War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

South Africa’s Gold Fields expects its costs to increase as the Iran war has driven the prices of inputs such as fuel and explosives higher, it said, Reuters reports.

“The forecast impact of this, assuming an oil price of $100 per barrel, is between $40 to $50 per ounce on a portfolio level,” it said in a quarterly update.

Gold Fields did not change its cost guidance for the year, however, saying measures, such as more fuel-efficient, high-capacity haulage systems at its mines, should contain costs.

The jump in diesel prices triggered by the Iran war is expected to accelerate electrification of China’s heavy truck fleet this year, analysts and automakers say, and speed a decline in fuel demand in the world’s largest oil importer, Reuters reports.

Electric heavy truck sales grew over the last two years from a niche market to nearly a third of new heavy truck purchases in 2025 thanks to government subsidies, cheap refuelling and expanding charging infrastructure.

Last year’s growth was particularly weighted in the fourth quarter because buyers also thought the trade-in subsidy programme would be ending soon.

New-energy heavy truck sales, which are mostly electric, began this year with the same kind of pop, growing 45 per cent year-on-year to 44,000 units and accounting for more than a quarter of the segment, up from less than 20pc of sales a year earlier.

China and Hong Kong stocks closed higher, led by artificial intelligence and tech shares, as risk sentiment improved on hopes of a US-Iran peace deal, Reuters reports.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5 per cent each. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng was up 1.6pc.

Shipping group ⁠Maersk beat first-quarter profit forecasts but kept its full-year earnings guidance unchanged, warning that the US-Israel war on Iran has left freight rates and costs uncertain, Al Jazeera reports.

Maersk, ⁠often seen as a bellwether for global trade, still projected global container volume growth of 2 to 4 per cent this year, but said that the situation remained volatile.

“The outlook for global container demand in 2026 is highly uncertain. Higher energy ‌prices and constraints on trade in the Upper Gulf region, which in 2025 accounted for around 6 percent of global container trade, pose downside risks to the growth momentum,” the company said in a statement.

Vietnam’s largest refinery, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, is considering quarterly tenders and spot cargo procurement to secure sufficient crude oil for its operations as the crisis in the Middle East continues to disrupt supplies, the company said, according to Reuters.

The 200-barrel-per-day refinery, which processes crude oil sourced almost entirely from Kuwait, has suffered crude oil supply disruptions since March due to the war.

Egypt has signed an agreement with Lebanon to rehabilitate its gas pipelines and infrastructure amid ongoing efforts to support the crisis-hit country’s energy sector, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to a statement by the Egyptian Cabinet, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attended the signing ceremony at the government headquarters in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, east of Cairo.

The agreement was signed by Egyptian Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi and Lebanese Energy Minister Joe Saddi.

Madbouly said the deal reflects the outcomes of his visit to Beirut last December and underscores Cairo’s commitment to supporting Lebanon in the energy sector and rehabilitating its infrastructure.

The French government is preparing to provide financial aid for airlines hit by jet fuel price hikes, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot has said, AFP reports.

Tabarot said the government and airlines had made progress in a meeting on aid, including deferrals of social security contributions, extended tax payment deadlines and flexibility on fuel loads.

“Airlines are facing a major shock. The government is fully committed to supporting them and helping them get through this difficult time,” he said.

The Israeli military says Hezbollah launched several rockets towards its soldiers in southern Lebanon over the past few hours but caused no casualties, Al Jazeera reports.

The army said it attacked 15 Hezbollah positions, including weapons storage facilities.

The conflict in the Middle East has already led to a loss of about 120 billion cubic meters of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply over the 2026-2030 period, Reuters reports, citing Gergely Molnar, a gas analyst from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Molnar told the Budapest LNG Summit that the conflict was altering the medium-term gas outlook and tighter market conditions “could persist for longer than previously expected”.

Emirates airline posted a record full-year net profit despite the impact of the Iran war, as the carrier cited strong travel demand throughout most of the period, Reuters reports.

The Gulf carrier said in a statement its profit after tax rose to $5.4 billion in the 12 months to the end of March, up from $5.2bn in the same period a year earlier, as higher passenger yield offset a slight decline in the number of passengers Emirates carried to 53.2 million.

US-sanctioned, cargo-empty tankers are continuing to arrive in Iran-linked shipping routes, according to maritime analytics group Tanker Trackers.

In a post on X, the group said a tanker identified as VINA/VALLEY , which it described as regularly involved in transporting Iranian LPG to Yemen, entered what it called a “blockade perimeter” while transmitting AIS signals.

British energy giant Shell announces a 19-percent increase in net profits for the first quarter as the Middle East war sent oil and gas prices soaring in volatile trading, according to AFP.

Profit after tax increased to $5.69 billion in the January-March period from $4.78 billion in the first quarter of 2025, Shell has said in an earnings statement.

“Shell delivered strong results enabled by our relentless focus on operational performance in a quarter marked by unprecedented disruption in global energy markets,” says chief executive Wael Sawan.

Iran denies attacking a South Korean cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz this week, as US President Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war was “very possible” but warned Washington would resume bombing if talks failed, according to AFP.

Tehran’s embassy in Seoul says it “firmly rejects and categorically denies” allegations that its armed forces were behind a blast aboard the Panama-flagged HMM Namu, which caught fire on Monday while transiting the strategic waterway with 24 crew members on board.

Iranian soccer chief Mehdi Taj has said he will have a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the next three or four days at which he would seek assurances that his country will be respected at the World Cup in the United States.

Canada, which is co-hosting the June 11 to July 19 World Cup with the US and Mexico, has said it refused entry to Taj last week because of his links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Taj has said that Iran would not take part in the tournament if FIFA could not guarantee respect for the country’s institutions in the U.S., where the team will be based and play all three of their group matches.

“We will tell (FIFA) what our expectations are. If they can address them, we will definitely participate,” the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) president tells state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran.

“But if there is no guarantee that they will be addressed, then no one has the right to insult us or the pillars of our system.

“And if they continue on the path of disrespect, and even ask our players those kinds of questions, we may make a different decision.”

The Middle East war and a major corruption scandal drove Philippine economic growth to a five-year low, officials said, adding future targets would be lowered, AFP reports.

Gross domestic product expanded 2.8 per cent for the three months to March, sharply down from the 5.4pc in the same period last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

It was also a dip from the 3.0pc growth registered in the final quarter of 2025, the agency said.

President Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after a key Gulf ally suspended the US military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two US officials, NBC reports.

Trump surprised Gulf allies by announcing “Project Freedom” on social media Sunday afternoon, the officials said, angering leadership in Saudi Arabia. In response, the Kingdom informed the US it would not allow the US military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase southeast of Riyadh or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort, the officials said, according to NBC.

The publication further stated that a call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue, forcing the president to pause Project Freedom in order to restore US military access to the critical airspace.

Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting that the Israeli military carried out an overnight air strike targeting the town of Erzi in the Sidon district of southern Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera.

Iran has denied that its armed forces had been involved in an explosion that struck a South Korean vessel in the Strait of Hormuz this week, AFP reports.

Tehran “firmly rejects and categorically denies any allegations regarding the involvement of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the incident involving damage to a Korean vessel in the Strait of Hormuz”, its embassy in Seoul said in a statement.

Australia will force major gas exporters to set aside 20 per cent of the fuel for domestic use, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said, AFP reports.

“Twenty per cent of Australian gas exports are being reserved for Australian use,” he told reporters.

The announcement comes a day after the government said it would establish a national fuel stockpile of one billion litres to shield the nation from an energy crisis.