12/07/2025

BIZ & FINANCE SATURDAY | JULY 12, 2025

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Surging electric truck sales hit diesel use in China

Bitcoin hits record high on rising institutional demand NEW YORK: Bitcoin rallied to an all-time high yesterday, powered by demand from institutional investors and crypto friendly policies from US President Donald Trump’s administration. The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose to a peak of US$116,781.10 (RM495,883) in the Asian session yesterday, taking its gains for the year so far to more than 24%. It was last trading at US$116,563.11. “Bitcoin’s new all-time high is being driven by relentless institutional accumulation – major players are scooping up supply and drying up liquidity on exchanges,“ said Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association. In March, Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies. He has also appointed several crypto-friendly individuals, including Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and White House artificial intelligence czar David Sacks. Trump’s family businesses have also made forays into cryptocurrencies. Trump Media & Technology Group is looking to launch an exchange-traded fund to invest in multiple crypto tokens including Bitcoin, an SEC filing on Tuesday showed. Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, similarly jumped nearly 5% to US$2,956.82, after earlier hitting a five-month high of US$2,998.41. – Reuters Heathrow eyes 10m passengers with mini revamp LONDON: Britain’s Heathrow Airport said it could serve an additional 10 million passengers per year by 2031 by making changes to existing terminals if it can increase fees, as it presented its plans for the next five year period to the regulator yesterday. The government has said it wants Heathrow, located west of London and which is Europe’s busiest airport, to build a new runway in what would be a major expansion, but that is not expected to be ready until 2035 at the earliest. In its 2027-2031 plans presented to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) yesterday, Heathrow said it could expand before the new runway is built by upgrading facilities to add passengers. An extra 10 million passengers per year would be a 12% increase on current numbers. The airport said the expansion plan would require the fees it charges airlines to rise to £33.26 (RM191.38) per passenger, up from the average charge of £28.46 per passenger in the current regulatory period. Airlines have long complained that Heathrow is one of the most expensive airports in the world and have called on the regulator to reduce the fees. The CAA, which regulates airport charges, will study the plan before making a response. – Reuters

China’s oil consumption to peak, most likely this year,” said Ye Lin, vice president at Rystad Energy, who had previously expected a 2026 peak. The transport sector, which burns about two-thirds of all diesel in China, will use 40% less by 2030, cutting overall diesel consumption by about a quarter compared to 2024 levels, according to Rystad. Diesel consumption this year is forecast to fall by 11.3 million tons, or 6.3%, on par with last year’s drop, according to SCI. After more than six years behind the wheel of a diesel truck, Li Shuai, who drives for a cement plant in Hebei province near Beijing, switched to an electric truck six months ago. “Charging infrastructure has improved noticeably in the past half year, making things much more convenient,” Li, 38, said. “It is even possible to drive an empty truck more than 2,000km from Beijing to Yunnan

to pick up goods without worry.” The rapid buildup of charging infrastructure, primarily through industrial corridors, is underpinning adoption, although charge times that can stretch to 90 minutes and limited charger availability in some areas remain issues. Teld, an EV charging infrastructure provider that has built more than 2,400 truck charging stations across China, officially opened an 800km corridor in March linking Shanxi and Shandong provinces, a key route via the country’s coal-producing region. At a charging station next to the Hebei cement plant, car and truck chargers sit side by side in the dusty lot. Owner Yongji Liu had originally only planned to service EVs but said “the electric truck market is growing so fast that we also installed chargers for trucks”. The booming market for electric trucks is partly due to cheap electricity and government subsidies introduced last July of up to 95,000 yuan (RM56,322) for new vehicles, analysts and truckmakers said. While diesel trucks are cheaper upfront, higher fuel costs make them more expensive after a million kilometers of driving. Once fuel is included, diesel trucks cost about 2.25 million yuan at the million-kilometer mark, roughly 10% more than LNG trucks and 15% more than electric trucks, according to GL Consulting. Rising fuel costs have also eroded some of the price advantage enjoyed by LNG trucks, which along with limited refueling stations in some regions, have hindered their growth, said SCI analyst Wang Neng. SCI forecasts LNG truck sales to hit around 92,000 units in the first half, down 15% from a year earlier, although the surge in electric adoption is more than offsetting the impact on diesel consumption. China’s second-best-selling electric truck maker Sany says the growth potential for electric trucks is greater than for passenger EVs because lower operating costs bolster the profitability of corporate users. – Reuters approaches, the regulator’s post said. The expert explained the opportunities and challenges facing stablecoins and offered policy suggestions for digital currency development, the post added. In addition to stablecoins, other digital currencies have also been gaining in popularity, with bitcoin climbing to an all-time high near US$112,000 (RM475,581) this week. Any change in China may not come easily. The central bank’s governor Pan Gongsheng said last month that the boom in digital currencies and stablecoins poses huge challenges to financial regulation. – Reuters

o Beijing’s push for cleaner freight options, subsidies, and charging network expansion accelerates shift away from traditional fuels

LANGFANG: Electric-powered heavy trucks are rapidly gaining market share in China, driven by subsidies and the quick rollout of chargers, further curbing diesel usage and denting oil demand from the world’s biggest crude importer. The boom in electric truck sales in China follows that of electric cars and the rise in recent years of LNG powered heavy trucks. Those factors, combined with slowing economic growth, have stifled its oil consumption growth. Sales in the world’s biggest market for new energy trucks are estimated to have risen 175% year on-year to 76,100 in the first half of this year, or about a quarter of new

truck sales, according to consulting firm Sublime China Information (SCI). Electric models, still mostly used for short-haul runs in ports, mines or steel mills, accounted for over 90% of that increase. The rapid pace has surprised analysts who have revised down diesel demand forecasts as a result and brought forward their predictions for a peak in Chinese oil demand. SCI’s analyst Xu Lei said he cut the firm’s China diesel demand expectations by 1-2% given the boom in electric truck sales. “The surge in electric heavy trucks was a surprise and has become a new factor accelerating

Fleet operators increasingly embrace new technologies as cleaner haulers reshape the future of China’s transport and logistics landscape. – REUTERSPIX

Shanghai mulls new stablecoin, crypto rules in policy shift

HONG KONG: A Shanghai regulator said it held a meeting this week for local government officials to consider strategic responses to stablecoins and digital currencies – a marked shift in tone for China where crypto trading is banned. The Thursday meeting was organised by the Shanghai State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and follows calls by experts and major companies in China to develop a yuan-pegged stablecoin. We need to have “greater sensitivity to emerging technologies and enhanced research into digital currencies,“ He Qing, the regulator’s

In China, e-commerce firm JD.com and fintech giant Ant Group are urging the central bank to authorise yuan-based stablecoins to counter the growing sway of US dollar-linked cryptocurrencies, sources have said. The companies plan to apply for stablecoin licences in Hong Kong, where stablecoin legislation is scheduled to take effect on Aug 1. A policy expert from Guotai Haitong Securities spoke at the Shanghai meeting about the history, types and characteristics of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, and analysed global regulatory frameworks and strategic

director told the meeting according to a post on the body’s official WeChat account. Photos of the meeting showed some 60-70 attendees. Shanghai is China’s main international financial hub and often leads pilot programmes for regulatory change. Stablecoins – which are typically pegged to a fiat currency and offer faster and cheaper transactions – have gained much momentum worldwide. In the US, where the legal framework is more developed, more and more companies such as Amazon and Walmart are looking at launching stablecoins.