Iranian Oil cargo to India diverts to China amid payment dispute

Iranian Oil cargo to India diverts to China amid payment dispute


An Aframax tanker loaded with around 600,000 barrels of Iranian crude oil from Kharg Island, which was on its way to Vadinar (Gujarat), has now changed course and is headed to China. This would have been the first Iranian crude cargo delivered to India, after May 2019.

Amidst the West Asia conflict and subsequent oil price volatilities, the US administration temporarily lifted sanctions for over 30 days on Iranian oil on water loaded before March 20th which opened the way for India to access these once sanctioned barrels.

Global real time data and analytics provider Kpler said that the Iranian crude vessel, Ping Shun, that had been en-route to Vadinar, India, over the past three days, has dropped India as its declared destination near arrival and is now signalling China.

“Per market sources, the shift appears to be payment-related, with sellers tightening terms, moving away from the earlier 30-60 day credit window toward upfront or near-term settlement,” said Sumit Ritolia, Kpler’s Lead Research Analyst, Refining and Modelling.

What Ritolia is saying is that the ship turned around near the finish line because the seller demanded immediate cash instead of the usual credit.

While such mid-voyage destination changes are not unprecedented with Iranian crudes, they highlight the increasing sensitivity of trade flows to financial terms and counterparty risk. Ritolia said if the payment issues are resolved, the cargo could still make its way to an Indian refinery.

However, the episode underscores how commercial terms are becoming as critical as logistics in determining Iranian crude flows to other countries apart from China, he added.

Vortexa, in its recent crude monthly report for March 2026, said that the waiver by the US on Iranian and Russian crude provides temporary relief. It simultaneously pointed to “payment issues” with respect to Iranian cargoes.

“The US easing of Russian oil sanctions led to a rebound in India imports of Russian crude while China continues to import at high levels. Unsanctioning Iranian crude on water could, in theory, temporarily fill the medium-sour gap if Asian refiners, particularly Indian refiners and Chinese oil majors, can resolve payment and compliance issues,” it added.

Discounts on these sanctioned barrels are narrowing or already flipping to premiums as demand rises, and the buyer pool broadens, Vortexa said.

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Published on April 3, 2026



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Central banks gold purchases net up in February, but Russia, Turkiye sell

Central banks gold purchases net up in February, but Russia, Turkiye sell


Gold purchases by central banks in February were led by the National Bank of Poland (NBP) and Uzbekistan but Turkiye and Russia turned sellers, data from the World Gold Council (WGC) showed.

Banks were net buyers of 19 tonnes, driven largely by a 20-tonne purchase by NBP. The Polish central bank resumed buying after a lull in January. It was its highest purchase after February 2025, when it bought 29 tonnes.

Marissa Salim, WGC’s senior research lead, APAC, said Poland now has 31 per cent of its reserves in gold at 570 tonnes. It has targeted to purchase 700 tonnes. 

However, Adam Glapiński, the bank’s governor, has proposed generating $13 billion through potential sale of gold reserves to finance defence spending. The intention to “generate profits and to then buy it back”.  

China’s buys continue

The track record of net buying maintained across some central banks with the Czech Republic reporting its 36th consecutive month of net buying. China’s net purchases continued for the 16th consecutive month, followed by Uzbekistan which has been buying for five consecutive months.

Uzbekistan bought 8 tonnes of gold in February, while Czech Republic and Malaysia purchased 2 tonnes each. China and Cambodia bought 1 tonne each.  

Uzbekistan now has 407 tonnes of gold which makes up 88 per cent of its reserves. It bought another 8 tonnes in January.  

Bank Negara Malaysia’s (the Malaysian central bank) continued to show interest to buy gold for the second month in a row in February. It bought 3 tonnes in January. 

Biggest decline

The Czech National Bank has 75 tonnes of gold in its reserves, making up 7 per cent of its total reserves. The People’s Bank of China has 2,308 tonnes of gold reserves, which account for 10 per cent of its total reserves.

Turkiye sold 8 tonnes and Russia six tonnes of gold. It was the biggest decline in gold reserves in February, said Salim. 

“In Turkiye’s case, the reduction appeared to be reflective of a decline in Treasury holdings, rather than central bank reserves based on our calculations. In March, however, the central bank was highly active, with our estimates indicating it utilised around 50 tonnes of its gold reserves for liquidity purposes and FX operations,” she said. 

The Turkish central bank governor Fatih Karahan said a significant part of these transactions were in the nature of gold-currency swap futures. In other words, when it matures, the gold in question will return to the reserves.

