Engine Alliance wins Emirates contract
Emirates Airline has awarded a $3-billion maintenance contract for its A380s to the Engine Alliance.
The deal will see Engine Alliance providing maintenance, repair and overhaul services for Emirates’ GP7200 engines, which power the carrier’s five super-jumbos.
Engine Alliance, a 50-50 joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, will also manage aftermarket services for the GP7200s.
Dubai carrier Emirates has 53 A380s and 250 GP7200 engines on order.
Transformers installed
Twenty transformers have been installed at Reem Island’s 400/132 kV grid station for the first phase of the station project.
The transformers – four of 500 MVA and 16 of 80 MVA – were delivered by Abu Dhabi Transmission and Dispatch Company (Transco).
Transco coordinated with Bunya, the resident regulatory authority and regional infrastructure developer for Reem Island.
Transco has also built three 132/22 kV primary substations, each with a capacity of 4 x 80 MVA in the areas of the three master developers of the island, Tamouh, Sorouh and Reem Investments.
It laid a 132 kV cable network to connect the three substations with the grid station and to new load centres.
Mashal, Fu-Com ink deal
Bahraini chemical producer Mashal Chemical Industry has signed a supply agreement with the multinational retail company Fu-com.
Under the terms of the agreement, Mashal, a specialist in detergents and preventive maintenance chemical technology, will produce detergents under the Fu-com brand name.
Fu-com country manager Baba Yvan said Fu-com was interested in working with other Bahraini companies.
Big iron ore mine discovered in China
A newly discovered iron ore deposit in China’s Liaoning province, with reserves estimated at 3 billion tonnes, could be producing up to 5 million tonnes by 2015, a local geological official said.
The deposit will require 2.5 billion yuan ($366 million) of investment and will be 20 per cent owned by Benxi Iron & Steel Group.
The deposit lies close to the base of Benxi’s local rival Anshan Iron & Steel Group.
The official said the deposit could potentially be as big as 7.6 billion tonnes, making it the world’s biggest iron ore mine.
German output down
German industrial output fell unexpectedly by 1.9 per cent month-on-month in April, in a sign Europe’s largest economy is still suffering from a steep drop-off in demand for manufactured goods.
Manufacturing orders data, released recently, had boosted hopes for a recovery in output, but the seasonally-adjusted data published by the Economy Ministry underscored continued weakness in the sector.
Japan exports still low
Japan’s exports continued to tumble in May, further evidence that the recovery in the world economy some investors have been betting on is still some distance off.
Japanese exports fell a larger-than-expected 40.9 per cent in May from a year earlier.
Although exports are now falling less after a period of paralysis in the wake of the financial crisis, there has been little recovery in global demand for cars while consumer electronics demand also remains weak.
“The recovery in exports is still slow, and a comeback to last year’s levels should not be expected immediately,” said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities.
