News That Matters

Ft.com
Greece missed another deadline to approve conditions for a second €130bn bail-out on Tuesday night, after a meeting with political leaders was postponed until Wednesday because of last-minute haggling with international lenders over emergency spending cuts. A government official said Lucas Papademos, the technocrat prime minister, would hold the talks on Wednesday morning and expected a deal to be presented for approval at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers later in the week. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b10af3b0-517f-11e1-a9d7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1lfiiEgbH

Several large investors have threatened to block Glencore and Xstrata’s proposed all-share merger, which would create a $90bn commodities giant in the largest global mining deal on record, reports the FT.http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/02/08/873091/glencore-and-xstrata-face-blocking-threat-2/

The White House has quietly injected itself into ongoing settlement discussions aimed at resolving regulators’ allegations that leading US banks abused struggling homeowners, underscoring the deal’s potential impact on the broader housing market and the presidential election, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/02/08/872921/us-mortgage-deal-nears/

General Motors is preparing to disclose “horrendous” fourth quarter losses out of its European Opel/Vauxhall unit and wants to cut costs in a plan that could involve job cuts and plant closures, the WSJ says,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/02/08/872951/gm-wants-to-cut-opel/

Stephen Hester has revealed that the dramatic restructuring of Royal Bank of Scotland has cost £38bn in a rallying memo to staff days after the embattled chief executive waived a £1m bonus, reports the FT. Urging employees to “prove the critics wrong”, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/02/08/872901/rbs-shake-up-has-cost-38bn-so-far/

George Osborne, the chancellor, warned on Tuesday night that enterprise could be stifled and jobs could be put at risk if an “anti-business culture” were allowed to take hold in Britain, reports the FT.http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/02/08/872781/osborne-warns-of-anti-business-mood/

The European Central Bank has made key concessions over its holdings of Greek government bonds, says the WSJ, citing people briefed on the country’s debt restructuring talks. The ECB has agreed to exchange the government bonds it purchased in the secondary market last year at a price below face value, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/02/08/872701/greece-misses-yet-another-deadline/

On Tuesday authorities in China decided to move the ceiling on fuel prices upwards in response to price movements in international markets, the WSJ reports. This is a continuation of a balancing act between shielding consumers from the vulgarities of markets while also trying to rein in any increases in energy consumption and encourage fuel efficiency. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/02/07/872571/china-moves-up-fuel-ceiling/

Rick Santorum, the socially conservative former Pennsylvania senator, has made a surprise comeback in the Republican presidential nominating contest, winning resounding victories in Minnesota and Missouri and taking the shine off Mitt Romney’s frontrunner status Mr Santorum’s strong showing on Tuesday in the non-binding Minnesota caucus and Missouri primary will not help him win the delegates needed to secure the nomination, but it will give him a much-needed psychological boost, following weeks of speculation that he would have to pull out after poor performances in other states since his opening victory in Iowa. It will also likely trigger a new wave of donations to his floundering campaign. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e73aab4e-5187-11e1-a9d7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1lfiiEgbH

The bulls are out in force. But buying the dollar is not necessarily the best way to profit. As evidence of a US economic recovery grows, investors are looking to the country’s key trading partners, Mexico and Canada, as a way of playing that strength. Buying the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar against the euro has been among the most popular trading strategies in the foreign exchange market this year. And that trade could be much more profitable than trying to buy the dollar against other big currencies, analysts say. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1bbb04de-519e-11e1-a99d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1lfiiEgbH

Wsj.com
Asian stock markets climbed Wednesday, helped by signs of progress over debt restructuring talks in Greece, while the Tokyo market tapped a three-month high as Toyota Motor surged. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average tacked on 0.8% after earlier rising 1% to 9002.92, topping the 9000 mark for the first time since Oct. 31. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% while South Korea’s Kospi Composite rose 0.7%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6%, and India’s Sensex was up 0.5%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up two points in screen trade.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577209900101836974.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

Japan’s current-account surplus shrank at its fastest rate on record in 2011, as exports stumbled and energy prices soared, leading to the first shortfall in merchandise trade in decades, government data showed. The result was partly due to extraordinary events such as the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, but economists say that the yen’s persistent strength and a growing reliance on expensive energy imports mean the picture won’t improve anytime soon. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577209764102295618.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who is putting his country through austerity measures to escape Europe’s debt crisis, proposed tougher European rules aimed at prying open member states’ national industries, as a way to encourage economic growth and competition in the euro zone. The proposal, made by Mr. Monti’s new technocrat government to its European partners last month and outlined publicly for the first time in an interview Tuesday, underscores a growing belief by policy makers here that the Continent needs to start moving beyond the austerity that has marked euro-zone policies for the past two years.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577209243247008110.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

