent’s platform is aimed at helping companies deploy generative AI and fraud detection applications. Shares in the company have jumped 28% in pre-market trading to $29.60.
Moneyfacts has also spotted that the choice of low deposit mortgages is at its highest since 2008.
At the start of December, there were 476 products on the market for borrowers with a 5% deposit, and 917 deals for people with a 10% deposit.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, explains:
“Year-on-year the mortgage market has seen an optimistic shift in the availability of products aimed at borrowers with a small deposit or equity, with almost 300 products added to the roster at 90% and 95% loan-to-value.
The volume of deals at these tiers now rests at their highest counts since March 2008. The Government has been very vocal that it wants lenders to do more to support buyers to boost UK growth, so any improvement in high loan-to-value deals should be celebrated as it gives borrowers more choice as competition ramps up.
The Bank of England is planning to reduce its head count, Bloomberg reports.
It plans to cut staff numbers, they say, as the BoE’s finances become strained by the cost of implementing the modernizations recommended by Ben Bernanke.
The UK central bank has invited employees to volunteer for potential layoffs, according to two people familiar with the matter. It will run “a mutually agreed, time-limited scheme for staff to choose to apply to leave,” the bank confirmed in a statement, adding that it had struck a deal for a 3% pay increase next year.
"The first signs of a full-scale price war" for mortgages
Mortgage expert Nicholas Mendes of broker John Charcol says there are signs of a “price war” in the home loans market:
Santander’s move to 3.51 per cent has very clearly set the pace, and at the moment it is the standout cheapest option for borrowers taking £500,000 or more, once fees are factored in. Nationwide’s 3.58 per cent sits just behind it, which shows how tight the spread has become at the top end of the market. This is textbook competitive positioning from the big lenders, and it signals a deliberate push to capture low-risk, high-equity borrowers before activity ramps up in the new year.
We’re now seeing the first signs of a full-scale price war. NatWest and Barclays have both given notice of further reductions landing tomorrow, and the speed at which these updates are coming through tells you lenders want to be front of mind ahead of the next Bank of England decision. With swaps holding steady and market pricing pointing towards cheaper funding conditions, the high street is clearly preparing for stronger demand in early 2026.
Updated
Giant angry Magnum protests about ice-cream spin-off
The co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s has teamed up with a giant angry Magnum to protest against the spin off of Unilever’s ice cream division today.
Ben Cohen, the co-founder of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand, said:
“Ben & Jerry’s cannot thrive under the current corporate structure. If this continues, the brand will suffer.”
As a protestor dressed as an angry version of the Magnum ice cream on a stick took to the streets outside the London Stock Exchange where the former Unilever division is listing this morning, Cohen said “tens of thousands of people around the world will continue fighting for its future,” under the new structure.
He added:
“Ben & Jerry’s social mission has always been inseparable from the brand itself, no matter how much Unilever / Magnum have tried to distance the two. That mission is legally protected, yet Unilever / Magnum has relied on heavy-handed tactics to pressure the independent board and erode the principles that make Ben & Jerry’s unique.
“Spinning off the ice cream division doesn’t change that. It’s the same leadership, the same decision-makers, and the same attempt to step away from responsibilities they committed to decades ago.”
The Magnum Ice Cream Company’s long-awaited spinoff from Unilever got underway in Amsterdam today.
Magnum’s stock traded at €12.81 per share in its Amsterdam debut on Monday, implying a market capitalisation of €7.84bn, Reuters reports.
It also listed on London’s stock market this morning, and will join the New York Stock Exchange today too.
Back in China, car sales have fallen for the second month running.
Retail vehicle sales fell about 8% to 2.1 million units in November, according to data published by the China Passenger Car Association today. This shows a 22% slump in sales of gasoline cars, with new-energy vehicle sales rising 4.2% for the month.
Bloomberg calls it “a rare decline in what’s usually the busiest time of the year”. Buyers were deterred by the end of a trade-in subsidy which had supported sales.
“This is a relatively rare situation,” said Cui Dongshu, the association’s secretary general, adding:
“Usually the trend at the end of the year is that the car market should get stronger and stronger from October. But the retail sales in November compared to previous years is unusual.”
UK mortgage rates lowest sine Truss mini-budget of 2022
The average rates on UK two- and five-year fixed mortgages have fallen to their lowest levels since early September 2022.
New data from Moneyfacts shows that average rates are now the lowest since before the Liz Truss government’s mini-Budget, which sent borrowing costs soaring.
Moneyfacts reports that the average mortgage rates on two- and five-year fixed deals fell to 4.86% and 4.91% respectively in November, both now at their lowest points since September 2022. It is the first time the average five-year fixed rate has dropped below 5% since May 2023.
