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Major deals in India's cement sector since Adani Group's entry in 2022
Dealmaking in India's cement sector remains in the spotlight again, after Ambuja Cements said on Tuesday it will buy a near47% stake in smaller sized rival Orient Cement for $451 million. Billionaire Gautam Adani's corporation is locked in a. fierce fight with UltraTech Cement as the rivals snap. up smaller sized firms in a bid to capitalise on expectations of heavy. federal government costs on infrastructure. Here is a timeline of a few of the significant offers announced in. the sector since Adani's foray in 2022: ADANI GROUP-HOLCIM AG, MAY 2022: Adani Group got in the Indian cement sector by buying. Ambuja Cements and ACC from Swiss building and construction product. giant Holcim for $10.5 billion. The deal remains the country's most significant in the cement sector. DALMIA BHARAT-JAIPRAKASH ASSOCIATES, DEC. 2022: Dalmia Bharat purchased cement and other assets of. Jaiprakash Associates for $687 million to reinforce. its existence in India's central region. SAGAR CEMENTS-ANDHRA SEALS, FEB. 2023: A business tribunal approved Sagar Cements' $9.20. billion bid to take control of Jaypee Group-owned Andhra Cements . AMBUJA CEMENTS-SANGHI INDUSTRIES, AUG. 2023: Ambuja Cements purchased a 83% stake in debt-laden Sanghi. Industries for $295 million in August 2023 - Adani. Group's very first major deal after U.S. short seller Hindenburg's. report in January of the year. ULTRATECH CEMENT-KESORAM INDUSTRIES, NOV. 2023: UltraTech bought cement assets of Kesoram Industries. in a $645 million offer to improve its hold in the. country's southern area. AMBUJA CEMENTS-PENNA CEMENT INDUSTRIES, JUNE 2024: Ambuja purchased out Penna Cement Industries in a. $ 1.25 billion offer. The deal most likely lifted Ambuja to amongst the. top three gamers in south India, experts have actually approximated. ULTRATECH CEMENT-INDIA CEMENTS, JULY 2024: UltraTech tattooed a deal worth $472 million to gain control of. India Cements, after initially purchasing a 23% stake for. $ 228 million.
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Adani's Ambuja to buy a 47% stake in Orient Cement for $451 million
Ambuja Cements, India's. No. 2 cement maker, said on Tuesday that it would buy an almost. 47% stake in competing Orient Cement for 37.91 billion. rupees ($ 451 million), but experts said there were doubts about. the offer receiving regulatory approval. Ambuja-- which together with ACC are the two. cement companies managed by the Adani corporation-- stated it. would pay 395.40 rupees per Orient share, which is a premium of. more than 12% to the stock's closing cost on Monday. The deal will assist increase Adani's market share by 2%,. stated Karan Adani, director of Ambuja Cements, and worths Orient,. which is based in the south Indian state of Telangana, at 81. billion rupees. Nevertheless, while Orient's stock at first leapt 7.5% to a. record high of 379 rupees, it quickly reversed course to trade 0.7%. lower at 350.6 rupees, which experts stated suggested concerns. about potential regulatory issues. Thinking about the backdrop of a multitude of deals in recent past,. specifically in the southern region of India, financiers are. concerned if the offer will get approval from the nation's. competition regulator, Ashutosh Murarka, a research expert at. Choice Broking, stated. India's cement sector has actually seen a host of deals considering that the. Adani group's entry in 2022, as billionaire Gautam Adani's. ports-to-power conglomerate aims to challenge UltraTech Cement's. lead in the sector. The deals include Ambuja's deal with Penna and UltraTech's. deals with Kesoram and India Cements, both focussed on south. India.
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Next wave of LNG supply postponed to 2027 due to task hold-ups, TotalEnergies states
The next wave of melted gas (LNG) supply will come online from 2027, later than the earlier projection of 2025, due to project hold-ups, TotalEnergies' Senior Vice President for LNG Gregory Joffroy said on Tuesday. On the mid-term (outlook), we see some LNG tasks that were due to come onstream in the coming months have actually been postponed. The precise start date will affect the gas balances and products, Joffroy stated at the Asia Gas Markets conference. On the long-lasting, it is clear that we will have a brand-new supply wave by 2027 (through to) 2030. In the U.S., a lack of knowledgeable labour, inflation from strong wage growth and devices scarcities have actually pushed LNG developers and postponed some jobs there, while President Joe Biden's January time out on approvals for brand-new LNG export tasks has also created unpredictability. Joffroy stated he anticipates LNG need to be greater in 2035 from current usage levels, as utilities that are still consuming coal will change to gas-fired power generation and with the advancement of renewables. With the development of renewables, people require a service to resolve intermittency concerns, and gas is a perfect solution.