Russian envoys met with Syria’s embattled leader but failed to extract public concessions for ending the country’s bloody stalemate, in a day of diplomatic pomp that was undercut as Syrian tanks renewed fire on regime opponents and Moscow came under broadening international scorn for its handling of the crisis. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, following his meeting Tuesday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said his message of the need to step up efforts to end the violence “has been heard.” But Syrian forces pounded Homs, the heart of the uprising, for the fourth straight day. At least 15 civilians and four Syrian soldiers died there Tuesday, activists said. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577208532769722856.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

UBS AG said it will slash its investment-bank bonuses for 2011 by 60%, while the head of the unit will forgo any bonus following a trading scandal in September that cost the bank $2.3 billion. The bonus cuts came as UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank by assets, said its net profit dropped 76% in the fourth quarter, dragged down by continued losses in its investment bank, while its huge private bank performed somewhat better in a period marked by turbulent markets and little appetite for risk on the part of clients. While many rival banks are also cutting back on compensation,http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577208211635419938.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

Cambodia’s low-rise capital city is reaching for the sky—again. Long known as one of the last major Asian cities without a skyline, Phnom Penh embarked on a high-rise building boom in the middle of the last decade, only to see it derailed by the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. Although a few tall buildings were completed, including a 32-story bank tower, other ambitious projects—like an 1,820-foot skyscraper that would have been the tallest in Asia at the time and among the tallest buildings in the world, behind Dubai’s 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa—never got off the ground.  Now thathttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203315804577207352952177994.html?mod=WSJAsia_hpp_LEFTTopStories

The European Central Bank has made key concessions over its holdings of Greek government bonds, which will contribute to a reduction of the country’s debt burden and smooth the path toward a new bailout for the country, said people briefed on Greece’s debt-restructuring negotiations. The decision by one of the Greek government’s biggest creditors will narrow a gap in Greece’s finances, helping pave the way for a debt-restructuring agreement with Greece’s private-sector creditors and a new €130 billion ($170 billion) bailout from other euro-zone governments and the International Monetary Fund. But it is still unclear whether Greek politicians, facing public outrage, will accept the tough austerity policies pushed by European authorities and the IMF as the conditions to secure a deal.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577208432422300656.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

Marketwatch.com
China’s cabinet, the State Council, approved a plan Wednesday to create 45 million new jobs through 2015, setting a target of holding urban unemployment under 5%, according to report by the state-run Xinhua news agency. The plan included upgrading employment regulations and improvements to workers’ rights and benefits, the report said. The government acknowledged it saw harder times ahead, with job-market conditions to be “complicated” during the currenct national economic plan running from last year through 2015, the report said. China’s urban unemployment rate stood at 4.1% at the end of 2011, unchanged from a year earlier, according to official data, though some analysts have questioned the accuracy of the jobless data http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-aims-to-create-45-million-new-jobs-report-2012-02-07

Reuters.com
Gold prices held steady around $1,745 an ounce on Wednesday, as investors waited with caution for Greece to grind towards a deal on a rescue package that it urgently needs after missing a string of deadlines. Spot gold was little changed at $1,746.09 an ounce by 0329 GMT, after rallying 1.5 percent in the previous session. U.S. gold inched up $1 to $1,749.40. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/us-markets-precious-idUSTRE80T1QZ20120208

Brent crude futures fell to near $116 a barrel on Wednesday, as uncertainty over Greece’s ability to resolve its debt problems weighed on sentiment and traders narrowed the benchmark’s premium to U.S. crude. Front-month Brent fell 21 cents to $116.02 a barrel by 0301 GMT, snapping seven straight days of gains. U.S. March crude rose 43 cents to $98.84 a barrel, buoyed by an unplanned outage at a Canadian oil sands plant. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/us-markets-oil-idUSTRE7AD06820120208

Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is holding to his pledge to keep borrowing costs close to zero at least through late 2014 even after unemployment unexpectedly fell to a three-year low. Bernanke told the Senate Budget Committee in Washington yesterday that the decline in the jobless rate to 8.3 percent in January veils weaknesses in the U.S. labor market. Fed officials last month said they didn’t expect such progress until the fourth quarter. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/bernanke-holds-to-2014-low-rate-pledge-even-as-unemployment-rate-declines.html

