Economy
Siemens leverages AI boom for highest-ever industrial profit
German giant Siemens is another company benefiting from the artificial intelligence investment boom, reporting its highest-ever quarterly industrial profit and raising its full-year guidance on Thursday.
Siemens said it was seeing strong demand for data centers used to process AI, as well as for AI-enabled software and devices used to control factories and buildings.
Sentiment was also improving from aerospace, defense and machine-building customers, prompting the company to raise its full-year profit guidance after beating third-quarter expectations.
“Our sharp focus on driving industrial AI and our strong positioning in attractive markets give us a solid foundation for our success,” CEO Roland Busch told reporters.
The company’s industrial AI products, which help customers speed up innovation and improve productivity, were driving growth, he added.
Siemens was also benefiting from strong demand from the electronics and semiconductor makers, many of which are expanding capacity to supply AI-related equipment and chips.
“There is tremendous demand for electronics,” Busch said.
“They are building more and more factories, and they need to be automated, which is where Siemens’ business comes in.”
Siemens was working with nine of the Top 10 largest data center providers, he said, while orders had increased by a triple-digit percentage in the first nine months of its 2026 fiscal year.
Highest quarterly industrial profit
Companies like Siemens, Swiss rival ABB and France’s Schneider Electric are seeing surging demand as Big Tech races to add data centres, chips and electricity capacity for AI training and operation.
Capital spending by five of the largest technology companies, a key driver of the global data-centre boom, is expected to rise 75% in 2026 from more than $400 billion in 2025, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in April.
For the quarter to the end of June, Siemens reported industrial profit rising 25% to 3.52 billion euros ($4.09 billion), its highest quarterly figure, beating forecasts of 3.18 billion euros in a company-gathered consensus.
Revenue rose 7% to 20.79 billion euros, ahead of forecasts for 20.64 billion euros, while orders picked up 13% to 27.90 billion euros, also a quarterly record.
Its shares still fell 5.2% in mid-morning trading.
Up to Wednesday’s close, they had gained nearly 20% from the beginning of the year to hit a record high at 291.50 euros in the session.
The company also said it had agreed with German tax authorities on the treatment of Siemens Healthineers shares that it plans to distribute to investors following the planned spin-off, meaning the distribution would be tax-free for Siemens shareholders.
Syria has achieved self-sufficiency in wheat production for the first time since the outbreak of its civil war in 2011, an agriculture official said Thursday, marking a milestone for the country’s food security after years of depending on imports.
As well as the war hitting the agriculture sector hard, Syria has seen drought in recent years, with the United Nations saying 2025 saw the country’s worst climate conditions in decades, also impacting wheat-growing land.
“There won’t be any need for (wheat) imports this season,” said Ahmed Qadoun, deputy general director of the Syrian Grain Establishment, adding that Syria had last been self-sufficient in 2010.
On Wednesday, state news agency SANA reported that the grain establishment had received 2.7 million tons of wheat from across Syria during this year’s harvest, exceeding the national annual requirement of 2.55 million tons.
Before the civil war erupted in 2011, Syria was self-sufficient in wheat, producing an average of 4.1 million tons annually.
But after the conflict and drought disrupted production, Syria’s dictator Bashar Assad used to rely on imports, particularly from ally Russia, for wheat.
Syria’s new authorities took power in 2024, and the country said last year that it had received wheat shipments and donations from countries including Russia and Iraq.
The United Nations said in June that more than 13 million Syrians, or over half the population, were facing acute food insecurity.
A top Turkish official reiterated on Wednesday a call for the European Union to include Ankara in its new trade policies as the bloc looks to boost its competitiveness and drive strategic autonomy at a time of rising competition from China and the threat of U.S. tariffs.
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said that the EU’s emerging trade, competition and industrial policies should be designed to include Türkiye, arguing that such an approach would strengthen the bloc’s competitiveness and Europe’s economic security.
Bolat made the remarks in a meeting with Spanish Economy, Trade, and Business Minister Carlos Cuerpo in Madrid to discuss bilateral economic relations, Türkiye-EU ties, and recent global and regional economic developments.
“We discussed the EU’s recently implemented trade, competition and industrial policies, particularly the Industrial Acceleration Act (IAA),” Bolat said on Turkish social media platform NSosyal, referring to a draft bill introduced by the European Commission in March.
The bill includes a “Made in EU” designation, which sets local content obligations requiring a specific portion of goods in public procurement and support schemes to originate from the EU or customs union partners.
Türkiye has long advocated for the need to update the decades-old customs union partnership it has with the EU, its top trading partner. The business community has also often emphasized that Türkiye’s inclusion in new frameworks would benefit not only Ankara, but also the EU amid fragility and shifts in geopolitical order.
