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Gazprom CEO paints bleak future for Europe without Russian gas
The CEO of the Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom stated on Thursday that Europe was harming its own commercial sector by artificially damaging demand for gas, as Russian gas exports to the area have shrivelled. Alexei Miller stated there might be gas cost shocks and supply interruption ahead, informing a conference that production was declining greatly in some European market sectors badly affected by gas price volatility. He offered no particular examples. Russian gas supplies to Europe fell sharply after Moscow sent its militaries into Ukraine in February 2022, and much of the deficiency was used up by providers from the United States, Norway and Qatar. As a result, Gazprom plunged to a bottom line of around $7 billion in 2023, its very first year at a loss because 1999. Russia delivered only about 15 billion cubic metres (bcm). of gas to Europe by means of Ukraine in 2023 - around 8% of the volume. it sent to Europe via different paths in 2018-2019. EU gas prices increased in 2022 to record highs after the loss of. Russian materials, however have since fallen sharply. EU authorities. and traders say the spike is unlikely to be repeated now that. Russian gas accounts for such a small share of the market. What will take place next? Miller told a gas conference. Extremely briefly - the process of de-industrialisation of. Europe will continue ... volatility in the gas market will. boost much more, and what is most unpleasant is that such a. policy on the European gas market can result in a new gas cost. shock and supply disruption.
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Sibanye liable to pay damages in stopped working $1.2 billion Brazilian mines deal
Investment firm Appian Capital Advisory stated a High Court in London has actually ruled that Sibanye Stillwater must compensate it for losses which emerged after the South African miner terminated a $1.2 billion offer to purchase its Brazilian nickel and copper mines. A hearing to deal with the quantity of settlement will take location in November 2025, Appian stated in a declaration. The advisory firm lodged the case versus Sibanye seeking settlement after the Johannesburg-based rare-earth elements producer cancelled a deal to get Santa Rita and Serrote mines in Brazil in January 2022. Sibanye validated in a separate statement that a trial to figure out possible damages it might be required to pay to Appian would be held in November next year. Judge Christopher Butcher ruled that Sibanye was under. a responsibility to close the deal to acquire the nickel and. copper mines and had no premises to end the purchase. Appian stated it would seek to recover losses from the. stopped working offer in full, consisting of the significant interest that. would have accrued because January 2022..
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Saudi's MbS will not participate in Russia's BRICS summit
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is not anticipated to participate in the Russianhosted BRICS top later this month, according to the Kremlin, which said the world's biggest oil exporter would be represented by the Kingdom's foreign minister. BRICS, originally Brazil, Russia, India and China, has broadened over the last few years to consist of South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy assistant, Yuri Ushakov, said that nine of the 10 BRICS member states would send their leaders, though Saudi Arabia would send its foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, to the top in the Russian city of Kazan. He did not give a reason for the expected absence of the crown prince, known as MbS. Ushakov stated BRICS is a structure that can not be disregarded. He said BRICS members accounted for 45% of the world's. population, about 40% of oil production and about a quarter of. worldwide goods exports. The term BRIC was created by Goldman Sachs economic expert Jim. O'Neill in 2003 to explain how the four rising economies of. Brazil, Russia, India and China are likely to match and overtake. many of the West's leading economies over the next half century. In the 2 decades since then, the group has formed into an. official structure though its economic weight is largely made up. by China, the world's second biggest economy, and critics say. the major members of the grouping have contradictory aims.
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Saudi's MbS will not participate in Russia's BRICS top
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is not anticipated to participate in the Russianhosted BRICS top later this month, according to the Kremlin, which said the world's greatest oil exporter would be represented by the Kingdom's foreign minister. BRICS, initially Brazil, Russia, India and China, has broadened in the last few years to consist of South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said that nine of the 10 BRICS member states would send out their leaders, though Saudi Arabia would send its foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, to the top in the Russian city of Kazan. He did not provide a reason for the expected absence of the crown prince, called MbS. Ushakov said BRICS is a structure that can not be neglected. He said BRICS members accounted for 45% of the world's. population, about 40% of oil production and about a quarter of. international goods exports. The term BRIC was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim. O'Neill in 2003 to explain how the 4 rising economies of. Brazil, Russia, India and China are most likely to match and overtake. a lot of the West's leading economies over the next half century. In the 2 years ever since, the group has formed into an. official structure though its financial weight is mostly made up. by China, the world's second biggest economy, and critics say. the major members of the grouping have contradictory aims.