India’s government gets a chance to rebuild its political support after a year of setbacks and gauge the popularity of Rahul Gandhi, its touted next leader, as voters go to the polls in the nation’s most populous state. The Congress party, which leads the ruling federal coalition, is set to more than triple its strength in the provincial legislature of Uttar Pradesh and play the role of kingmaker in forming the next administration even as it fends off criticism over corruption scandals, opinion polls show. Results in the monthlong elections that began today will be announced March 6. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/singh-turns-to-india-state-vote-for-succor-after-year-of-scandal.html

China may “move shortly” to help Europe resolve its debt crisis by providing an investment of as much as 100 billion euros ($132 billion), said Yuan Gangming, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The money would probably go to the European Financial Stability Facility, the euro bailout fund, said Yuan, adding that the forecasts are his own and don’t necessarily represent government plans. Economists from the academy provide policy advice without direct involvement in decisions. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/china-may-move-shortly-on-aid-for-europe-academic-says.html

China’s central bank pledged support for first-home buyers as a crackdown on real-estate speculation threatens to trigger a property slump in the world’s second- biggest economy. Officials will increase support for construction of affordable housing and ensure that “loan demand from first-home families” is met, the People’s Bank of China said on its website yesterday evening. Policy makers aim to limit public discontent by making housing more affordable, with Vice Premier Li Keqiang, a possible contender to be the next premier, describing the distribution of low-cost homes as a key test of government credibility. At the same time, the ruling Communist Party aims to avoid the economic “hard landing” that Fitch Ratings said yesterday is a key global risk. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/china-central-bank-to-aid-home-buyers-to-balance-crackdown-on-speculators.html

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos postponed a meeting with heads of the political parties supporting his caretaker government a second time in as many days as the government and international creditors haggled over terms to secure a second aid package. Papademos will meet with the leaders in Athens tomorrow, instead of tonight as previously scheduled, a spokeswoman for his office said. Instead, he will meet tonight with the so- called troika, comprising the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to put the final touches to terms required for a 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) rescue package, the spokeswoman said. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/greek-officials-working-on-final-draft-to-meet-international-rescue-terms.html

Argentina will lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council protesting the U.K.’s “militarization” of the southern Atlantic Ocean around the Falkland Islands. The country’s Foreign Ministry will protest against Britain’s decision to send one of its newest destroyers, HMS Dauntless, to the islands, known in Latin America as Malvinas, to replace an older ship at the same time as Prince William was deployed to the archipelago, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said last night in Buenos Aires. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/argentina-to-protest-u-k-s-military-presence-near-falkland-islands-to-un.html

Brazil is among the “world’s most exciting markets,” according to Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Franklin Templeton Investment’s Emerging Markets Group. Mobius made the comments in a post on Templeton’s website following a recent trip to Sao Paulo to look for new investments and to visit companies that his firm had invested in. The fund manager visited banks, one of the nation’s car rental firms, a beer and soft-drink producer and a software company, he wrote, without naming the businesses. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/brazil-one-of-most-exciting-markets-mobius.html

Cnbc.com
China is scouring the world for alternative oil supplies to replace a fall in its imports from Iran, as it seeks to negotiate lower prices from Tehran, and has been drawing heavily on Saudi Arabia. Industry sources told Reuters that Beijing had bought the bulk of an increase in crude oil supplies from top oil exporter Saudi Arabia in the last few months. The world’s second-largest oil consumer is also importing more cargoes from West Africa, Russia and Australia to replace reduced supplies from Iran. http://www.cnbc.com/id/46301878

Dailyfinance.com
The world is much changed since the early days of 1962, but one thing has remained constant: The U.S. economic embargo on communist-run Cuba, a near-total trade ban that turned 50 on Tuesday. Supporters say it is a justified measure against a repressive government that has never stopped being a thorn in Washington’s side. Critics call it a failed policy that has hurt ordinary Cubans instead of the government. All acknowledge that it has not accomplished its core mission of toppling Fidel and Raul Castro. http://srph.it/w6re65

USAtoday.com
Americans accelerated their borrowing in December for the second straight month, running up more credit card debt and taking out loans to buy cars and attend school. Consumer borrowing rose by $19.3 billion in December after a $20.4 billion gain in November. The two increases were the biggest monthly gains in a decade. Total consumer borrowing is now at a seasonally adjusted $2.5 trillion. That nearly matches the pre-recession borrowing level, and it is up 4.4% from the September 2010 post-recession low. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-02-07/december-consumer-borrowing/53000798/1