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Bonds slide, Asia stocks down as US election looms
Asian stocks turned lower on Tuesday while bond yields and the dollar struck multimonth highs and gold traded near record peaks as investors hunkered down ahead of the U.S. election. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 3 basis points in Asia to 4.21%, extending a sharp relocation higher and hitting the greatest level considering that late July. U.S. and FTSE stock futures wobbled 0.2%. lower. European futures increased 0.1%. Investors also took some money off the table in Japan, which. has a general election showing up on Sunday with stocks, bonds. and the yen all falling in tandem as surveys have revealed the. possibility of the ruling coalition losing its majority. Japan's Nikkei was down 1.4% in afternoon trade to. touch its least expensive since early October, while the yen. hit 151 per dollar for the first time because July and bonds. tracked the selling in U.S. Treasuries. It's a little capital flight out of Japan, stated Naka. Matsuzawa, Japan macro strategist at Nomura. More broadly, he. said, markets were starting to speculate on a red sweep,. delivering Republicans the White House and Congress in November. It's not just Trump's policies, it's a greater probability. of Trump winning meaning that the Republicans dominate, he. stated. That rises term premiums and inflation expectations. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. was down 0.7% with benchmark indexes in. Australia and South Korea losing more than 1% China's markets were pinned well listed below recent highs while. traders await more information and specifically more government. seriousness and spending to support the ailing economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was near flat, while the. Shanghai Composite inched 0.2% greater. Hyundai Motor. India's shares fell 2% in a lukewarm launching, with retail. financiers staying away. WAITING VIDEO GAME Besides the yen, foreign exchange markets steadied after a. session of offering nearly whatever against the dollar. The. Australian and New Zealand dollars were each up about 0.5% on. the U.S. dollar while the euro and sterling rose 0.1%. The relocation pressed sterling back over $1.30, though. traders beware as Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is. due to speak at 1325 GMT and has just recently suggested the main. bank can move more strongly to cut rates of interest. Products stayed under pressure from expectations of. lacklustre Chinese demand and disappointment over the support. plans up until now exposed for China's economy. Iron ore costs fell. more than 1% in Singapore to $100.70 a ton, however. copper prices steadied. Oil rates likewise steadied and Brent unrefined futures. traded at $73.96 a barrel in Asia. China's oil-demand development is. anticipated to stay weak in 2025, the head of the International. Energy Firm stated on Monday. A fairly bare information calendar puts additional concentrate on U.S. earnings for insight into the economy and markets' state of mind. General Motors, Texas Instruments Verizon. , Lockheed Martin and 3M are among those. reporting on Tuesday. It's waiting game mode till we get some more information, said. ANZ strategist Jack Chambers, with U.S. jobs information on Nov. 1,. ahead of the election on Nov. 5 and the next Federal Reserve. decision, on Nov. 7, the significant marks in the diary.
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London copper gains as China hopes balanced out firmer dollar
London copper costs increased on Tuesday, as expectations of further stimulus steps and demand healing in leading customer China countered pressure from a firmer U.S. dollar. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME). increased 0.7% to $9,628 per metric lot by 0512 GMT after. striking a one-week high in the previous session. The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai. Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell 0.4% to 77,080 yuan. ($ 10,821.59) a lot. The U.S. dollar clung to two-and-half-month high, making. greenback-priced metals less appealing for holders of other. currencies. China lowered benchmark financing rates at the monthly repairing. on Monday, after reductions to other policy rates last month as. part of a plan of stimulus steps targeted at rejuvenating the. economy. Current data from China indicates a downturn in financial. development, highlighting the requirement for extra stimulus. steps. Copper stays a strategic material of which China has. limited domestic reserves, so their import levels are most likely to. stay elevated and fairly inelastic to prices, stated Daniel. Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ. Base metals are extensively utilized in sectors such as. building and construction and electronics, with China as the leading. consumer. Any procedures to improve the nation's economic development. might possibly increase need for physical metals. Further information surrounding China policy relieving at the. upcoming National Individuals's Congress (NPC) conference are likely to. be encouraging for base metals into year-end and early 2025,. experts at Citi said in a note. Meanwhile, China's refined copper output in September. remained at 1.14 million lots, up 0.4% from a year previously. LME aluminium rose 0.5% at $2,607.5 a heap,. nickel reduced 0.8% to $16,570, zinc climbed up. 0.6% to $3,092.5, lead was 0.6% higher at $2,069.5, and. tin was up 0.1% at $31,050. SHFE aluminium added 0.1% to 20,820 yuan a load,. nickel fell 1.7% to 126,790 yuan, zinc dipped. 1.1% to 25,000 yuan, lead advanced 0.2% to 16,785 yuan. while tin fell 1.1% to 253,170 yuan. For the leading stories in metals and other news, click. or
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China reveals first diagnosis standards to battle escalating obesity crisis
China's National Health Commission (NHC) published its very first set of standards to standardise the medical diagnosis and treatment of obesity, with more than half of China's adults currently obese and obese, and the rate anticipated to keep rising. The guidelines, revealed on Oct 17, come as China experiences an upward morbidity trend of its obese and obese population. The rate of obese or obese individuals could reach 65.3% by 2030, the NHC said. Weight problems has become a significant public health problem in China, ranking as the sixth leading danger element for death and disability in the country, the standards said. China is dealing with a twin challenge that feeds its weight problem: In a modernising economy underpinned by technological development, more tasks have ended up being fixed or desk-bound, while a. prolonged slowdown in growth is forcing people to embrace cheaper,. unhealthy diets. Job stress, long work hours and poor diet plans are growing high-. risk consider the cities, while in backwoods, farming. work is ending up being less physically demanding and inadequate. health care is causing poor screening and treatment of weight. issues, doctors and academics state. The standards provide guidance and policies consisting of in. medical nutrition, surgical treatment, behavioural and. mental intervention, and exercise intervention for. weight problems, Zhang Zhongtao, director of the guideline drafting. committee and deputy head of Beijing Friendship Health center told. the main Xinhua news firm. China's NHC and 15 other government departments in July. released public awareness efforts to eliminate weight problems. The. project, set to last for 3 years, is built around 8. mottos: lifelong dedication, active tracking, a well balanced. diet, exercise, good sleep, affordable targets and. household action. Health guidelines were dispersed to primary and secondary. schools in July urging regular screening, everyday workout, employing. nutritionists and executing healthy consuming practices-- consisting of. lowering salt, oil and sugar. Weight problems in China is an unexpected consequence of enhancing. living requirements in the country, Xinhua said, after China. had a hard time for centuries to feed its population and. under-nourishment was an authentic concern for lots of families before. the reform and opening-up in the late 1970s.
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VEGOILS-Palm oil increases on stronger competing oils
Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Tuesday, supported by strength in rival oils throughout over night and early morning session trades. The benchmark palm oil contract for January shipment on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 44 ringgit, or 1.02%, to 4,343 ringgit a metric load throughout the midday break. The gains seen in rival oilseeds throughout over night and early morning sessions trading supported palm rates, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said. Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 0.8%,. while its palm oil contract got 1.54%. Soyoil costs. on the Chicago Board of Trade, nevertheless, fell 0.14%. Palm oil tracks rate motions of competing edible oils, as. they complete for a share of the global vegetable oils market. The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, weakened 0.47%. against the dollar, making the commodity less expensive for buyers. holding foreign currencies. Oil rates fell, paring the previous day's nearly 2% rise as. the top U.S. diplomat restored efforts to push for a ceasefire in. the Middle East, and as slow demand in leading oil importer China. continued to weigh on the market. Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive alternative. for biodiesel feedstock.
