Company news in brief

AngloGold may sell Mali mineAngloGold Ashanti Ltd and its joint venture partner are looking at selling a mine in Mali after failing to reach an agreement with the west African country about an investment project, the company said on Monday.The news came as AngloGold, Africa’s biggest gold miner by output, said it expected full-year production to reach the upper end of its guidance range, helping to push its shares as much as 9% higher.Mali, Africa’s third biggest producer of gold after South Africa and Ghana, has struggled to attract investment since Islamist militants seized the desert north in 2012.AngloGold said it had started the process of selling the Sadiola mine, a joint venture with IAMGOLD, after failing to agree the terms of an investment project with the Malian government.The South African company and IAMGOLD had been in talks with Mali about a project to add sulphide-ore processing capability to a plant.“While this agreement has not yet been reached, AngloGold Ashanti and IAMGOLD, who collectively own an 82% interest in Sadiola, have initiated a process to identify third parties that may be interested in acquiring their collective interests in Sadiola,” AngloGold said.The company reported a 15% fall in production to 851 000 ounces in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from the same period a year earlier, after it sold some South African assets.-Nampa/ReutersNigeria says Shell, ExxonMobil also looking at crude swapsNigeria’s state oil firm NNPC could sign crude-for-product deals with Shell and ExxonMobil, similar to one signed with BP last week, a senior NNPC official said on Monday.Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced last Wednesday that it had signed such a deal with BP and would provide more details later.“Unfortunately, Shell and ExxonMobil exited the downstream sector in Nigeria a couple of years ago but they are coming back for this particular arrangement, because it’s an opportunity for them to get crude and sell their products to the refineries,” NNPC’s chief operating officer for upstream, Bello Rabiu, told Reuters on the sidelines of an African oil and gas conference in Cape Town.NNPC imports about 70% of Nigeria’s fuel needs, mainly gasoline, via swap contracts. NNPC has contracts, known as direct sale direct purchase agreements, with 10 consortiums that include trading houses Vitol, Trafigura, Mercuria and Total.It extended the existing contracts to June 2019 but several trading sources in the consortiums said they had requested new price terms.Rabiu said NNPC hoped in 2019 to emulate savings of around US$1 billion seen in 2016 with its crude-for-product swaps, which he said would likely end once Africa’s top crude producer revamps its refineries.-Nampa/ReutersAir Tanzania to receive two Airbus jets Tanzania’s state-owned airline will take delivery of two Airbus 220-300 jets next month, the government said on Monday, continuing expansion to support tourism.President John Magufuli prioritised investment in Air Tanzania when he took office in 2015, aiming to revive the loss-making carrier because of the potential to boost the vital tourism sector, a top foreign exchange earner.The airline will take delivery of two Airbus 220-300 planes in December, each with capacity to carry more than 130 passengers, government spokesman Hassan Abbas told a news conference.He did not say how much the aircraft will cost.Air Tanzania has received four planes since 2016, including a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and Abbas said that monthly passenger numbers had increased to 30 000 from 4 000 before the fleet expansion.-Nampa/ReutersVying for Vuitton: China's e-commerce rivals seek luxury strangleholdChina’s online giants Alibaba and JD.com are taking their battle for relevance in the lucrative luxury goods market to a new level, as they aim to crack e-commerce tie-ups with top brands that usually shun selling through third parties.From Hugo Boss to La Perla underwear, the online shopping giants have recruited dozens of labels since launching their rival luxury sites in mid-2017, touting their access to a trove of consumer data and their grip on local payments systems in the world’s biggest market for high-end fashion.But some of the most prized names have so far remained aloof, and the race is on to attract the likes of LVMH’s Louis Vuitton: a brand notorious for only selling its handbags and other wares through its own stores and websites.Both are banking that even elusive outsiders will tire of trying to fly solo in China, where potential clients shop far more by mobile phone apps than in the United States or Europe, and those in smaller, far-flung cities are hard to reach.-Nampa/ReutersApple cancels production boost for iPhone XRApple Inc has told its smartphone assemblers Foxconn and Pegatron to halt plans for additional production lines dedicated to its new iPhone XR, the Nikkei financial daily reported on Monday.Apple shares fell nearly 4% after the report, which fueled concerns that the iPhone XR, the cheapest of three iPhones Apple unveiled in September, was facing weak demand just days after it hit shelves.The Nikkei, citing supply chain sources, said Apple had also asked smaller iPhone assembler Wistron to stand by for rush orders, but that the company will receive no orders for the iPhone XR this season.-Nampa/Reuters

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