Mondi, the packaging and paper group, announced it is cutting 450 jobs and closing factories in Europe due to challenging trading conditions, according to the company. The restructuring includes the closure of the Mondi paper factory in Maastricht before the summer, resulting in 110 job losses, as well as a corrugated board plant in Turkey and two paper sack plants in Hungary and Germany as part of strategic network optimisation, Mondi said. In the 2025 financial year, Mondi achieved sales of 7.663 billion euros, adjusted EBITDA of 1.001 billion euros, and net financial debt of 2.599 billion euros, according to research. The company reported a 27% year-on-year drop in underlying earnings, which were down from 214 million euros in the previous three months, according to major media. Mondi employs around 24,000 people across 100 production sites in over 30 countries, including a factory in Birmingham, according to major media. The company has closed 22 processing plants in the past ten years, according to research. Andrew King, chief executive of Mondi, said in a statement that despite the uncertain outlook, the company continues to focus on operational excellence, cost discipline, and optimising its production footprint, expressing confidence in navigating current headwinds.
According to research from eight sources, the US-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes have upended global financial and energy markets. Since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, Tehran has launched ballistic missiles targeting Israel, US military bases, and oil depots across the Gulf region, according to research. Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz have reduced traffic in the channel, through which about 20% of global oil and gas supplies transit, according to research. Brent crude oil was priced at $106 per barrel as of Monday, up more than 40% from $72 per barrel on February 27, according to research. LNG prices have risen almost 60% since the start of the war, according to Muyu Xu, senior crude oil analyst at Kpler. On March 2, QatarEnergy suspended its LNG production after an Iranian drone attack, according to research. About 84% of crude oil and 83% of LNG that passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024 was bound for Asia, according to the US Energy Information Administration. China, India, Japan, and South Korea accounted for nearly 70% of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Energy Information Administration. If the conflict is short-lived, oil and LNG prices would fall back sharply with Brent crude reaching $65 per barrel by year-end, according to Neil Shearing and team at Capital Economics. In case of a longer war, oil prices would rise to around $130 per barrel in Q2, according to a Capital Economics report. Mondi is raising prices to offset increased costs from the Iran war and rising energy prices, according to the company. Trading remained challenging in the first quarter of 2026, Mondi said. The company experienced increased energy, raw material and logistics costs, according to Mondi. Mondi expects the impact of price increases to take full effect in the third quarter of this year, according to the company. Oil prices have risen by about $10 a barrel, giving only a modest upward jolt to inflation, according to research. Iran is responsible for just 4% of oil production, according to research.
Since January 1, 2026, 1,621+ companies have announced mass layoffs, according to research from eight sources. Meta plans up to 8,000 job cuts in a new round of layoffs, according to research. Alliance Healthcare will close its Nottingham site, resulting in around 150 job losses, according to research. GoCardless to axe 90 jobs as UK fintech eyes profitability, according to research. Snap is cutting 1,000 jobs after an activist investor said it 'over-hired', according to research. Renault SA plans to reduce its global engineering workforce by 15% to 20% over two years, affecting up to 2,400 employees, according to research. BBC to cut up to 2,000 jobs under 'financial pressures', according to research. Helvetia Baloise to cut up to 2,600 jobs following merger, according to research. Clearwater Paper Corporation plans restructuring resulting in reduction of approximately 20% of roles, according to research.
Shares in Mondi fell 5% in early trading on Friday, according to major media. Wall Street closed sharply higher on March 16, 2026 as oil pulled back below $95 per barrel, according to research. Asian markets opened higher on March 17, 2026 tracking Wall Street rebound, according to research. Nikkei 225 rose 0.75%, Topix gained over 1%, KOSPI jumped over 2.9%, S&P/ASX 200 added 0.27%, MSCI Asia Pacific rose nearly 1%, GIFT Nifty traded higher by 111 points or 0.53%, according to research. PSEi closed at 6,026.01, up 19.46 points or 0.32%, according to research. US oil surged 7.26%, settling at roughly $72.98 per barrel Friday, according to research. US oil and Brent had surged as much as 14% and 13% earlier in the day, according to research. Those were the biggest single-day gains for oil benchmarks since March 2022, according to research. Gold rose about 1.4% to $3,433 per troy ounce, according to research. S&P 500 dropped 1.13% and Nasdaq Composite slid 1.3%, according to research. Shares in airlines and travel companies fell: United Airlines down 4.4%, Delta 3.8%, American Airlines 4.9%, according to research. Defense contractors jumped: Lockheed Martin gained 3.7%, General Dynamics rose 1.1%, according to research.
Israel launched an attack against Iran's nuclear and missile facilities, killing at least two of Iran's top military commanders, according to research. Iran fired 'hundreds of various ballistic missiles' towards Israel, according to Iran's official news agency, IRNA. Donald Trump cut short his stay at the G7 summit, taken as a sign the US is considering joining Israel in military action against Iran, according to research.
There are contradictions in oil price data. Brent crude oil was priced at $106 per barrel as of Monday, up more than 40% from $72 per barrel on February 27, according to research. However, US oil settled at roughly $72.98 per barrel Friday, according to research. The discrepancy suggests different reporting dates or phases of the conflict. Similarly, Wall Street closed sharply higher on March 16, 2026 as oil pulled back below $95 per barrel, while other reports describe market declines on different dates. These reports describe opposite market reactions, likely due to different dates. Also, oil prices have risen by about $10 a barrel, giving only a modest upward jolt to inflation, according to research, while Brent crude oil was priced at $106 per barrel, up more than 40% from $72 per barrel on February 27 (a $34 increase). This contradiction may stem from different timeframes or assessments of the conflict's effect on oil markets.