J&T Global Express eyes USD 500 mn Hong Kong IPO, slashing initial target by half:Tencent -backed logistics outfit J&T Global Express is looking to raise upwards of USD 500 mn via a share offering on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX), down from an initial plan to raise some USD 1 bn on weak demand, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports, citing a company statement. The company plans to float 326.55 mn shares at HKD 12 (USD 1.54) a piece, and expects its shares to begin trading on the HKEX by 27 October, the company reportedly said. Proceeds will go towards broadening the company’s logistics network, broaching new markets, and R&D, WSJ wrote.

Behind the downgrade: The company reportedly slashed the size of its IPO on the back of a weak outlook on China’s economy and its tense relations with the US, the Financial Times reports, citing analysts.

Advisors:Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, and CICC are among the financial institutions cited by WSJ as joint sponsors for the IPO.

J&T is big in MENA: Following its founding in Indonesia in 2015, the company expanded its delivery operations to 13 countries, including KSA, the UAE, and Egypt.

Dry spell disrupts corn shipments coming out of the Amazonian rainforest: Brazilian shipping agents have alerted clients that a severe drought is restricting barge traffic along inland rivers, Reuters reported. Barges are cutting their loads by as much as 50% in order to navigate waterways in the Amazon basin, with loading schedules also affected. Although lighter loads are business-as-usual for the dry season, the reductions observed this time are particularly drastic, the newswire wrote.

But it’s not that bad after all: Amport, a grouping of Amazonian private port operators, told the newswire that the main seaports receiving cargoes from inland rivers are operating normally. Despite the draft of private ports on inland waterways reaching record lows, Amport expects a 25% y-o-y increase in the volume of vegetable bulk shipments this year.

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  • Britain and South Korea will extend their agreement on low or zero tariff trade fortwo years, delaying what would have been high tariffs on British exports of products made using materials from the EU, initially set to come into effect on 1 January. (Reuters)
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