BBC.co.uk
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also told public radio that a Greek exit from the eurozone now would be less risky than if it had happened in 2010 when its debt crisis first broke. “There is less risk now,” Mr Rutte said. “It is in our interest that Greece remain [in the eurozone] and to achieve that it must do all it has promised to do but if that does not work out, then we are stronger now than a year and a half ago.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16923706

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in China for talks that will focus on oil sales and other economic ties. The four-day visit emphasises efforts by Canada to diversify energy sales as nearly all of its oil exports currently go to the US. Mr Harper arrived in Beijing on Tuesday night, accompanied by his wife, officials and 40 business leaders. He will meet President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other top officials. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16933243

Telegraph.co.uk
Retailer price wars helped to drive the cost of clothing, furniture and electrical goods lower in January compared with a year earlier, providing some good news for the squeezed British consumer. Non-food inflation across all categories fell to zero from 0.3pc in December according to the BRC-Nielsen shop price index, while food inflation slowed to 3.7pc from 4.2pc. It was the lowest level of food price inflation since July 2010 as discounted prices and lower commodity prices fed through. Cocoa and sugar prices fell by 31pc and 30pc respectively. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9067308/UK-shop-price-inflation-slowed-in-January.html

Guardian.co.uk
Index of global shipping, Baltic Dry falls to a 25-year-low. Prices for shipping coal, rice, wheat and other commodities are seen as a proxy for the strength of world trade and global economy. Back in 2008, the Baltic Dry index was an early warning sign of trouble ahead for the global economy. David Blanchflower was a big fan, and used to cite the Baltic Dry when he was trying, unsuccessfully, to persuade his fellow members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee to cut interest rates in the months before the collapse of Lehman Brothers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics-blog/2012/feb/07/baltic-dry-shipping-index-25-year-low

Theglobeandmail.com
An increasingly “desperate” labour shortage is the main obstacle keeping companies from becoming more competitive. An aging work force and growing demand for specialized skills means that hundreds ofthousands of jobs are going begging despite stubbornly high unemployment, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce concludes in a report being released Wednesday. The expected shortfall over the next decade or so includes 163,000 construction jobs, 130,000 oil workers, 60,000 nurses, 37,000 truckers, 22,000 hotel workers and 10,000 skilled steel tradespeople. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/growth/labour-shortage-desperate-chamber-of-commerce/article2330196/

Xinhuanet.com
U.S. job openings increased in December 2011, a positive sign of improving job market, the Labor Department reported on Tuesday. The number of job openings in December was 3.4 million, up from 3.1 million in November 2011, the report said. Although the number of job openings remained below the 4.4. million level when the recession began in December 2007, the job openings rate has trended upward since the end of the recession in June 2009. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/08/c_131396856.htm

Cs.com.cn
China`s total electricity consumption decreases about 7.5 percent in January, and the accumulative total electricity consumption in January and February would also see a tiny growth about 5percent or 6 percent, a well-informed source told China Securities Journal yesterday. The main reason for such negative electricity consumption growth in duce the seven-days Lunar Spring Festival, which also is unusual in the recent years. Meanwhile, the China Electricity Council (CEC) said in newly-issued report that China’s electricity consumption growth will slow in 2012, as the world’s second-largest economy is expected to decelerate this year. http://www.cs.com.cn/english/ei/201202/t20120208_3233349.html

Overheated economy in Mongolia is leading to significant problems such as high inflation, exchange rate volatility and wage pressures, according to an IMF report released Tuesday. The report, drafted by Steven Barnett of IMF regional office for Asia and the Pacific, warned that the consequences of the overheating economy could heighten fears about “hard-landing” of the country’s economy, especially if external shocks hit the economy. Barnett blamed the expansive fiscal policy as the main cause of the overheating and economic volatility. “Government spending increased 60 percent in 2011 and is set to rise a further 30 percent this year,” he said. http://www.cs.com.cn/english/ei/201202/t20120208_3233529.html

Thehindu.com
45 per cent of the payment will be through three Indian banks. Iran has agreed to accept 45 per cent of the payment for its crude imports in rupees through three Indian banks to beat the effect of western sanctions.  Assuring against any cut in crude supplies, Iranian Ambassador Syed Mahdi Nabizadeh told newspersons here on Tuesday that despite frequent U.S. roadblocks and pressure on European financial institutions through which India has been routing payments, both countries were determined to resolve the issue of payments for India’s crude imports.http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/article2869579.ece

