Apple ordered to pay $506 million to university in patent dispute www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday ordered Apple Inc to pay $506 million for infringing on a patent owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's patent licensing arm, more than doubling the damages initially imposed on Apple by a jury.

Mongolian and Chinese delegates agree on promoting “Tea Road Tourism” www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Tea Road, a joint project of Mongolia, China and Russia for promoting tourism, has been chosen as a priority project to be implemented in frames of the three countries’ cooperation under the Agreement on Establishing Economic Corridor. The project was also discussed during the Second Ministerial Meeting for Tourism of Mongolia, Russia and China, took place on June 21 in Ulan-Ude, Russia.

China's iron ore imports from N.Korea double www.nhk.or.jp

China's imports of North Korean iron ore in the first half of this year more than doubled from the same period a year ago.

Copper price surges to 2-year high www.mining.com

Copper futures trading on the Comex market in New York raced higher on Tuesday on renewed optimism about demand from top consumer China and indications of tighter global mine supply.

Copper for delivery in September jumped to a high of 2.8540 a pound ($6,292 tonne) in early afternoon trade, up 4.3% on yesterday's close to the highest since mid-May 2015. Copper's 2017 year to date gains in percentage terms now top 13% and the red metal is trading 28% higher than this time last year.

TC/RCs are a good indication of conditions in the spot market and rates have now fallen by 10% from the start of the year
While Chinese imports of refined copper dropped in June and is down 18% over the first half of 2017 to 2.23m tonnes, shipments of copper concentrate continue to strengthen jumping 23% in June from the month before to 1.41m tonnes.

Another sign that primary copper supply is tightening treatment and refining charges levied by smelters for concentrate are declining. TC/RCs paid by mining companies are a good indication of conditions in the spot market and rates have now fallen by 10% from the start of the year to around $80 a tonne and are well below the price floor set by China's major refiners for the third quarter.

Supply disruptions at some of the world's biggest mines including BHP's Escondida mine in Chile earlier this year and ongoing strike action at Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg operations in Indonesia are also boosting the price.

Workers at Grasberg last week extended their strike for a fourth month to end August. Freeport's temporary exporting licence is coming up for renewal in October, a bargaining chip used by Jakarta as it negotiates with the Phoenix-based company about divesting a majority stake in its Indonesian subsidiary.

Shares in Freeport jumped more than 15% to a 16-month high on Tuesday after the $21.5 billion company announced revenues that topped estimates and progress on talks with the Indonesian government. Grasberg was forecast to produce 680,000 tonnes of copper this year making it the world's second largest copper mine after Escondida.

Copper mining companies were trading higher across the board on Tuesday with world number three producer Glencore rising 4% in London trading. Diversified giants BHP gained 3.7% in New York trading and Rio Tinto received a 5% bump. Gains were more modest for Southern Copper Corp, Anglo American units trading in New York jumped 5.8% and Poland's KGHM jumped 4.4%.

Beijing boost
The economy of China, responsible for nearly half the world's consumption of copper, expanded at an annual rate of 6.9% in the second quarter against expectations of a slight decline and at a quicker pace than Beijing's own target of 6.5% growth for 2017.

In seasonally-adjusted quarter on quarter terms, growth was even more significant, picking up from 1.3% to 1.7%. If the trend continues, this year would be the first time since 2010 that the Chinese economy grew faster than the year before.

Industrial production data for June released today also pointed to a significant improvement. Growth in industrial output picked up from 6.5% year on year to 7.6% led by greater electricity and steel production. Bloomberg consensus forecasts pointed to no acceleration for Chinese industrial output.

Despite Beijing's tightening of lending and other measures to cool the property market, construction starts surged by more than 14% in June, providing further support for commodity-intensive sectors which continue to expand at a faster rate than the broader measure of industrial production.

The copper price is seen as a bellwether for metals markets and industry as a whole thanks to its widespread use in construction, the power sector, manufacturing and transportation.

Caterpillar earnings beat estimates, shares hit five-year high www.mining.com

Electric Mini to be built in Oxford www.bbc.com

A fully electric version of the Mini will be built at the Cowley plant in Oxford, BMW has said.
The carmaker said the model would go into production in 2019, with Oxford the main "production location" for the Mini three-door model.
However, the electric motor will be built in Germany before being shipped to Cowley for assembly.
BMW said it had "neither sought nor received" any reassurances from the UK on post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Last year, the government faced questions about the "support and assurances" given to Nissan before the company announced that new versions of its Qashqai and X-Trail would be made in the UK.
And there have been reports that Toyota agreed to invest in the UK after receiving a letter reassuring the Japanese carmaker over post-Brexit arrangements.
'Vote of confidence'
About 360,000 Minis are made each year, with more than 60% of them built at Oxford. But BMW has built up an alternative manufacturing base in the Netherlands amid concerns about Britain's suitability as an export hub after Brexit.
BMW has warned about the damage of Brexit uncertainty, and in May chief executive Harald Krueger said the company had to remain "flexible" about production facilities.
UK Business Secretary Greg Clark hailed BMW's announcement as a "vote of confidence" in government plans to make Britain "the go-to place in the world for the next generation of vehicles". On Monday, he set out plans to invest in development of battery technology in the UK.
Mr Clark met BMW's head of sales and marketing, Ian Robertson, at the company's headquarters in Munich in January and March this year. The two also held meetings at Westminster in March and June.
David Bailey, professor of industry at Aston University, said the true test of the global car industry's desire to invest in the UK would come next year: "I don't think it [BMW's decision] tells us much about Brexit and the form of trade barriers we may face in the future.
"The big decisions will be about future models [which would have redesigned bodies], both at Mini and at companies like Vauxhall when they announce their new models in the next couple of years."

