A total of 120,000 Turkish construction companies are set to halt activities on June 9 to protest a skyrocketing rise in iron prices and a visible undersupply in the material. The protests are expected to last one month, according to sector representatives. Source Hurriyet Daily
Real Estate
A downturn in Greece’s property market deepened in the first quarter, as uncertainty over its bailout program and chronic weakness in its banking sector further eroded a traditional pillar of the country’s ailing economy. Source ekathimerini
Italy is giving away more than 100 historic castles, farmhouses and monasteries for free in an effort to breathe new life into its disused public buildings. Source CBS
U.S. homebuilding fell in March in February and manufacturing output dropped for the first time in seven months, further indications that economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter. The data last week showed the second monthly decline in retail sales in March as well a decrease in consumer prices. Source Reuters
China’s efforts to weed speculation out of the housing market seem futile as data show you ‘Can’t Beat the Real Thing’. Prices not only edged higher in more of the nation’s biggest cities during March, they did so at a faster pace too — a fearless challenge to government orders to stamp out speculation in red hot real estate markets. Source Asia Times
French politicians have cautioned construction-materials giant LafargeHolcim about the consequences of supplying cement for the 3000km wall that US President Donald Trump intends to build along the border with Mexico. Source Global Cement
China’s property sales surged in the first two months of the year despite government measures to cool the market, though growth in real estate investment showed signs of easing, according to official data on Tuesday. Property sales by area rose 25.1 percent year-on-year in January and February. Source: Reuters
Nearly one hundred people met this afternoon for a hotel in Verviers to protest against the arrival of Theo Francken (N-VA). The former secretary of state for Asylum and Migration was expected in the city at a lecture, but it has since been canceled. His car was attacked and the police can not guarantee his safety, he reports on Twitter. Muriel Targnion, mayor of Verviers (PS), joined the demonstrators as well. Source HLN
Fearing a nuclear arms race between China, Russia and the United States after the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which the United States is withdrawing from, Merkel made her call for a global treaty. Source: Reuters
Members of Italy’s ruling governing party the 5-Star Movement voted on Monday to block a possible kidnapping trial against Matteo Salvini, its coalition ally and leader of the hard-right League party. The online ballot is meant to dictate how 5-Star senators should vote on Tuesday in a parliamentary committee reviewing whether magistrates can continue a probe into Salvini, who is also interior minister and deputy prime minister. Source Thomson Reuters
Five Star movement asks supporters whether Matteo Salvini should be prosecuted for allegedly kidnapping migrants. Members of Italy’s ruling Five Star Movement are voting online on Monday to decide whether to block a possible kidnapping trial against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, a coalition ally and leader of the right-wing League party. Source Aljazeera
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested over the weekend that a mosque in Athens should open with minarets if Greece wants to reopen the Halki Orthodox seminary near Istanbul. Source Ekathimerini
French schools are to replace the words “mother” and “father” with “parent 1” and “parent 2” under a controversial same sex amendment to a law passed this week. Source: Telegraph
Poland’s foreign ministry on Friday (Feb 15) summoned Israel’s ambassador over reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implicated Poles in the Holocaust. Source: Channel News Asia
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised a “strong response” to a car bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed at least 42 paramilitary personnel, with New Delhi calling for “the complete isolation of Pakistan” for harbouring the armed group behind the devastating attack. Source: Al Jazeera
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit China next week, Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Friday (Feb 15), as part of a swing through Asia in which the monarch is expected to sign an investment package with cash-strapped Pakistan. Source Channel NewsAsia
- European citizens are due to vote on new representatives for the European Parliament between May 23 and 26.
- However, years of economic stagnation and long-lasting crises over immigration in Europe have translated into a push toward anti-establishment parties across the continent.
France is sending its ambassador back to Italy following the biggest diplomatic dispute between the two countries since World War II. Source: Star Tribune
Honda is closing its factory in Turkey as the country’s new-car sales collapse.
Vehicle sales in Turkey dropped 35 percent last year to 612,607 as the value of the local currency fell, figures from JATO Dynamics show. Honda’s sales bucked the trend by rising 8.5 percent due to the popularity of the locally made Civic sedan, Turkey’s fourth best-selling car last year.
- Car sales fell 17.7 per cent last month from a year earlier, while total vehicle sales in January fell 15.8 per cent to 2.37 million units overall
- Seventh straight monthly decline in the world’s largest car market, and adds to wider concerns over domestic consumption and economic growth
Zimbabwe could run out of bread in a week after flour stocks dwindled due to the country’s failure to pay for imported wheat, according to a confidential letter written to bakers by the country’s grain millers’ group on Monday. Source: Reuters
Turkey saw 72,937 house sales in January with a 24.8-percent annual fall, the country’s statistical office announced on Feb. 18. The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said 31,048 newly-built houses were sold while the rest were second-hand sales last month. Source Daily News
- China’s car sales in January fell 15.8 percent from last year, China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.
- This marks the seventh straight month of declining sales in the world’s largest auto market.
- Beijing is now trying to persuade consumers to loosen their purse strings and has pledged to provide subsidies to boost rural sales of some vehicles and purchases of new energy vehicles.
- China’s car sales in January fell 15.8 percent from last year, China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.
- This marks the seventh straight month of declining sales in the world’s largest auto market.
- Beijing is now trying to persuade consumers to loosen their purse strings and has pledged to provide subsidies to boost rural sales of some vehicles and purchases of new energy vehicles.
The biggest U.S. bank said it developed a prototype digital coin that it plans to use to speed up payments between corporate customers. The token, dubbed JPM Coin, is based on blockchain technology, a decentralized public ledger of transactions that offers more speed because it doesn’t rely on a central record keeper. Source: Bloomberg
FCA Group, Ford and Volkswagen led a 4.6 percent decline in European car registrations in January, industry data showed, dampened by an economic slowdown in euro zone economies and consumer jitters over Brexit and trade. Source Reuters
Russia’s Gazprom will start gas supplies to China from Dec. 1, a month earlier than planned, the gas producer said on Friday. Deliveries of gas to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline were due to begin at the end of December 2019, but the project is only expected to reach full capacity in 2025. Source: Reuters
Two days of U.S.-Chinese trade talks ended with no specific details about whether progress was made or not Friday, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called them “productive” on Twitter. Source: WLOX
- In new official data out of China, both the Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index inflation came in weaker than expected for January.
- The data comes amid a new round of U.S.-China talks in Beijing this week as the world’s two largest economies renewed efforts to reach a deal to defuse trade tensions
- China’s January dollar-denominated exports rose 9.1 percent from a year ago, defying a forecast of a 3.2 percent contraction.
- China’s imports fell 1.5 percent over the same period, far better than the 10 percent decline that was expected.
- China’s overall trade surplus of $39.16 billion in January also beat expectations.