The United States has said the rice trade between India and Iran would not be sanctioned as the American sanctions on Tehran include exceptions for exports of things like food, medicine and medical devices. “US sanctions on Iran include exceptions for exports of things like food, medicine, medical devices. So from our perspective, this kind of trade would not be sanctioned,” State Department spokesperson, Ms Victoria Nuland, told reporters.  Ms Nuland was responding to questions on news reports that Iran is defaulting on payments to India on its purchase of rice. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article2871531.ece

Passenger car sales in the domestic market rose 7.19 per cent to 1,96,013 units in January compared with 1,82,852 units in the same month last year. According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), motorcycle sales last month grew 10.51 per cent to 8,25,887 units from 7,47,309 units in the same month last year. Total two-wheeler sales increased 13.62 per cent to 11,13,831 units from 9,80,243 units. Total sales of commercial vehicles jumped 13.52 per cent to 69,859 units from 61,537 units, the SIAM data said. Total sale of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 12.17 per cent to 14,81,435 units in January 2012 against 13,20,644 units in the same month of 2011, it added. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/article2871539.ece

Expressing satisfaction over the progress in the Sino-India relations, China today said there is enough space and opportunity for the people of both the countries to develop together. The bilateral relationship made good progress and “we are satisfied with the progress”, Mr Zhou Yongkong, a senior politburo member of the ruling Communist Party of China, said while welcoming the External Affairs Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, here today. Recalling his visit to India in 2010 during which he held talks with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, and other political leaders, Mr Zhou said: “there is enough opportunity and space for the development for the 2.5 billion people of China and India combined.’’ http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article2871494.ece

Economictimes.com
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn indicated the central bank will continue to buy bonds through open market operations (OMOs) and said there was no decision to stop them.
OMOs will be done in response to the overnight cash rate and banks’ daily borrowing from the RBI’s repo counter under its liquidity adjustment facility, Gokarn said on the sidelines of a Bank of America event. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/rbi-deputy-governor-subir-gokarn-says-no-decision-to-stop-omos/articleshow/11804386.cms
Yonhapnews.co.kr
South Korean banks’ household loans declined in January from the previous month on sluggish housing markets, the central bank said Wednesday. Local banks’ household loans, including home-backed loans and credit loans, reached 452.2 trillion won (US$405 billion) as of the end of January, down 2.8 trillion won from a month ago, according to preliminary data of the Bank of Korea (BOK). Lenders’ household loans declined for the first time last month after posting consistent growth since February of 2011, according to the BOK data.http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2012/02/08/54/0503000000AEN20120208005800320F.HTML

South Korea’s money supply expanded 4.4 percent in December from one year ago on the back of increased short-term savings at banks, the central bank said Wednesday. The country’s M2, a narrow measure of the money supply, reached 1,756.6 trillion won (US$1.57 trillion) in December 2011, compared with 1,682.9 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The growth speed of M2 remained unchanged for three months starting in October at a 4.4 percent on-year gain. M2 covers currency in circulation and all types of deposits with a maturity of less than two years at lenders and non-banking financial institutions, excluding those held by insurers and brokerage houses. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2012/02/08/64/0503000000AEN20120208002800320F.HTML

Fin24.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday renewed a pledge to prevent Europe’s financial crisis from damaging the US economy in testimony before Congress that mirrored remarks he made last week. “We are in frequent contact with European authorities, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely and take every available step to protect the US financial system and the economy,” Bernanke said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Senate Budget Committee. http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Bernanke-vows-to-shield-US-from-EU-woes-20120207

Tehrantimes.com
EU figures show imports of Iranian crude were up about 7 percent in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the second quarter. The EU says it imported about 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude oil in the third quarter of 2011, compared to about 655,000 bpd in the second quarter. The EU agreed on Jan. 23 to ban Iranian oil imports, but the embargo will not be fully implemented until July 1, to avoid harming economies to whom Iran has been a major supplier. OPEC’s second largest producer, Iran, sells large volumes of oil to China, India, South Korea, Japan and Italy. But Greece, Turkey, South Africa and Sri Lanka rely most heavily on Iranian oil as a percentage of their imports. http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/95249-eu-imports-from-iranian-crude-oil-up-7-in-q3-2011