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Budget-Crunched Cuba To Hike Fuel Prices Over 500 Percent

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Alcoa’s Kwinana Alumina Refinery to be shutdown, 750 of 800 jobs to be cut,…

A major West Australian refinery employing hundreds of people will be shut down, with its workforce to be reduced to only 50 people. US mining giant Alcoa Corporation on Tuesday announced it would fully curtail production in 2024 at its Kwinana Alumina Refinery south of Perth, with the process beginning in the second quarter. The company has operated in WA for about 60 years. 550 of the 800 jobs at the refinery would be cut by the third quarter of this year when all alumina production will cease. But certain processes will continue until about the third quarter of 2025 – reducing employee numbers to about 50, the company said in a…

Alcoa to close WA refinery, hundreds of jobs to be axed

Alumina giant Alcoa will close an aging Perth refinery and slash hundreds of jobs. The US-listed company on Tuesday said operating costs, current bauxite grades and current market conditions were behind the decision. Production will be phased out at the Kwinana refinery, with about 800 employees and 250 contractors likely to be affected. The Western Australian government expressed its disappointment in the decision and said it would support those affected. Premier Roger Cook said it would be a difficult day for Alcoa's workers. "This is a very disappointing outcome, and Alcoa needs to do everything it can to support its workforce…

Economists Say Fed Still Holds Keys to US Recession in 2024

Most economists would be best advised to stay clear of Las Vegas after their wayward bets on last year’s recession. According to a survey from the Financial Times, 85 percent of economists polled predicted a recession in 2023. Back at it in 2024, 76 percent are now leaning toward a recession, according to a December survey from the National Association of Business Economics, with 40 percent saying it will start in Q1 and another 24 percent betting on Q2. Many point to job layoffs, a potential end to buoyant stock market runs, a lack of regional bank liquidity, and commercial office space vacancies playing a role in these…

NatWest chair criticised for saying not that difficult to buy a home

Howard Davies, chairman of Natwest Group Plc. Bloomberg | Getty Images The chair of one of Britain’s biggest banks faced a backlash Friday after saying it is not “that difficult” to get on the property ladder. NatWest chair Howard Davies told the BBC’s “Today” program that the current economic landscape — which has seen interest rates rise to a 15-year high — is little different to other historical periods. “I don’t think it’s that difficult at the moment,” Davies said when asked when it might be easier for Britons to purchase a property. “You have to save, and that’s the way it always used to be,” he added. U.K mortgage rates have…