“We emphasized that shaping these policies through an inclusive approach that also covers Türkiye would make significant contributions both to the EU’s competitiveness and to Europe’s economic security,” Bolat noted.
He also said Spain is one of Türkiye’s most important trading partners within the EU, calling the two countries strategic partners, friends and allies.
The two also discussed Türkiye’s expectations for the updating and more effective implementation of the Türkiye-EU Customs Union, which Bolat said forms the foundation of Ankara’s strong economic integration with EU member states.
Public procurement was identified as another priority area that could advance economic cooperation, he said.
Upping goal for bilateral trade
Bolat and Cuerpo agreed to hold the fourth meeting of the Türkiye-Spain Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) in Madrid this fall, with strong participation from the business communities of both countries.
Spain is Türkiye’s fourth-largest trading partner within the EU, with annual bilateral trade currently totaling about $20.5 billion.
“Our goal is to increase our bilateral trade volume with Spain from $20.5 billion to $25 billion annually in the medium term,” Bolat said.
He added that the longstanding friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries would continue to get stronger through innovative business initiatives and mutual trust.
During the meeting, Bolat also congratulated Spain on winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup last month and expressed Türkiye’s condolences over recent wildfires in the country.
He reaffirmed Ankara’s support for Spain in dealing with the fires after Türkiye deployed two firefighting aircraft to Spain to help it contain the blazes.
The minister was also due to meet with his counterpart in Poland on Thursday and also meet with the businesspeople in the Central European country – also one of its important trading partners.
Declining water levels on some of Germany’s major rivers, including the Rhine, exacerbated by heat and drought, are raising fears that severely constrained riverboat cargo traffic may deal yet another blow to the struggling economy.
The Rhine riverbed is partially dry near steelmaker Thyssenkrupp’s blast furnaces in Duisburg, a picture of how low water levels pose a new challenge for German industry.
The mighty waterway also winds past car factories, chemical plants and big river ports as it passes through the industrial heartland of Europe’s biggest economy.
Shallow water is imposing tighter limits on how much ship cargo can float down the river – sending prices up for riverboat freight and heaping pressure on the government to act.
On Thursday, newly appointed Transport Minister Steffen Bilger plans to meet in Bonn with industrial executives, shipping companies and port bosses in hopes of finding practical solutions to the unfolding crisis.
Michael Ebling, economy minister for Rhineland-Palatinate state, has called on the government to fast-track a project to deepen a key stretch of the Rhine in Germany, arguing that this strategic waterway must remain operational year-round.
The river handles around 80% of Germany’s inland waterway traffic, according to Rico Luman, an economist at ING.
Every year, some 285 million tons of goods travel along the river, which links many of Germany’s biggest industrial hubs with the major Dutch port of Rotterdam.
Industry feeling the pinch
The port in Duisburg, in Germany’s steel-producing Ruhr region, has reported that vessel loading capacities have dropped to about one-third of their usual levels.
The lower loads have led to a 50% to 60% increase in the number of port calls in recent weeks, as well as a shift of cargo toward smaller vessels, rail and road transport.
In the oil sector, loads are sometimes capped at between 300 and 400 tons for 110-meter tanker barges, leading to a surge in the number of trips required.
That has driven up shipping rates, with prices hitting 200 euros ($230) per ton this month for petroleum products shipped between the industrial city of Karlsruhe and the coastal ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp.
That easily broke the previous record of 130 euros per ton set in August 2022, according to the Dutch firm Insights Global.
For German industrial producers, the blow comes at a difficult time, as many are already suffering from high energy costs, stiff global competition and U.S. tariffs.
Thyssenkrupp has turned to shallow-draft ships to keep the necessary raw materials and finished products moving on the river. So too has chemicals giant BASF, which operates a massive production complex upstream from Duisburg in Ludwigshafen.
Speciality chemicals company Covestro said that shipping disruptions on the river are already affecting supply and production at certain cites. Covestro relies on the Rhine to ship more than 30% of its manufactured products and bring in nearly 75% of the needed raw materials.
Another German chemicals firm, the Cologne-based Lanxess, described the situation as “very difficult” with barge deliveries severely restricted and some loading and unloading areas inaccessible.
In the refining sector, Shell said it is making greater use of storage capacity and attempting to divert some shipments to rail, road, or pipelines.
In need of a rainmaker
Other modes of transport face higher costs and other constraints, making replacing the heavily loaded river barges a tough and expensive challenge.
Germany faces a chronic shortage of truck drivers, and a fresh surge in fuel prices due to the ongoing Middle East war.
