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ROBUST FX POLICY HELPS GLASS BUSINESS EXPAND GLOBALLY

A Welsh glass recycler, whose unique process means its output is in demand all over the world, is confident that its business objectives will not be put on hold in light of political and economic uncertainty,as a result of establishing a robust foreign exchange (FX) strategy.
GlassTech Recycling Ltd, an exporter that has developed an innovative technique to remove contaminants from used glass so it can be remelted into new glassware, sought the help of currency market experts Godi – previously OSTCFX – to ensure its bottom line will not suffer as a result of market volatility.
The dynamic and growing business is based in a custom-built plant in Swansea Docks, perfectly situated to export to the world. Yet GlassTech, like many British exporters, has been faced with immense uncertainty of late, making pricing exports difficult to manage.
Political developments such as the triggering of Article 50, followed by Prime Minister Theresa May’s surprise announcement of a snap general election set for June, have amplified the ambiguity surrounding what Brexit will mean for British businesses – especially those that export to EU countries.
GlassTech exports to countries including Portugal, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. But it has also started to export beyond Europe, with enquiries from Dubai, Chile, India and China.
Although promising for the business, exporting means managing FX, and the higher the volumes, the greater the risks. As Godi highlights, if the value of the pound should rise, or the other currency fall, between the price being agreed and the goods delivered, GlassTech could take a major hit, with potentially devastating implications for the company.

Paul Langley
Karen John, managing director of GlassTech, said she was not willing to gamble the future of the company on an uncertain FX market:
“I know all there is to know about glass, but foreign exchange is a different matter. It’s completely alien to me. People just assume their bank will offer them the best rate but it was not so forthcoming in my experience,” Karen commented.
Upon seeking a second opinion from Godi, she discovered not only were better ratesavailable, but Godi helped her understand which products and strategies would be most beneficial for GlassTech.
Brett Thomas, head of dealing at Godi, explains:
“Like all exporters, GlassTech faces a degree of foreign exchange exposure in the window between taking an order from abroad, manufacturing the goods and actually shipping them.That’s why a robust foreign exchange strategy is advisable to hedge against the risk of fluctuation.
“We suggested Karen use a time-option forward, which secures anexchange rate for a future date, but with the flexibility to draw down any value up to the settlement date. That gave her the ability to budget with certainty about the costs of shipping and the money coming in.”
Paul Langley, managing director of Godi, added:
“Unlike a bank, which deals with one transaction at a time, Godi consider its clients’ long-term interests. We also educate clients through taking the time to explain how foreign exchange works. GlassTech now has the confidence to price exports globally, secure in the knowledge there is a strategy available that will protect it from adverse currency fluctuations.”
Contact
Seren Global Media
Christina Deias
About Godi
Godi Financial offer end-to-end international trade expertise and services encompassing FX risk management, currency exchange, finance and education. We’re a business set up to achieve one principal objective: to introduce greater certainty of outcome for businesses and individuals looking to trade internationally.
Originally established in 2012 as OSTCFX (being part of the OSTC Group), Godi is a brand that today has forged a reputation for unrivalled international trade expertise, outstanding service quality, and trusted, transparent market insights. As for the promise we make to all clients: we’ll help you plan, execute, and manage international transactions in the most cost-effective manner possible. We do this by offering a comprehensive range of services that help you manage risk, deliver against strategy, and respond in a timely fashion to market fluctuations.
As the first Wales-based FX company, it has saved its Welsh clients in excess of £750,000 versus their previous FX provider and processed more than £500 million of transactions.
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FTSE Russell to include 11 stocks from China’s STAR Market in global benchmarks

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Index provider FTSE Russell will add 11 stocks from China’s STAR Market to its global benchmarks, according to a post on its website from Friday.
The move marks the first time shares from Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market for stocks in China have been included in a global index.
The 11 stocks include Raytron Technology Co Ltd, Zhejiang HangKe Technology Co Ltd, Montage Technology Co Ltd, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc China.
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz and Samuel Shen in Shanghai; Editing by William Mallard)
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UK insurers estimate to pay up to 2.5 billion pounds for coronavirus claims

(Reuters) – The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said on Saturday insurers are likely to pay up to 2.5 billion pounds ($3.50 billion) for UK’s COVID-19 insurance claims incurred in 2020.
The latest estimates include 2 billion pounds for COVID-19 business interruption claims and 500 million pounds for COVID-19 related protection insurance claims, travel insurance claims and other general insurance products.
ABI’s Director General Huw Evans said in a release that the pandemic illustrated some uncomfortable gaps between what people expected to be covered for and what their policy was designed for.
“We need to learn lessons from this unprecedented event and redouble our efforts to improve consumers’ trust in insurance products,” he added.
The insurance trade body said 123,000 claims have been settled with payment so far and a further 9,000 have received partial payments as of mid-January 2021.
($1 = 0.7139 pounds)
(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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Oil extends losses as Texas prepares to ramp up output after freeze

By Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell for a second day on Friday, retreating further from recent highs, as Texas energy companies began preparations to restart oil and gas fields shuttered by freezing weather and power outages.
Brent crude futures ended the session down $1.02, or 1.6%, at $62.91 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.28, or 2.1%, to settle at $59.24.
For the week, Brent gained about 0.5% while WTI fell about 0.7%.
This week, both benchmarks had climbed to the highest in more than a year.
“Price pullback thus far appears corrective and is slight within the context of this month’s major upside price acceleration,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates.
Unusually cold weather in Texas and the Plains states curtailed up to 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production and 21 billion cubic feet of natural gas, analysts estimated.
U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil rigs operating for the first time since November, according to Baker Hughes data.
Texas refiners halted about a fifth of the nation’s oil processing amid power outages and severe cold.
Companies were expected to prepare for production restarts on Friday as electric power and water services slowly resume, sources said.
“While much of the selling relates to a gradual resumption of power in the Gulf coast region ahead of a significant temperature warmup, the magnitude of this week’s loss of supply may require further discounting given much uncertainty regarding the extent and possible duration of lost output,” Ritterbusch said.
Oil prices fell despite a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles last week, before the big freeze hit. Inventories fell 7.3 million barrels to 461.8 million barrels, their lowest since March, the Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday. [EIA/S]
“Vaccines and the impressive rollouts we’ve seen have delivered strong gains, as have the efforts of OPEC+ – Saudi Arabia, in particular – and the big freeze in Texas, which gave oil prices one final kick this week,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, said.
“With so many bullish factors now priced in, it seems we’re seeing some of these positions being unwound.”
The United States on Thursday said it was ready to talk to Iran about returning to a 2015 agreement that aimed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Still, analysts did not expect near-term reversal of sanctions on Iran that were imposed by the previous U.S. administration.
“This breakthrough increases the probability that we may see Iran returning to the oil market soon, although there is much to be discussed and a new deal will not be a carbon-copy of the 2015 nuclear deal,” said StoneX analyst Kevin Solomon.
(Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London and Roslan Khasawneh in Singapore and Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by Marguerita Choy, David Gregorio and Nick Macfie)