IMF revises up China's growth forecast for 2017, 2018 www.xinhuanet.com.cn

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday revised up China's growth forecast for 2017 and 2018 to 6.7 percent and 6.4 percent respectively.

The updated World Economic Outlook report, which came days after China posted a stronger-than-expected second quarterly performance, was a reflection of a solid first quarter underpinned by previous policy easing and supply-side reforms, including efforts to reduce excess capacity in the industrial sector, the IMF said.
China has set its full-year growth target at "around 6.5 percent." The 6.7-percent forecast will leave the world's second-largest economy on a par with its growth level in 2016.
The fund also revised up China's economic forecast for 2018 by 0.2 percentage point to 6.4 percent, citing expectations that China may maintain high public investment and delay fiscal adjustment to meet its target of doubling the 2010 real gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.
But the IMF also warned against strong credit growth that may come with rising downside risk to medium-term growth.
Maurice Obstfeld, chief economist of the IMF, recommended China go through a very important rebalancing process, which will inevitably entail a slowing path of growth.
He said China's recent moves to redress non-performing loans and a coordinated financial oversight overhaul are welcome.
The revision followed an April upgrade by the IMF on China's GDP growth forecast to 6.6 percent and 6.2 percent for 2017 and 2018 respectively, 0.1 percentage point and 0.2 percentage point higher than its forecast in January.

President Battulga Called on Politicians and Public Servants www.gogo.mn

On July 24, the President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga called on politicians, public servants and their relevant people on offshore account.
President’s call states: “Some politicians, public servants and their relevant people in Mongolia have been widely criticized for hiding their bribery, illegal profit and dirty money in offshore account to avoid taxes. The public media has uncovered news that some of their dirty money has already turned into luxury real estate.
List of 42 countries is considered as offshore financial centers by the International Monetary Fund and the Economic Cooperation Organisation. According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ report, a total of 49 Mongolian citizens have offshore accounts in these 42 countries.
Politicians, public servants and their relevant people, who are having offshore accounts to keep their money to avoid taxes, fueling public hesitation and harming people’s belief in justice. Mongolia did not have specific laws or regulations on having an offshore account until 2017. Therefore, I would like to call on the politicians, public servants and their relevant people who have offshore account to take back and transfer your money from offshore account into Mongolia.
As the President of Mongolia, I would like to call on the politicians, public servants and their relevant people who are holding offshore account to close down their offshore accounts and transfer the money into Mongolian bank within 49 days from July 24, 2017.
The people who refused to fulfill this requirement and did not transfer their money into Mongolian bank will be investigated and face legal obligation”.

EU Plans Delegation in Mongolian Capital to Enhance Ties www.nytimes.com

The European Union plans to open a delegation in Mongolia this year, the 28-nation group said Tuesday, in a move that will expand its relationship with the resource-rich country wedged between China and Russia.

China to continue to be key driver of global growth -- IMF chief economist www.xinhuanet.com

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (Xinhua) -- China's growth will continue to be a key driver for a firming recovery of the world economy, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday.
Maurice Obstfeld, the IMF's economic counsellor and director of research, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua as the IMF revised up China's growth forecast for 2017 and 2018 to 6.7 percent and 6.4 percent respectively.
The updated World Economic Outlook report published here Monday, which came days after China posted a stronger-than-expected second quarterly performance, was a reflection of a solid first quarter underpinned by previous policy easing and supply-side reforms, including efforts to reduce excess capacity in the industrial sector, according to the IMF.
"We have seen very strong growth and especially beyond our update, second quarter number of 6.9 percent is also above expectation. So clearly growth is proceeding at pace," Obstfeld said.
"Strong Chinese growth drives growth particularly in Asian region but also throughout the world," Obstfeld added, noting that China is a big contributor to the overall growth and has a very large spillover effect to the world economy.
As China is transforming its economy from traditional manufacturing sector to service and consumption oriented sector, its structural transformation and the rebalancing of its economy should lower the growth rate and put growth on a firmer basis over time, the chief economist said.
"It's very important for the world economy not just that China grows at a strong rate, but that it grows in a stable fashion, dependable fashion without big fluctuation," he said.
The prestigious economist expressed the IMF's concerns on China's credit driven growth and some vulnerabilities in its financial systems that could derail growth, but he also pointed out that the Chinese government is clearly recognizing these issues and has taken actions.
The recent strengthened coordination between the People's Bank of China and the State Council on financial oversight "is a big step forward" that will lead to more effective oversight of the financial markets, he said.
China announced that it will set up a committee under the State Council to oversee financial stability and development during the recent National Financial Work Conference.
Obstfeld said China has entered the debate of globalization in a positive way, which will be helpful not only to major economies but also for other countries.
He said China could take concrete actions to promote the global system, and that the Belt and Road Initiative is "very important" in the context.
Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
It promises not only a lot of useful infrastructure investment but to lower trade cost between very important parts of the world, which promotes international trade and prosperity across the wide stretch of Eurasia, Obstfeld said.