This pulled the Moneyfacts Average Mortgage Rate down to 4.91% month-on-month from 4.99%. Year-on-year the rate is down by 0.53%, from 5.44% in December 2024.
The fall comes as lenders have grown increasingly confident that the Bank of England will cut interest rates next week, from 4% to 3.75%.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, says:
“Mortgage rates continue on the downward trend and November was particularly fruitful for fixed rate cuts.
The re-pricing by lenders led to the average five-year fixed rate dropping below 5% for the first time in over two years and sits at its lowest point since before the ‘mini-Budget’ in September 2022, alongside its two-year counterpart.
The average two-year fixed rate noted its biggest monthly fall since August this year, with the five-year noting its largest monthly fall in over six months (March 2025). The activity during November led to a drop in the average shelf-life of a mortgage to just 18 days, and product choice felt a positive rise to breach 7,000 deals.
Trump warns Netflix’s deal for Warner Bros poses competition concerns
Donald Trump has warned there could be competition problems around Netflix’s $83bn (£62bn) deal to buy Warner Brothers’ movie studio and streaming networks.
The US president, speaking at an event in Washington DC on Sunday, confirmed he would be involved personally in the decision about whether the government would approve the takeover.
He said Netflix had a “big market share” and the companies’ combined size “could be a problem”.
Shares in Warner Bros are down 2.15% in pre-market trading, suggesting some doubts are creeping in about whether Netflix will secure its prize.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, says:
“Much attention has been given to Trump’s friendship with Larry Ellison, whose son David had previously spearheaded a deal for Paramount Skydance to buy Warner Bros, which was unsuccessful. There is a lot of talk that Trump seemed to support such a deal at the time, so the president opposing the Netflix acquisition would be double standards.
“Fundamentally, Trump wants to bring some pizzazz back to Hollywood. He wants to resurrect the glitz and glamour of the US film industry, whose star has faded as more productions are made overseas thanks to tax incentives and cheaper costs.
“Netflix will be under pressure to do as much as possible on home soil, so any commitment to do a certain amount of production in the US could help to win Trump over.”
Updated
Italy's Meloni joins calls to scrap EU 2035 ban on petrol cars
The Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has joined German chancellor Friderich Merz’s call for the EU’s 2035 ban on the production of new petrol cars to be scrapped.
She wants the deadline to be softened, allowing the continued sale of plug-in hybrid cars.
In a letter, also signed by the leaders of Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria, Meloni argues a hard cut off date will kill off the European car industry, which is struggling against cheaper Chinese rivals to sell and produce cheap electric cars.
The letter warns:
“There is nothing green about an industrial wasteland,”
The European Commission is due on Wednesday to pronounce on the 2035 deadline, a deadline only introduced three years ago, giving the car industry three years to develop electric vehicles.
The EC has already said the letter sent by Merz 10 days ago calling for the 2035 deadline to be softened was received positively, indicating it will soften the deadline.
The Greens have said any roll back on 2035 would be a “gutting” of the Green Deal created by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and signed off in 2022. They are backed by Swedish car makers Volvo and Polestar and the charging industry.
Meloni and leaders of the other countries are calling for “even after 2035, the role of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and fuel cell technology and introduces the recognition of range-extender electric vehicles (ERVs)” to be allowed.
Updated
There’s a very calm start to trading in London this morning.
The FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares has gained just one point, or 0.01%, to 9,668 points.
Consumer goods maker Unilever are the top faller, down 3.7%, after spinning off its ice-cream business (The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) is up 1.1% in its trading debut).
[Unilever’s fall is basically for technical reasons; it has now lost Magnum’s profits, which were around 10% of Unilever’s full-year earnings in 2024.
Unilever is planning to conduct a share consolidation today, to “maintain comparability” beween its share price and per share metrics (including earnings per share and dividends per share) before and after the demerger. That should take place after the market closes today.]
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says:
The separation makes TMICC the largest ice cream business in the world, with iconic brands like Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, Wall’s and Cornetto in its portfolio.
It’s already scooped up a 21% share of global ice cream sales, nearly double that of its largest competitor, Froneri. The global ice cream market is forecast to grow by 3-4% annually until at least 2029. TMICC is targeting growth slightly ahead of this pace, up to 5% annually, driven by increased marketing investment, improved distribution channels and market share gains.
Updated
There’s a kerfuffle in the mining industry today, where investors have blocked a controversial multi-million pound bonus.
Mning giant Anglo American has dropped plans to seek approval to change its executive directors’ bonus awards, if its planned merger with Canada’s Teck Resources was completed.
Anglo had proposed amending its long-term bonus schemes so that if the merger was completed various executives, including CEO Duncan Wanblad, would be guaranteed a minimum of 62.5% of the shares that can ultimately vest through the incentive plan.
