• Tropical Battery Group has announced a landmark partnership with Wright Energy Storage Technologies (WEST), appointing Tropical Battery and its affiliate Kaya Energy as authorised resellers of WEST products across Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
• The deal introduces WEST's Optimised Supercapacitor technology to the Caribbean – a carbon-based electrostatic storage system that differs fundamentally from traditional lithium-ion batteries. Key selling points include a 45-year design life, a 20-year warranty, 97.1% round-trip efficiency, and no risk of thermal runaway or fire.
• Tropical Battery CEO Alexander Melville said the technology is particularly suited to the Caribbean environment, noting that traditional battery chemistries often struggle with the region's high ambient temperatures and humidity. WEST modules are rated to operate from -40°C to +65°C without performance loss.
• WEST CEO Larry (Chip) Seibert said Tropical Battery's "deep roots in the Caribbean and commitment to renewable energy" made them the ideal partner to deploy the technology across the two markets. WEST currently operates across more than 35 countries and is headquartered in Manhattan, New York.
• The WEST partnership has the potential to meaningfully improve Tropical Battery's revenue. The 45-year design life and 20-year warranty of WEST modules position the company to pursue larger, longer-cycle commercial and industrial contracts that could help revenue growth.
• Ultimately, the success of the partnership would depend on Tropical Battery's ability to find customers willing to buy WEST's supercapacitor technology. Tropical would need to convince customers to trust and adopt a new product, even if it outperforms the lithium-ion batteries they're already familiar with. Effectively promoting specs, like the 45-year design life and 20-year warranty, will play a key role in achieving this.
• TROPICAL’s stock price has decreased by 13.2% since the start of the year to close at $1.38 on Thursday, March 19, 2026. At this current price, its P/E is 9.9x, below the Main Market Energy, Materials and Industrial average of 19.5x.

(Sources: JSE, Tropical Battery Group Ltd. & NCBCM Research)

• The rising world oil price and increased production are allowing Exxon Mobil Guyana to fast-track the recovery of all of the remaining exploration, production and other costs in the Stabroek Block this year rather than next year, company President Alistair Routledge said
• Currently, historic costs remain about US$5Bn out of an estimated US$40Bn cost bank. He said the current oil price of about US$100 per barrel would allow Exxon Mobil to “accelerate” cost bank recovery this year.
• “What we’re now seeing in this price environment is that it will accelerate. Now, we don’t forecast oil prices, but if you stay at the current oil price, then it will happen this year, based on the level of expenditure and the production that we anticipate. So that’s a significant acceleration,” he told a news conference. According to the top company official, Guyana was currently producing more than 900,000 barrels per day. Mr Routledge said the company began wiping out the accumulated cost bank over the past two years due mainly to higher production. Originally, the company had anticipated recovering historic costs in 2027, largely because of increasing volumes of production that is bringing in higher revenues to offset the ongoing expenditures, plus recover historic costs.
• The top Exxon Mobil official explained that the historic costs date back to 1999 when the contract with Guyana was signed and incurred. After the company began operations in 2019, he said revenue started coming in from 2020, “but at that point, we were still spending faster, and we were generating revenue.” Exxon Mobil says it is committed to spending up to US$60Bn in capital expenditure during the life of its operations in Guyana, apart from annual operating expenses amounting to billions of dollars.
• The Exxon Mobil-Guyana government Production Sharing Agreement allows for up to 75 % of gross revenues to be used to recover costs.