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Japan Oct-Dec crude steel output forecast to fall 1.4% Y/Y - METI
Japan's unrefined steel output is projection to fall 1.4% in the OctoberDecember quarter from a. year previously due to softer vehicle need and sluggish. activities in the manufacturing sector, the Ministry of Economy,. Trade and Market stated on Thursday. It would mark a fourth successive quarterly decrease. The ministry estimated unrefined steel output on the planet's. third-biggest steel producer to be 21.3 million metric heaps for. the 3 months, down from 21.6 million heaps a year earlier,. though it would log a 0.9% increase from the previous quarter. Demand for steel items, consisting of those for exports,. is forecast to fall 2.1% to 19.31 million tonnes in. October-December compared to a year earlier, the ministry. said, citing an industry study. Exports are anticipated to fall 0.3%, the ministry said. In the vehicle sector, there are signs of a healing in. production, however healing in need itself is not strong enough,. Manabu Nabeshima, director of METI's metal industries division,. told a news conference. The building sector is also expected to remain weak. due to ongoing labor shortages and high expenses, he added.
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Japan may act to respond to China's growing steel exports, ministry authorities states
The Japanese federal government might take trade action if required in response to growing steel exports from China, the world's greatest steel producer, an authorities at Japan's market ministry stated on Thursday. We are worried that in most cases Chinese steel is being exported at considerably low prices, affecting international supply and demand as well as pricing, Manabu Nabeshima, director of the metal markets division at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Market (METI), informed a news conference. At this point, we have actually not picked any particular immediate action, but our company believe we require to take measures in a. quick manner, if necessary, he said, meaning capacity. measures allowed under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori told. Reuters in August that it and other Japanese steelmakers are. prompting Tokyo to think about curbing cheap steel imports from China. to safeguard the Japanese market. Weak steel demand in the house has motivated China to unload. its surplus stocks by using competitive rates to overseas. buyers, according to Japanese steel industry sources. Canada, following the lead of the United States and European. Union, revealed a 25% tariff in August on imported steel and. aluminium from China. In Asia, India is preparing to raise. tariffs on Chinese steel. China's commerce ministry said earlier this month it has. asked the WTO to rule on Canada's imposition of high tariffs on. Chinese steel and aluminium items along with on electric. vehicles. It is clear that Chinese steel exports will shift to. regions that have not carried out trade steps, and we are. extremely concerned that steel inflow to Japan might rise quickly in. the future given international trends, Tadashi Imai, chairman of the. Japan Iron and Steel Federation, informed press reporters last month. We will carefully keep track of production capability and regional. need in each country and will urge the federal government to take. proper trade steps if necessary, he said.
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Nigeria's NNPC raises fuel rates as it drops expensive subsidies
Nigeria's stateowned oil business, NNPC Ltd, has actually increased petrol prices by over 15%,. marking the 2nd hike in less than a month and the exit from a. costly subsidy programme that has actually strained its finances. At NNPC fuel stations in Lagos the cost of gasoline increased to. 998 naira per litre ($ 0.6257) from 858 naira, while in Abuja the. price increased to 1,030 naira per litre from 950 naira. Long. queues formed as customers came to terms with greater rates. NNPC, the country's sole importer of improved products, can. now recover its costs in full, having actually purchased gas from the. Dangote Oil Refinery at 898 naira per litre. This is the first time in three years that Nigeria is. offering gas at complete market prices, easing the treasury. of the heavy expense of subsidies, projected to cost the government. at least $3.7 billion this year. President Bola Tinubu scrapped a pricey but popular aid. on gas last year when he took workplace, to cut government. expense. However he reintroduced subsidy partially after inflation. skyrocketed, worsening a cost of living crisis and stiring. tension among the population. By September, NNPC said it faced extreme financial stress,. confessing was unable to continue importing fuel after weeks. of scarce products at its gas stations. The cost increase has stimulated criticism from labour unions. to makers, who warn that it will intensify the. cost-of-living crisis. Gas prices are an especially delicate issue in. Nigeria, where countless households and small companies rely. on generators powered by fuel due to the nation's creaking. national electricity grid. Last week, Nigeria started selling petroleum to the Dangote. Refinery in naira, with the understanding that the refinery. would completely meet the country's fuel requirements. This month, NNPC is. providing the refinery with 13 cargoes of petroleum. Edwin Devakumar, head of the Dangote Refinery, said the. facility now has the capability to meet all of Nigeria's needs. Industry experts state that with gas now being sold at. market rates, NNPC will no longer be the sole purchaser of items. from the Dangote Refinery. We have used to purchase straight from the Dangote Refinery,. however this hasn't been settled yet. In the meantime, we are still buying. through NNPC, said Billy Gillis-Harry, head of a local fuel. traders association.