The country’s overloaded rail network, meanwhile, has long been the source of complaints for passengers.
State-owned rail freight operator DB Cargo said it is working with customers to find “pragmatic solutions… within the limits of available rail infrastructure capacity”.
ING economist Carsten Brzeski noted that a 2018 drought shaved an estimated 0.3 percentage points off German growth, and said that the economic impact could be even more pronounced this year.
The lowest water levels on the Rhine normally do not come until September or October, Brzeski noted, but levels this week are already at unprecedented lows with little rain forecast.
Unless the German government can find a rainmaker, he quipped, the dry spell could be a tough blow to an economy that has finally returned to modest growth after a prolonged period of stagnation.
Turkish Airlines (THY) reported Wednesday a sharp decline in second-quarter net profit as soaring jet fuel prices and higher operating costs weighed on earnings despite double-digit revenue growth and resilient passenger demand.
The national flag carrier posted a net profit of $197 million for the April-June period, according to its financial results, well below analysts’ consensus estimate of about $248 million and down 71% from a year earlier.
The aviation industry has been hit by soaring jet fuel prices as the war in the Middle East rumbles on, disrupting supplies of petrochemical products down the key Strait of Hormuz.
Turkish Airlines’ revenue rose 21% year-over-year to $7.2 billion, slightly exceeding market expectations of $7.1 billion, supported by higher passenger yields and robust cargo demand.
Passenger numbers remained broadly unchanged from a year earlier at 23.2 million, while passenger revenue increased 15% to $5.7 billion.
Cargo revenue surged 58% to $1.3 billion.
Available seat kilometers (ASK), a key measure of airline capacity, increased 1.2% year-over-year to 68.2 billion.
The airline reported an operating loss of $64 million for the quarter, reversing an operating profit recorded in the same period last year as higher costs outweighed revenue growth.
However, gains from its investment portfolio helped the company remain profitable at the bottom line.
EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent) fell 41% from a year earlier to $906 million.
Fuel weighs on profitability
The biggest drag on THY’s profitability came from fuel expenses, which climbed 93% year-over-year to $2.77 billion, up from $1.44 billion in the second quarter of last year.
Global jet fuel prices are forecast to average $152 per barrel this year, nearly 70% above 2025 levels, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Fuel accounted for 32.1% of Turkish Airlines’ total operating expenses during the quarter, while personnel costs represented 24.3%.
For the first six months of the year, the company’s EBITDAR margin declined to 12.8%, narrowing by 740 basis points compared with the same period of 2025.
Middle East disruptions weigh on capacity
Turkish Airlines has benefited as passengers rerouted away from Gulf hubs following disruptions in the Middle East.
But Gulf airlines are restoring flights and competing more aggressively for Asia-Europe traffic, while elevated fuel prices are expected to keep pressure on costs.
THY’s regional performance reflected ongoing disruptions in the Middle East.
Domestic capacity, measured by available seat kilometers, declined 2%, although passenger unit revenues increased 14%.
Capacity on Middle East routes fell 48% due to flight disruptions in the region.
In contrast, capacity on Far East routes increased 18%, highlighting a continued shift toward Asian markets.
Net profit margin narrowed to 2.7% from 11.6% a year earlier, reflecting the sharp deterioration in operating profitability despite continued growth in revenue.
Türkiye’s largest company by market capitalization, defense and electronics giant Aselsan, posted a 25% real-term increase in revenue in the first half of the year, it said on Tuesday.
Revenues increased to TL 88.5 billion ($1.8 billion), driven by new contracts and investments in production capacity and research, it said.
The company signed new contracts worth $4.9 billion in the first half, up 72% from the same period last year.
Its total order backlog also increased 45% to $23.2 billion, reflecting strong domestic and international demand for its defense products.
Aselsan increased its capacity and scale investments by a whopping 195% to $323 million, while its research and development (R&D) spending, focusing on critical technologies like quantum computing and underwater systems, jumped 41% to $804 million.
The company’s net debt-to-EBITDA ratio declined from 0.57 to 0.55.
Its EBITDA margin rose by 120 basis points to 26.3%, generating total EBITDA of $488 million, according to the financial report.
The defense giant’s operational cash flow totaled $319.7 million in the first half, while it maintained an equity ratio of 56%, well above sector averages.
The recently commissioned 17,360 square meters (186,861 square feet) of new production and test centers will be dedicated to smart munitions and defense systems to support the firm’s growing scale.
The company also launched 19 robotic automation lines to enhance delivery speed and production quality of Aselsan’s offerings.