(Source: Caribbean National Weekly)

• Brazil's central bank began a long-awaited easing cycle on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, with a cautious 25-basis-point cut, while holding off on explicit guidance for next steps, as an oil shock tied to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran stoked global inflation fears. The bank's rate-setting committee, Copom, unanimously voted to lower the benchmark Selic rate to 14.75%, after five straight meetings holding it at 15%, the highest level since July 2006.
• Policymakers had signalled in January 2026 that borrowing costs could start to fall this month, but doubts mounted as the Middle East conflict widened, which Copom cited throughout its decision statement. The central bank acknowledged that the international environment has grown more uncertain and stressed that risks to its inflation outlook have intensified.
• Oil prices jumped above $100/bbl in recent sessions, roughly 60% more than the level assumed at the Brazilian central bank's January meeting. The shock prompted President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government to announce tax cuts and a direct subsidy for diesel, a key input for Brazil's road-centric logistics, a day before state-run oil firm Petrobras raised the fuel's price. Surging oil prices also reshaped interest-rate pricing in recent days, prompting Brazil's Treasury to step in with extraordinary auctions.
• Policymakers stressed in their decision statement the importance of "serenity and cautiousness in the conduction of monetary policy, so that future steps of interest rate calibration could incorporate new information about the depth and duration of the conflicts in the Middle East." The central bank also noted that the prolonged period of restrictive rates had shown it was slowing down the economy, "creating the conditions under which adjustments to the pace of this calibration, in light of new information, can be made." Brazil's real interest rate remains above 10%, among the highest in major economies.
• Felipe Tavares, chief economist at BGC Liquidez, called the bank's communication dovish and forecast a 50-basis-point cut at the next meeting in April. He noted that the central bank opted to lower rates despite a sharp deterioration in inflation projections, even after incorporating a more favourable exchange-rate path. Policymakers raised their inflation forecast for this year to 3.9% from 3.4%.

(Source: Reuters)

• The Bank of England's interest rate-setters all voted to keep borrowing ​costs on hold and said they were "ready to act" to see off risks from war in the Middle East, prompting investors to ramp up their bets on higher ‌borrowing costs later this year. The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee voted 9-0 to keep Bank Rate at 3.75%, the central bank said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected a 7-2 vote to hold rates.
• The MPC said inflation could go as high as 3.5% over the next two calendar quarters, according to BoE staff forecasts, and that it was alert to the risk of higher inflation expectations becoming embedded in the economy. It also nodded to the risks of an economic ​slowdown, which could weaken inflation pressures, but said the bigger risk was one of higher inflation, adding it "stands ready to act as necessary" to keep inflation on track for its 2% ​target.
• Governor Andrew Bailey said petrol prices were already higher and household energy bills would go up later this year if the conflict lasts. Investors moved to price in two ​quarter-point rate hikes by the BoE this year. Yields on two-year British government bonds - which are sensitive to speculation about rates - leapt by a huge 34 basis points on the day, hitting the highest since ​January 2025 at 4.486%.
• Some of the day's surge came earlier on news of more damage to gas infrastructure in Qatar. Bailey later said markets were getting ahead of themselves in assuming rate rises. Rob Wood, a former BoE economist who is chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the surge in oil and especially natural ​gas prices on Thursday - which came after the MPC's vote on Wednesday - tilted the risks further towards rate hikes.
• Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist of investment company Aberdeen, said the hurdle to a return to rate hikes was very high but "the economy could be facing a long wait until the next cut." Shortly after the ‌BoE announcement, the ⁠ECB left interest rates unchanged but signalled it was ready to act to counter risks to growth and from inflation.
• On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and projected a single reduction in borrowing costs this year, although Chair Jerome Powell said uncertainty was high.
• Some of the BoE's MPC members suggested interest rates might need to go up. Catherine Mann said she thought the BoE should consider a longer pause in rates "or even a hike at some point" to stop inflation from getting stuck too high.