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Pakistan's federal government ends power deals early to cut costs
Pakistan's federal government has reached an arrangement with energies to end power purchase agreements, consisting of one with Pakistan's biggest personal utility that need to have been in location until 2027, as part of efforts to lower costs, it stated on Thursday. The news verifies comment from Power Minister Awais Leghari to Reuters last month that the government was re-negotiating handle independent manufacturers to lower electrical power tariffs as homes and organizations battle to handle skyrocketing energy costs. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated on Thursday Pakistan has concurred with five independent power producers to review purchase agreements, which he stated would save the nation 60 billion rupees ($ 216.10 million) a year. The need to revisit the offers was an issue in talks for a. crucial staff-level pact in July with the International. Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $7-billion bailout. Prior to the prime minister's announcement, Pakistan's. greatest private energy, Hub Power Business Ltd, stated. the company consented to too soon end a contract with the. federal government to buy power from a southwestern generation job. In a note to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, it stated the. federal government had agreed to satisfy its commitments approximately Oct. 1,. rather of an initial date of March 2027, in an action taken in. the higher national interest. A years earlier, Pakistan approved lots of private projects. by independent power manufacturers (IPPs), funded primarily by. foreign lending institutions, to tackle persistent scarcities. However the deals, featuring rewards, such as high ensured. returns and dedications to pay even for unused power, resulted. in excess capability after a sustained economic crisis lowered. consumption. Short of funds, the federal government has built those fixed expenses. and capability payments into consumer expenses, triggering demonstrations by. domestic users and industry bodies. Pakistan has started talks on re-profiling power sector debt. owed to China and structural reforms, but development has been. sluggish. It has also said it will stop power sector subsidies.
Spanish olive trees discover new home on Hungary's slopes as climate warms
White wine maker Csaba Torok, who grows olives on Hungary's warm southern slopes near Lake Balaton, thinks his trees from southern Europe have discovered an effective new home as Europe's environment gets warmer.
Torok, 55, got his first three little olive trees from Spain around 2008. 2 froze to death the first winter but one endured, triggering Torok to purchase around 200 more throughout the years to plant in his vineyard on Hegymagas, a volcanic butte development with bright slopes, ample rain and abundant soil.
I see these trees as an integral part of the future landscape here, Torok said, as he gathered the olives with pals, keeping in mind the local microclimate significantly matches the trees.
He takes his hand-picked olive crop to neighbouring Slovenia where his virgin olive oil is made and which he sells for 4500 forints ($ 12.35) per 0.1 litres.
As southern Europe is hit by more regular dry spells and scorching heatwaves, the locations where olive groves can grow seem shifting northwards, he stated.
Hungary's winters have actually ended up being palpably milder over the past years. Europe is the fastest warming continent on the planet, the European Environment Agency said last month, and faces a higher risk of dry spell in the south.
Spain, which usually supplies around 40% of the world's. olive oil, has actually suffered bad olive harvests in the previous two. years due to heatwaves and a prolonged dry spell, doubling olive. oil rates to record levels.
Recently, the Spanish farm ministry said the first. quotes for this year's harvest indicated a healing, with. 2024-2025 olive production projection at 1,262,300 tonnes, up 48%. from the previous harvest.
MEDITERRANEAN FEELING
In southern Hungary, near the city of Pecs, Gabor Stix has. been explore an olive grove for years, cultivating. trees for sale. Stix expects all his trees grown this year to be. offered by March.
Olive trees love this climate. ... One would think Hungary. is not appropriate for olive production, but it is, Stix stated.
Even north of Hungary, in Slovakia, people have been purchasing. olive trees for their gardens to have a Mediterranean feeling. In the town of Iza, garden centre owner Istvan Vass has. imported 25 truckloads of olive trees from Spain this year,. selling them for 300-500 euros each.
As buyers arrived to choose trees, Vass alerted that during. the first winter the trees might suffer damage from sub-zero. temperature levels, however covering them assists.
There are lots of olive trees planted outside in the. gardens and they cope really well, he stated.
(source: Reuters)