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Oil rates dip as geopolitical dangers stabilise, China demand weighs
Oil rates alleviated on Tuesday as the leading U.S. diplomat renewed efforts to promote a. ceasefire in the Middle East and as slowing need growth in. China, the world's leading oil importer, continued to weigh on the. market. Brent unrefined futures for December delivery were down. 19 cents, or 0.3%, at $74.1 a barrel at 0350 GMT. U.S. West. Texas Intermediate unrefined futures for November shipment. were 18 cents lower at $70.43 a barrel on the agreement's last. day as the front month. The more actively traded WTI futures for December,. which will quickly become the front month, lost 14 cents, or 0.2%,. to $69.9 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI settled almost 2% greater on Monday,. recovering some of recently's more than 7% decline, without any. letup of combating in the Middle East and the market still. anxious about Israel's anticipated retaliation versus Iran. possibly causing a disruption of oil supply. Monday's gains can be attributed to technical profit-taking. and short covering offered oil's bearish trend with projections. pointing towards softer need and oversupplied oil markets,. stated Priyanka Sachdeva, senior expert at Phillip Nova, a. brokerage company. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the Middle. East on Monday seeking to revive talk with end the Gaza war and. defuse the spillover conflict in Lebanon. Crude oil prices have actually been fluctuating in response to blended. news from the Middle East, as the scenario alternates between. escalation and de-escalation, Satoru Yoshida, a commodity. expert with Rakuten Securities. The market is expected to increase if there are clearer signs. of China's financial recovery, bolstered by Beijing's stimulus. procedures and improvement in U.S. economy following rate of interest. cuts, he stated. However gains are most likely to be restricted by consistent. uncertainty about the overall worldwide economic outlook, he added. China on Monday cut benchmark financing rates as anticipated. at the regular monthly fixing, following reductions to other policy. rates last month as part of a package of stimulus measures to. revive the economy. The relocation follows data on Friday revealed China's economy. grew at the slowest rate considering that early 2023 in the third quarter,. fuelling growing issues about oil demand. China's oil-demand development is expected to remain weak in 2025. in spite of current stimulus steps from Beijing as the world's No. 2 economy energizes its vehicle fleet and grows at a slower rate,. the head of the International Energy Firm stated on Monday. Still, Saudi Aramco is fairly bullish on China's. oil need particularly in light of the federal government's stimulus. bundle which aims to increase development, the head of the state-owned. oil giant stated on Monday. Also adding to the down pressure on oil market was. the U.S. dollar strength driven by a gradual easing of international. inflation, Phillip Nova's Sachdeva stated. A more powerful dollar generally weighs on oil costs as it makes. the greenback-priced product more expensive for non-dollar. holders to purchase. U.S. crude oil stockpiles most likely rose last week, while. extract and gas stocks were seen down, a. initial Reuters poll showed on Monday.
China iron ore imports head for record even as steel output slips: Russell
China is on track to import record volumes of iron ore in October, increasing the divergence between the demand for the steel raw material and the still weak output of the finished product.
China, which purchases nearly three-quarters of international seaborne iron ore, is likely to import as much as 120 million metric lots this month, according to vessel-tracking and port data.
This would be a strong increase from the main customs number of 104.1 million loads in September, and also represent an all-time high, eclipsing the previous record of 112.7 million in July 2020.
The strength in iron ore imports stands in sharp contrast to the softness in steel production, which slid for a 4th consecutive month in September, dropping to 77.07 million loads, down 1.1% from August and 6.1% from the same month in 2023.
China's steel output for the very first nine months of the year was 768.48 million heaps, down 3.6% from the same period in 2023, according to information launched by the National Bureau of Stats last week.
If there is a positive from the September steel production information, it's that the pace of decline slowed from the 10.4%. on-year drop in August.
Whether the drop in steel output can be lifted to show an. boost in the next few months largely depends upon whether steel. mills see rising need on the back of Beijing's stimulus. efforts.
September was prematurely for any kick higher in steel need,. offered the major stimulus announcements were right before month. end.
However, if the procedures to enhance the ailing residential or commercial property sector. do flourish, it's likely to only result in a boost in. real need in 2025.
This makes the rush to purchase more iron ore appear rather. premature.
COST DRIVEN IMPORTS
October's imports are on track to reach 120.5 million heaps,. according to data put together by commodity experts Kpler, while. LSEG analysts expect arrivals of 117.3 million lots.
It's most likely that steel mills and traders took heart from the. stimulus efforts announced by Beijing, however lower spot rates for. iron ore may also have boosted buying.
The rate of Singapore Exchange agreements dropped. to the lowest in 22 months in September, hitting $91.10 a ton on. Sept. 10.
They then traded in a narrow variety around that level until. the end of the month, meaning that much of the iron ore showing up. in October would have been protected at reasonably low prices.
Iron ore prices did rise in the wake of the stimulus. announcements, reaching a three-month peak of $110.55 a ton on. Oct. 7, before alleviating back to end at $104.21 on Monday.
A more sober reflection of when China's stimulus is most likely. to really result in increased steel demand may have led to. iron ore costs moderating, however it deserves noting they have. still kept the majority of the gains made considering that the October low.
The danger is that the strong import volumes wind up being. added to stocks, which could function as a drag on additional price. gains even if steel output does start to recover.
Port inventories kept track of by experts SteelHome. << SH-TOT-IRONINV > increased in the week to Oct. 18, hitting 147.2. million loads, up from a five-month low of 145.8 million the. prior week.
Stockpiles have actually increased strongly in the previous 12 months, rising. from a seven-year low of 104.89 million lots in the last week of. October 2023 to a current high of 151.8 million in late July.
The opinions revealed here are those of the author, a. writer .
(source: Reuters)