CEO Ahmet Akyol said the company’s financial discipline would allow it to invest in future capabilities while maintaining a strong balance sheet.
Aselsan’s total order backlog is expected to exceed the $30 billion threshold starting next year.
The company also launched civilian projects this year, including signaling technologies for Europe’s fastest fully autonomous metro line and a new open-heart surgery device, according to the report.
Aselsan also highlighted its inclusion in the Forbes Global 2000 list as the first and only Turkish defense company to achieve the distinction.
Türkiye is seeking to extend pipeline infrastructure to transport oil and natural gas from Iraq and the Gulf to Europe, according to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
Ankara and Baghdad signed on Saturday a one-year deal on maintaining the use of the crude oil pipeline running from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
The agreement extended a decades-long bilateral arrangement that expired last week and that allowed the operation of Baghdad’s only functioning export pipeline, the Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline.
The deal comes as Iraq moves to strengthen the resilience of its oil export infrastructure following disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S.-Iran war began in February.
The extension allows time for talks on a more comprehensive agreement between Türkiye and Iraq covering cooperation in the oil, electricity and water resources sectors.
Türkiye wants the pipeline, with a capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), to be fully utilized and possibly extended to southern Iraqi oil fields.
One project under consideration is a pipeline that would connect southern Iraq’s Basra to western Haditha and from there to the Ceyhan port in Türkiye and the port of Baniyas on Syria’s coast.
The Iraq-Türkiye pipeline has been largely idle since 2023 after exports from Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) region were halted following legal and commercial disputes, although flows through it resumed in a limited capacity last year.
The new deal provides for a minimum export volume of 750,000 barrels of Iraqi crude per day to Ceyhan, where some volumes would be processed in Turkish refineries while the remainder would reach international markets.
The pipeline was last carrying around 200,000 barrels per day. Bayraktar said it could eventually be expanded to between 2 million and 2.5 million barrels per day.
According to Bayraktar, Türkiye is proposing a new crude oil pipeline stretching from Silopi on the Turkish border to Iraq’s Basra.
The minister argued that expanding alternative export routes has become increasingly important amid security concerns surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day transited before the conflict.
He said additional capacity through Türkiye would provide producers in Iraq and Gulf countries with an alternative export corridor should disruptions occur in the region.
The minister also said the expanded corridor could support storage, refining and petrochemical investments around Ceyhan while helping finance the planned Development Road transport corridor linking Iraq’s Grand Faw Port with Türkiye and Europe.
All energy routes ‘converge in Türkiye’
Bayraktar said negotiations with Iraq were also centered on natural gas cooperation. The sides are also discussing expanding electricity exports from Türkiye to help address Iraq’s power shortages.
In the near term, Türkiye could use its existing infrastructure to export gas to Iraq to help fuel Iraqi power plants, said Bayraktar.
Over the longer term, Ankara is proposing construction of a gas pipeline alongside the planned Basra oil pipeline and electricity transmission lines, he noted.
The project would allow gas produced in Qatar and other Gulf countries to flow north through Iraq into Türkiye and onward to European markets.
“Our larger project is to build a natural gas pipeline alongside the oil pipeline extending to Basra so that, in the future, Qatari gas and other Gulf gas can reach Türkiye through Iraq and then continue to Europe,” Bayraktar said.
That, he said, would establish a “global hub” where all energy routes “converge in Türkiye.”
He added that Türkiye’s existing energy infrastructure, including more than 20,000 kilometers of high-pressure natural gas transmission pipelines, 220,000 kilometers of distribution networks, LNG terminals and underground storage facilities, provides the foundation for becoming a regional energy transit and trading hub.
Under a separate agreement signed on the sidelines of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to Ankara last week, state-run energy company Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) acquired a 15% stake in a consortium operating in Iraq’s Kirkuk region.
TPAO will join BP and ConocoPhillips in developing the Baba and Avanah domes and the Bai Hassan, Jambur and Khabbaz fields.
The Kirkuk project contains an estimated 3 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves, representing an economic value of roughly $250 billion at current prices, said Bayraktar.
The wider contract area is believed to hold resource potential of up to 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
According to the latest field-level production data published by Iraq’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the fields currently produce around 300,000 barrels of oil per day.
Bayraktar said there was a long-term production potential of up to 1.2 million barrels per day.
The recent deals, the minister said, go beyond upstream oil development and form part of a broader strategy to diversify regional energy routes at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty.
“The world is entering a new normal characterized by persistent conflicts, and energy infrastructure has become a primary target,” Bayraktar said.
Bayraktar reiterated the government’s ambition to turn TPAO into an international producer capable of reaching 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
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