The Philippine armed forces will defend their territorial interests in the South China Sea, said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.
“The Coast Guard and Navy, which defend the Philippines’ territorial interests in the South China Sea, will never retreat and will stand their ground in disputed waters after the Chinese Coast Guard carried out dangerous blocking maneuvers and used a powerful water cannon in the Scarborough Shoal area on Monday,” the Associated Press quoted Marcos as saying on Monday.
The president also noted that if the situation around Taiwan escalates, his country will inevitably be drawn into the conflict. “We don’t want war, but I think if there is war over Taiwan, we will be drawn into it, whether we want it or not,” Marcos said.
On July 3-4, according to the Philippine side, Chinese coast guard ships pursued and carried out “dangerous blocking maneuvers” against Philippine coast guard vessels and fishing boats near the Scarborough Reef off the northern coast of the Philippines. Scarborough Reef is located in disputed waters in the South China Sea and is claimed by China, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
Earlier, the information and analysis center Experts Club published a comparative analysis of the military potential of China and Taiwan – https://expertsclub.eu/porivnyalnyj-analiz-vijskovogo-potenczialu-kytayu-i-tajvanyu-vid-experts-club/
Masdar (UAE) has begun construction of Azerbaijan’s largest solar power plant with a capacity of 445 MW.
“As part of the project implemented by Masdar, the installation of the first solar panel support for the Bilasuvar solar power plant and construction work in general began on August 12,” according to a statement on the official social media page of the Bilasuvar district administration (in the south of the country). An area of 1,454 hectares has been allocated for the construction of the plant.
“The Bilasuvar solar power plant will make an important contribution to increasing renewable energy production in the country, increasing the share of clean energy in the energy balance, and developing a green energy policy,” the statement said.
As reported, the groundbreaking ceremony for the 445 MW Bilasuvar and 315 MW Neftchala solar power plants took place during Baku Energy Week in June 2024. Both plants are scheduled to be commissioned in 2027.
Once completed, the two solar power plants are expected to generate around 1.7 billion kWh of electricity per year. Their launch will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 830 million tons per year and lead to annual savings of 380 million cubic meters of natural gas. The total cost of the solar power plants is estimated at $670 million. These projects are being implemented by Masdar in cooperation with SOCAR Green (a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, SOCAR). SOCAR Green’s share in each of the projects is 25%. The Bilasuvar plant will generate 897 million kWh of electricity per year, supplying power to 179,000 consumers (homes) and saving 193 million cubic meters of gas annually.
Luxembourg-based OCSiAl, a global leader in the production of graphene nanotubes, continues to develop its first European production facility in Serbia. Based on official company data and information from the investment community, Serbian Economist presents the latest news about the company and its development.
This unique plant is located in Stara Pazova, northwest of Belgrade, on an area of approximately 10,000 m², equipped with nanotube synthesis lines, dispersion and concentrate production facilities, a research center, and quality control laboratories.
The facility’s current annual production capacity is 60 tons of nanotubes, with plans to double that to 120 tons by the end of this year. The plant already provides jobs for more than 200 employees, including engineers, operators, and application specialists. The €40 million project is the largest investment from Luxembourg in Serbia.
OCSiAl emphasizes the logistical advantages of the location, which allows it to supply nanotubes to Europe, Asia, and the US and strengthen the sustainability of the global supply chain.
OCSiAl plans to double production by launching a second synthesis line as early as 2026 and retains the option to rapidly scale up this modular complex.
Nanotubes manufactured under the TUBALL™ brand are used in batteries, coatings, and composites.
In January-July of this year, Ukraine increased its exports of processed pig iron in physical terms by 55% compared to the same period last year, to 1 million 38.757 thousand tons from 669.982 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, during the period in question, exports of pig iron in monetary terms increased by 62% to $411.316 million.
Exports were mainly to the US (80.18% of shipments in monetary terms), Italy (10.16%), and Turkey (4.17%).
In the first seven months of the year, the country imported 29,000 tons worth $55,000 from Brazil (68.52%) and Germany (31.48%), while in January-July 2024, 15 tons of pig iron worth $35,000 were imported.
As reported, on March 12 of this year, in accordance with a decision by President Donald Trump, the US began imposing a 25% tariff on imports of Ukrainian steel products, except for pig iron.
In 2024, Ukraine reduced exports of processed pig iron in physical terms by 3.4% compared to 2023, to 1 million 290.622 thousand tons, and in monetary terms by 6.1%, to $500.341 million. Exports were mainly to the US (72.64% of shipments in monetary terms), Turkey (8.03%), and Italy (7.30%).
In 2024, the country imported 38 tons of pig iron worth $90 thousand from Germany, while in the same period of 2023, it imported 154 tons of pig iron worth $156 thousand.
In January-July of this year, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates in physical terms by 93.6% compared to the same period last year, to 277 tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, in monetary terms, exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates decreased by 93.1% to $496 thousand.
The main exports were to Uzbekistan (35.61% of shipments in monetary terms), Turkey (35.01%), and Egypt (29.38%).
In addition, Ukraine imported 24 tons of titanium-containing ores worth $39 thousand from China (94.87%, deliveries took place in January) and Uzbekistan (5.13%, deliveries took place in May) in the first seven months of 2025.
In addition, in the first seven months of 2025, Ukraine exported 2,466 tons of niobium, tantalum, vanadium, and zirconium ores and concentrates worth $3.954 million to Spain (48.90%), Germany (24.53%), and Italy (17.19%). At the same time, the country imported 294 tons of such ores worth $774 thousand from Spain (67.35%), China (17.16%), and the Czech Republic (12.13%).
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium-containing ores in physical terms by 37.5% compared to the previous year, to 7,284 thousand tons. In monetary terms, exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates decreased by 40% to $11.654 million. The main exports were to Turkey (62.82% of shipments in monetary terms), Egypt (7.38%), and Poland (6.93%).
Last year, Ukraine imported 314 tons of titanium-containing ore worth $492 thousand from China (87.78%), Vietnam (6.11%), and Senegal (also 6.11%).
At the same time, experts pointed to discrepancies in statistics on exports of titanium-containing ores. However, in response to a request from Interfax-Ukraine, the State Customs Service (DMS) of Ukraine stated that complete data on exports of titanium raw materials is not provided due to restrictions on the volume of export and import operations with military and dual-use goods, which are reflected in aggregate form under “Other goods.”
They explained that, in particular, deliveries of titanium-containing ores from companies differ from the SCS data.
“We would like to inform you that these deliveries are included in the statistical exports from Ukraine, but are not reflected in the foreign trade statistics published by the State Customs Service (…) under the UKTZED commodity code 2614 ”Titanium ores and concentrates” due to the following (…) In accordance with the provisions (…), when protecting data for confidentiality purposes, any information considered confidential shall be reported in full at the next higher level of product data aggregation,” the State Customs Service explained in its response to the agency.
It was clarified that information on customs clearance and movement across the customs border of Ukraine of goods subject to export control is included in the list of information containing official information in the State Customs Service, in accordance with the relevant order.
In Ukraine, titanium-containing ores are currently mined mainly by PJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which manages the Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipropetrovsk region) and the Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGZK, Zhytomyr region), as well as LLC Mezhyrichensky GZK and LLC Valky-Ilmenit (both LLCs are located in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region). In addition, the production and commercial firm Velta (Dnipro) built a mining and processing plant at the Birzulivskoye deposit with a capacity of 240,000 tons of ilmenite concentrate per year.
