Donald Trump railed against the shifting of U.S. jobs overseas during his campaign, but it remains to be seen whether the President-elect will make good on his promises to reign in offshore outsourcing. The Indian-dominated offshore IT services market was already struggling to find its place in a market increasingly ruled by smaller and shorter term deals, cloud computing options, increased automation and intense competition.

Declining cotton production last season has led to prices rising year-on-year, according to Mintec's latest textile index. Yet, U.S. production in the current season is likely to rise by 25 percent and reduce pressure on prices.

Cathay Pacific and subsidiary carrier Dragonair carried a total of 172,385 tonnes of cargo and mail in October, an increase of 5.3 percent over October 2015. The carrier's load factor rose by 1.6 percentage points to 68.1 percent.

Global raw-steel production rose 2.6 percent from September to October, totaling 136,522,876 metric tons, with similar percentage increases in most of the major steelmaking nations and regions tracked by the World Steel Association. The year-over-year comparison is even higher for October, with a 3.3 percent higher in October 2016 than in October 2015.

From a remote corner of northeastern Myanmar, an insurgent army sells tin ore to suppliers of some of the world's largest consumer companies. More than 500 companies, including leading brands such as smartphone maker Apple, coffee giant Starbucks and luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co, list among their suppliers Chinese-controlled firms that indirectly buy ore from the Man Maw mine near Myanmar's border with China, a Reuters examination of the supply chain found.