The Times has calculated that at current share prices, that would mean a bonus worth about £8.5m for Wanblad.
But following a backlash from the City, Anglo has withdrawn this proposal from the agenda of the General Meeting of shareholders to be held tomorrow afternoon to vote on whether to approve the Teck takeover.
Anglo insisted this morning it had “engaged extensively with Shareholders” over this proposal adding:
Whilst Shareholders with whom we consulted strongly supported the objectives of Resolution 2 and appreciated the very specific context for the Proposals, they nonetheless raised a number of concerns when considering more general remuneration principles.
Anglo American strongly believes that the proposed amendment represents the most practical way to support the Merger process and the principles and objectives set out in the Circular but, having reflected carefully on Shareholders’ concerns, has therefore decided to withdraw Resolution 2 from the agenda of the General Meeting.
Anglo adds that its remuneration committee will develop an updated Directors’ remuneration policy, so we may not have heard the last about this…
Updated
Over in Germany, industrial production rose much more than anticipated last month.
Industrial output increased by 1.8% month-on-month in October, data firm Destatis reported, up from 1.1% in September.
Destatis says:
Within the industrial sector, an increase was recorded across all three main groups: the production of capital goods and consumer goods each rose by 2.1%, and the production of intermediate goods by 0.6%. Outside of the industrial sector, energy production increased by 1.4%.
This pick-up could help Germany’s economy to return to growth in the final quarter of 2025.
Die reale #Produktion im Produzierenden Gewerbe ist im Oktober 2025 gegenüber September 2025 voraussichtlich um 1,8 % gestiegen. Die positive Entwicklung der Produktion ist insbesondere auf den Anstieg der Bauproduktion zurückzuführen (+3,3 %). Mehr Infos: https://t.co/xWUoHGoK4b pic.twitter.com/yJ1mgf0lRa
— Statistisches Bundesamt (@destatis) December 8, 2025
China’s yuan-denominated exports to Russia fell for an eighth straight month in November, today’s customs data shows.
Reuters has the details:
Shipments to Russia dropped to 67.71bn yuan (£7.2bn) in November, 5.1% less than the same month last year. Exports plunged 22% in October.
Imports from Russia rose 3.2% on-year, accelerating from October’s 2.5% growth.
Exports to Russia in the January-November period were down 11.2% from the same period last year.
Updated
Today’s trade data also shows China’s exports to the European Union grew an annual rate of 14.8% last month.
That could intensify concerns within Europe that China is dumping products in their markets, to avoid tariffs at the US border.
Yesterday, French president Emmanuel Macron said he has threatened China with tariffs if Beijing fails to take steps to reduce its massive trade surplus with the EU.
After returning from a state visit to China, Macron told business daily Les Echos:
I told them that if they don’t react, we Europeans will be forced to take strong measures in the coming months”
Updated
Introduction: China's trade surplus hits $1tn
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
China’s annual trade surplus has exceeded $1tn for the first time, as the manufacturing powerhouse shrugged off the impact of Donald Trump’s trade war.
New trade data today shows that Chinese factories swelled their sales to non-US markets this year, making up from a sharp drop in shipments to the US.
In November, China’s exports grew 5.9% year-on-year, customs data shows. That reverses a 1.1% contraction in October, and beats analyst forecasts.
And for the first 11 months of the year, China’s annual trade surplus (the difference between what it exported and imported), rose above the $1tn mark for the time (by my maths it was over $1.07tn).
While exports to the US have slowed this year, due to the trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, China has turned to other markets – such as Europe.
Lynn Song, ING’s chief economist for Greater China, explains:
November exports to the US were down -28.6% YoY, a three-month low, bringing the year-to-date growth to -18.9% YoY. It’s likely that November exports have yet to fully reflect the tariff cut, which should feed through in the coming months.
Also, the frontloading effect as US importers ramped up purchases ahead of tariffs will act as a headwind on trade in the coming months. Instead of the US, the beat in November’s data came from an acceleration of exports to the EU.
By product, Song adds, familiar categories continued to see the strongest growth; ships (26.8%), semiconductors (24.7%), and autos (16.7%).
China’s rare earth exports jumped 26.5% month-on-month in November, Reuters reports – that’s the first full month after Xi and Trump agreed to speed up shipment of the critical minerals from the world’s largest refiner.
Soya bean imports are also poised for their best-ever year, as Chinese buyers, who had shunned US purchases for the majority of this year, stepped up purchases from American growers in addition to large purchases from Latin America.
The agenda
7am GMT: German industrial production data for October
4pm GMT: Lords economic affairs subcommittee hearing on inheritance tax
Updated