(Source: Reuters)

• President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday announced a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act shipping law, temporarily allowing foreign-flagged vessels to move ‌fuel, fertilizer and other goods between U.S. ports to combat price increases and supply disruptions from the Iran conflict.
• White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the waiver represents "another step to mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market as the U.S. military continues meeting the objectives of Operation Epic Fury."
• The waiver, a rare exception to the century-old law, underscores the administration’s urgent response to a crisis that has sent gasoline prices sharply higher and disrupted critical fertiliser supplies for U.S. farmers. The American Maritime Partnership, a Washington-based advocacy group representing U.S. ⁠ship operators, said it was "deeply concerned" that the 60-day broad waiver would displace U.S. workers and companies, and said the exemption is intended only for immediate threats to military operations. The group pledged to closely monitor its implementation.
• Relaxing the Jones Act allows coastal refiners and fuel distributors to access a larger pool of ships, including foreign-flagged vessels, to move gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products between ports. While analysts caution the move is unlikely to significantly lower pump prices, it signals a pragmatic shift by Trump, who has long championed U.S. shipbuilding and maritime labour unions, key supporters of the Jones Act. Brett Erickson, a managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, said the Jones Act waiver - along with other efforts - will not have a meaningful impact on prices.
• S. gasoline prices have surged since the start of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. The conflict has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the outlet for around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. High energy prices carry significant political risks for Trump and fellow Republicans, who have long argued that their policies would keep fuel affordable for American consumers.
• The top U.S. oil refinery ⁠trade group, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, welcomed the waiver, saying it would provide much-needed flexibility. The conflict has also disrupted fertiliser supplies, a major concern for U.S. farmers. Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, applauded the waiver, which came as some farmers have started spring plantings.
• "The jump in fertiliser and fuel ⁠costs, as well as the threat of shortages, sent shockwaves across rural America," he said. Under the Jones Act, goods shipped between U.S. ports must be carried on vessels that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged and mostly U.S.-owned. Maritime industry unions support the requirement, which sharply limits the number of ⁠tankers available for domestic shipments.
• The administration’s waiver is one of several emergency measures being employed to counter the economic fallout from the Iran conflict, including releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and adjustments to sanctions policy, as Washington seeks to stabilise markets ahead of domestic political pressures

(Source: Reuters)

• For the quarter ended January 31, 2026 (Q1 2026), The Limners and Bards Limited (The LAB) recorded a net loss of J$13.67Mn, reversing the J$21.60Mn profit recorded in Q1 2025. The loss occurred amid Melissa-induced revenue pressures across all three business segments.
• Q1 revenues were cut by 40.3% to J$170.85Mn, as Hurricane Melissa disrupted commercial activity across Jamaica during November and December, historically the strongest months for advertising, media and promotional spending.
• With the sharp drop in revenues, gross profit fell 43.0% to J$57.36Mn, despite a falloff in direct costs (-33.8%), which contributed to gross margin compression from 35.1% to 33.6%. A temporary reduction in the Agency segment and production assignments being delivered during the quarter were behind the reduction in costs. That said, management expects project flow to recover and margins to trend toward more typical levels. Meanwhile, operating expenses (OPEX) were relatively flat (-3.6%). But ultimately, the sharper gross profit dip dragged the company to a $16.68Mn operating loss.
• Management views the quarter's weak results as a timing effect of an extraordinary external event and expects activity to normalise as commercial confidence recovers across the Caribbean. However, beyond Melissa’s impact, the Lab’s revenues have been declining as clients become more conservative with ad spend amid soft macroeconomic conditions. Changing advertising spending patterns in the face of consumers' increasing pivot to social media have impacted the demand for LAB’s media business and are likely to continue, as clients continue to pivot to more cost-effective advertisement solutions.
• Looking ahead, The LAB continues to advance several strategic initiatives that could meaningfully diversify and grow its revenue base. Its film slate under the Five in 25 initiative has attracted interest from international streaming platforms, and its first film release on YouTube garnered over 14,000 views within 24 hours of launch. Its trolley advertising platform is also expanding regionally, with contracts signed for a pilot in Guyana.
• Additionally, the company has begun testing AI-enabled production and marketing solutions with select clients. Management has described early feedback as positive.
• LAB's stock price has decreased by 11.5% since the start of the year to close at $0.92 on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. At this current price, the company’s P/E sits at 92.0x.