Published on April 3, 2026



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BuzzBallz clocks 3x monthly growth in Bengaluru, eyes Maharashtra and Goa expansion

BuzzBallz clocks 3x monthly growth in Bengaluru, eyes Maharashtra and Goa expansion


Jess Scheerhorn, President, BuzzBallz

US-based ready-to-drink (RTD) brand BuzzBallz is seeing rapid early traction in India, clocking nearly three-fold month-on-month (m-o-m) growth in Bengaluru since its December launch.

BuzzBallz has also secured distribution in 30 per cent of Bengaluru’s RTD outlet universe and has captured 20 per cent market share in the city within the RTD segment in the launched stores as of February.

Jess Scheerhorn, president of BuzzBallz, said that in Bengaluru, the brand is now available in around 700 retail outlets and is actively looking to scale further, driven by sustained inbound demand from retailers.

Riding this momentum, BuzzBallz is also preparing to expand into Maharashtra and Goa by August this year. These two key markets together account for roughly 25 per cent of RTD industry volumes across India.

“When we visited Maharashtra, including Pune and Mumbai, we observed clear customer interest and demand. Data indicates that RTDs in India are expected to grow at over 6-10 per cent, which is on the higher side for category expansion. We also noticed a shift, with many consumers moving away from beer, making RTDs an increasingly preferred choice for consumption across various occasions,” Jess told businessline.

Indian flavours go global

BuzzBallz aims not only to gain share within the RTD segment in India, but also to expand the overall consumption occasion. As distribution scales up, performance is expected to hinge on strong repeat consumption, which it is currently seeing in Bengaluru.

While BuzzBallz currently has limited presence in on-premise channels, Scheerhorn noted that this could emerge as a significant consumption avenue over time. In markets such as the US and the UK, on-premise adoption followed initial awareness built through off-premise retail.

The India portfolio includes three market-specific flavours — Berry Lemon Squeeze, Strawberry Squeeze, and Chilli Guava Groove, with the brand developing additional variants tailored to Indian tastes.

Jess shared, “Some of these India-inspired flavours are beginning to attract interest in international markets as well, with flavours like Chilli Guava Groove seeing demand from the US.”

In India, digital engagement is emerging as a key driver of retail partnerships, with online conversations helping educate consumers and build awareness around the product. Social media, in particular, is playing a role in shaping consumption behaviour.

Published on April 3, 2026



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RBI introduces Benchmark Issuance Strategy for market borrowings for 9 States on pilot basis

RBI introduces Benchmark Issuance Strategy for market borrowings for 9 States on pilot basis


FILE PHOTO: A man walks past an installation of the Rupee logo and Indian currency coins outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headquarters in Mumbai, India, April 9, 2025. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
| Photo Credit:
FRANCIS MASCARENHAS

The Reserve Bank of India has decided to introduce Benchmark Issuance Strategy (BIS) for market borrowings, on a pilot basis, for nine States based on their concurrence, starting FY27.

The nine States included in the pilot are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. The BIS strategy would involve issuing securities in specific benchmark tenor buckets as per the pre-announced calendar.

“As their cash and debt manager, Reserve Bank has been sensitizing States about adoption of BIS for their market borrowings. Adoption of this strategy is aimed at enhancing transparency and providing greater clarity to investors…Going forward, other States/UTs are expected to adopt the BIS,” RBI said in a statement.

The quantum of total market borrowings by the State Governments/UTs for the quarter April-June 2026, is expected to be ₹2,54,509 crore. The borrowing by States in the first quarter of FY27 is lower than the quantum of borrowing indicated in last year’s first quarter calendar of ₹2,73,255 crore.

In the first quarter of FY27, the nine States that have adopted the BIS will collectively borrow ₹1,53, 900 crore. The remaining States will collectively borrow ₹1,00,609 crore.

Published on April 3, 2026



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West Asia Conflict: Russia offers topping up supplies of crude, fertilisers, LNG to India

West Asia Conflict: Russia offers topping up supplies of crude, fertilisers, LNG to India


Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian First Deputy Chairman Denis Manturov during a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday
| Photo Credit:
PTI

Russia has offered to increase energy trade with India by supplying more crude oil and fertilizers at a time when the world’s third-largest energy consumer is exploring alternatives to meet the oil and gas deficit created by the West Asia conflict.

Moscow also offered liquefied natural gas (LNG), which comes at a time when India is scouting for cargoes from the US and Australia, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has impacted 47 per cent of its LNG imports.

Supply boost

First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Denis Manturov said on Friday that Russian companies have the capacity to steadily increase supplies of oil and LNG to the Indian market.