(Sources: LAB Financial Statements & NCBCM Research)

• Stationery and Office Supplies Limited’s (SOS’) audited earnings contracted by 40.5% to J$132.52Mn for the full year ended December 31, 2025, as rising cost of sales and higher administrative expenses outpaced revenue growth.
• Revenues grew by 1.2% to $1.87Bn, reflecting increased exports. Management noted that revenues would have been significantly higher if not for Hurricane Melissa, which caused significant operational disruption in its 4^th
• Direct costs grew by 9.4%, but SOS lost its entire stock in its Montego Bay warehouse. With lower revenues and higher direct costs, gross profit fell 5.5% to J$952.79Mn and gross margin narrowed from 54.7% to 51.0%.
• Operating expenses, which grew by 4.9% to $823.88Mn, also contributed to the lower profits. Administrative and general expenses rose 7.2% to J$612.49Mn, while selling and promotional costs were broadly flat at J$153.60Mn. Depreciation and amortisation added a further J$44.53Mn charge, and impairment losses on financial assets, while better than the prior year, still contributed a J$13.26Mn drag on earnings. Taken together, these operating costs weighed heavily on profitability, with operating profit declining sharply to J$136.82Mn from J$227.51Mn in the prior year, a fall of 39.3%.
• Profit before tax of J$160.42Mn, was a significant reduction from J$246.63Mn in the prior year.
• While Melissa closed its FY2025 on a tough note, there were some highlights. While there was no evidence of entering new markets in the Caribbean in 2025, SOS saw higher export sales in 2025, which implied that it sold more products in its existing destinations. The EVOLVE line of furniture continued to grow its revenues by 15% to $160Mn in 2025.
• Lastly, the new SEEK factory was completed in late 2025. In the short term, this expansion should boost capacity, allowing the company to meet demand more efficiently and support improved profitability. Over the medium to long term, the added capacity positions the company to benefit from favourable industry trends; however, revenue growth is expected to remain moderate given the industry’s maturity and competitive landscape.
• SOS's stock price decreased by 9.0% since the start of the year to close at $1.51 on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. At this current price, the company’s P/E sits at 25.2x, above the average of the JSE Junior Market Distribution Sector average of 19.7x.

(Sources: SOS Financial Statements & NCBCM Research)

• Energy-producing nations in the Caribbean, including Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, could see increased revenues as global oil prices rise amid escalating tensions involving the United States and Iran, according to the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago.
• The chamber said on March 16 that the recent surge in oil prices presents “a mixed outlook” for the Caribbean. “Energy producers such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana could benefit from stronger hydrocarbon prices, which may improve revenues for oil and gas producers and support margins in petrochemical and LNG markets.”
• The price spike followed attacks on vessels and energy infrastructure across the Gulf region after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. The tensions have disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil transit routes. “Approximately 20% of global oil consumption and a similar share of LNG trade pass through the narrow channel,” the chamber noted.
• Energy analysts warn that a prolonged disruption could significantly tighten global supply. “Some estimates suggest the conflict could ultimately put up to 15 million barrels per day of supply at risk if production and export infrastructure across the Gulf are severely affected,” the Chamber said.
• Oil markets have already reacted to the geopolitical risk. The International Energy Agency has warned that the situation could escalate further, presenting opportunities for increased crude sales. According to the Chamber, “The conflict could trigger the largest oil supply disruption in modern history.” Guyana now produces more hydrocarbons in the Caribbean region than veteran producer Trinidad and Tobago (TT). Trinidad’s hydrocarbon production has been in steady decline, down from approximately 719,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2015.