Manturov noted that by the end of 2025, Russia had increased supplies of in-demand mineral fertilizers to India by 40 per cent and is ready to continue meeting India’s needs for this product. In addition, a joint project for carbamide production is under development.

“Particular attention was paid to cooperation in the oil and gas sector. Denis Manturov confirmed that Russian companies have the capacity to steadily increase supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas to the Indian market,” said a statement by the Russian Embassy in India.

Manturov, who is on a two-day official visit to India, met top ministers and officials, including Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Manturov had called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and held discussions.

Particular attention was paid to cooperation in the oil and gas sector. The discussions also covered areas such as industrial cooperation, space, and education, the Russian Embassy said.

“Expanding mutually beneficial trade, investment, and industrial cooperation ties was one of the key topics on the agenda. Specific steps were discussed to create favourable conditions for increasing bilateral trade turnover in the present context,” it noted.

Trade Shift

Meanwhile, Indian refiners shifted back to Russian crude oil buying around 60 million barrels of the geopolitically sensitive commodity from Moscow since March 5th as closure of the Strait of Hormuz impacted 40 per cent of its imports, as per the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES).

In a first, India is buying Russian crude (at sea) at a premium, which sources said has hit as high as $8-9 per barrel. Besides, Russia is also supplying LPG to India.

OIES, in its recent energy comment, pointed out that the scale of the SoH disruption is like “no other seen in oil market history”. In such a scenario, one of the US tools to help put a lid on crude prices has been granting exemptions on sanctioned barrels. Russia has been a clear beneficiary of this measure.

Published on April 3, 2026



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IHC’s ₹8,850 cr capital infusion in Sammaan Capital will power its growth for the next 5 years

IHC’s ₹8,850 cr capital infusion in Sammaan Capital will power its growth for the next 5 years


The ₹8,850 crore that Sammaan Capital Ltd (SCL) will receive in tranches from Abu Dhabi-based investment firm International Holding Company PJSC (IHC) over the next 18 months will ensure growth capital for the mortgage-focused non-banking finance company (NBFC) for the next five years, helping it diversify into personal loans, loans against gold, and small business loans.

Powered by the capital infusion, the NBFC’s consolidated AUM (assets under management) is expected to grow to about ₹1.3-1.5 lakh crore by 2029 from the December-end 2025 level of ₹64,200 crore, said Gagan Banga, MD & CEO, SCL.

“So, between 2018-19 till about 2023, the company was fighting some sort of an existential crisis. Then, in 2024, we raised around ₹5,000 crore of capital, which allowed us to stabilise our AUM, borrowings, ratings, etc. Having done that, over the course of the last couple of years we started growing again,” he said in an interaction wuth businessline.

Banga emphasised that there are two macro trends in the economy – first is that there is consolidation happening in the financial services space, where the big are getting bigger, and the second is that over the course of at least the next 20 years, India has a fairly well defined predictable growth path ahead of it.

“Given these two backgrounds, we needed to have a very strong foundation of a strong parent, which would enable us to focus on growth versus navigating the environment. A strong parent typically enables you to focus on growth. The parent navigates the environment for you….And so we can focus on growth now,” the Sammaan Capital Chief said.

Capital injection from IHC

Recently, the NBFC announced that IHC through its affiliate, Avenir Investment RSC LTD, will become the promoter of SCL, acquiring 41.5 per cent stake via a preferential allotment of equity shares and warrants in the Company.

The NBFCl has received an initial tranche of ₹5,652 crore ($600 million) towards the allotment of equity shares and warrants, with an additional ₹3,198 crore ($338 million) to be received within a period of 18 months upon conversion of the warrants into fully paid equity shares.

Aspiration: To be among top 3 UL-NBFCs

Banga underscored that Sammaan Capital is a part of the RBI’s list of 15 Upper Layer (UL)-NBFCs, which are systemically significant and face higher regulatory scrutiny.

“We aspire to be amongst the top three (UL-NBFCs), which we used to be. So, we intend to go back there. But over the next three years, we have to build expertise internally. The aspiration is o transform this company into a multi-product NBFC versus the monoline mortgage focussed NBFC that it is today.

Inorganic growth

“Before we embark on any sort of inorganic growth, we need to have internal expertise of being able to trust the inorganic assets that we are acquiring. We should be in a position to appraise them properly and do all of that,” Banga said.

So, over the next three years, the NBFC’s focus is going to be on developing the product suite and the internal abilities of managing all of that. And post that it will see what it has to do, what are the opportunities available and so on.

The SCL chief noted that inorganic growth opportunities are always available at a price. But that opportunity it will tap after three years.

Published on April 3, 2026



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