(Source: Oil Now Guyana)

• U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company after the Treasury Department eased sanctions, with some limitations, on Wednesday as the Trump administration looks for ways to boost world oil supplies during the Iran war. The Treasury issued a broad authorisation allowing Petróleos de Venezuela S.A, or PDVSA, to directly sell Venezuelan oil to U.S. companies and on global markets, a massive shift after Washington for years had largely blocked dealings with Venezuela’s government and its oil sector.
• The Treasury’s license is designed to incentivise new investment in Venezuela’s energy sector and is intended to benefit both the U.S and Venezuela, while increasing the global oil supply. The U.S. license provides targeted relief from sanctions, but does not lift the penalties altogether, allowing companies that existed before January 29, 2025, to buy Venezuelan oil and engage in transactions that would normally be banned under American sanctions, reopening trade for a major oil producer to global markets.
• There are some limits. Payments cannot go directly to sanctioned Venezuelan entities such as PDVSA, but must be sent instead to a special U.S.-controlled account. In other words, the U.S. will allow the oil trade but will control the cash flow. Additionally, deals involving Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and some Chinese entities will not be allowed. Transactions involving Venezuelan debt or bonds will not be allowed.
• The license is expected to give a massive boost to Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy and help encourage companies that have been apprehensive to invest. The decision is part of the Trump administration’s phased-in plan to turn around Venezuela.
• Separately, the White House said Trump would waive, for 60 days, Jones Act requirements for goods shipped between U.S. ports to be moved on U.S.-flagged vessels. The moves highlight the increased pressure that the Republican administration is under to ease soaring oil prices as the United States, along with Israel, wages a war with Iran without a foreseeable end date.

(Source: Associated Press)

• Farmers in the U.S. and Canada, already worried about another year of low profits or losses, now could have spring planting disrupted as they struggle to find fertiliser. Prices for any available supplies have spiked more than a third since the war in Iran paralysed global trade.
• The U.S., which in some years imports half of its urea fertiliser, is about 25% short of the usual supplies that farmers buy for spring planting, according to The Fertiliser Institute, which represents the U.S. fertiliser supply chain. Supplies could grow still scarcer if fertiliser destined for the U.S. gets rerouted to other places willing to pay more for it, an analyst said.
• Josh Linville, a fertiliser market analyst at StoneX, said the price offered in New Orleans, the port area where most offshore U.S. imports enter, and prices are set, is as much as $119 less per metric ton than global prices.
• Late Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department said it was taking immediate steps to allow for more imports of Venezuelan fertiliser "to support our great American farmers. “Since removing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in January, the Trump administration has been supporting U.S.-focused Venezuelan oil exports. Friday's announcement also includes further measures that Treasury says will allow Venezuela's energy sector to recover from years of decline.
• Venezuela has been a significant but not dominant producer of nitrogen fertilisers like urea. However, recent years have seen a massive decline in production, similar to its stumbling crude oil industry. Increasing fertiliser production in Venezuela's stressed economy and political situation will be a challenge requiring billions of dollars, analysts told Reuters. It will not be a quick fix. Farmers who do significant springtime fertiliser application and have not already purchased their supplies are finding retail centres empty or stocked with supplies sold at such a premium that it's unaffordable.
• Furthermore, the Iran war has cut off critical nitrogen fertiliser supplies from the Gulf to the world's farmers. More than 30% of the world's nitrogen fertiliser exports, as well as fertiliser components like sulphur, pass through the now effectively closed Strait of Hormuz. Unlike China, most countries do not hold strategic reserves of fertiliser, and much of the U.S. fertiliser dealer system does not hold stocks, leaving it vulnerable to sudden supply shortages.
• The length of time that the Strait of Hormuz is closed is critical. Fertiliser loaded onto ships in the Gulf can take weeks to reach markets like the U.S., and then must be transferred to river barges, trucks or trains to reach farmland. Most fertiliser needs to be applied before the crop starts growing, so any supplies arriving too late cannot be used for the 2026 crop.
• On Friday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the Trump administration is "looking at every potential avenue" to control fertiliser costs and is having discussions with lawmakers about more aid for farmers. The Trump administration is in the process of distributing $12 billion in aid to U.S. farmers. Farmer groups have urged Congress to approve additional aid.

(Source: Reuters)