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Entergy, the electric utility in South America, is looking to add more nuclear energy.
Entergy, the U.S. electric company, is planning to upgrade its existing nuclear plants in the South of the United States while considering advanced nuclear technology. This was announced by executives on Tuesday. In recent years, U.S. Nuclear Power, which is almost carbon-free, has become increasingly popular, especially as Big Tech struggles to balance its growing electricity demands with climate-driven energy commitments. Entergy announced on a conference call with investors that it recently completed a refueling shutdown at its River Bend Nuclear Plant and is planning work to clear the site for the expansion of the 967 megawatt St. Francisville plant in Louisiana by approximately 40 MW. The company plans to upgrade its fleet in order to add 275 MW nuclear power. The company has also obtained a permit to build a new reactor in Mississippi, and is currently in discussions with potential customers of the power produced by a possible plant. The United States has not tested advanced nuclear technologies like small modular reactors. Cost overruns have been common, and some nuclear projects were abandoned due to regulatory restrictions. Drew Marsh, CEO of Entergy, stated on the phone that Entergy tries to manage construction risks with any nuclear project. "We must be able solve the commercial question upfront to move nuclear forward at a faster pace," Marsh said. (Reporting and editing by Laila KEARNEY)
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Rwanda escorts Southern Africa soldiers from Congo to Tanzania
Rwanda escorted troops of Southern African force to Tanzania as they left eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, Rwanda's Foreign Minister and Army spokesperson announced. The Southern African Development Community, which is composed of 16 member states, announced in mid-March that it had ended the mission of its SAMIDRC force and was beginning a gradual withdrawal from Congo. The force was deployed to help Kinshasa fight rebel groups on the eastern borderlands of Congo in December 2023. This prompted protests from the Rwandan government who said that the deployment would worsen the conflict. The presence of SAMIDRC forces was always a complicating element in the conflict. Today's withdrawal is a positive step towards the peace process, said Rwandan Foreign Ministry Olivier Nduhungirehe on X. After Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, fell in February to M23 rebels supported by Rwanda, many SAMIDRC troops sought refuge in U.N. Peacekeeping bases. Ronald Rwivanga, a spokesperson for the Rwandan army, said that a portion had left on Tuesday and their convoy was expected to arrive in Tanzania "in a few hours". Witnesses reported that the Rwandan military police and army escorted 20 vehicles across the Congo border to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. Witnesses said that the convoy was carrying what looked like military equipment, along with Tanzanians and South African soldiers. The witness said that an ambulance in the convoy was marked with SAMIDRC and the drivers informed the bystanders that the vehicles were headed to Tanzania. M23 sources claim that only half the SAMIDRC forces in Goma had left Congo by Tuesday. He said the rest would be following later. M23 has taken control of eastern Congo's largest cities in January, escalating a conflict that began in Rwanda in 1994 and a struggle to control Congo's vast minerals resources. The offensive has caused thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee. Rwanda denies U.N. accusations that it supports the M23 militia with troops and arms, claiming its forces act in self-defence to defend themselves against Congo's military and affiliated militias. In March 2024, Rwanda requested that the African Union and their partners refrain from supporting SAMIDRC. They accused the force of fighting with a Congolese coalition which included fighters connected to the Rwandan genocide. Angola, Qatar and Congo have all tried to mediate the conflict but so far, they have failed. Congo and Rwanda, in an agreement signed last Friday in Washington, committed to a draft of a peace accord by May 2.
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Ghana arrests 3 Indians suspected of running a gold-smuggling network
The West African nation's gold trading regulator announced on Tuesday that three Indian nationals were arrested on suspicion of running a gold smuggling ring. Authorities believe the gang has been smuggling tons of gold out of Ghana for more than a decade. GoldBod spokesperson said that the three plead guilty to their charges and will be held in custody until May 12th, when a hearing is scheduled. Smuggling is responsible for the loss of billions of dollars worth of gold in Ghana and other African countries every year. In March, the country created a new government agency called GoldBod to increase small-scale miner's earnings and reduce smuggling. Foreign companies are only allowed to purchase precious metals from GoldBod under the new system. On X, the regulator reported that the suspects – aged 35, 22, and 42 – were arrested at their residence in Ghana’s southern city, Kumasi. Investigators claim this was converted into an illegal gold trading centre. GoldBod said it was also in possession of 1.9 millions cedis (134,000 dollars), 4,500 rupees (53 dollars), 4.363 kilograms gold, two counting machine, a CCTV recording, and an Indian passport. GoldBod was not given any proof of residence, work authorizations or tax payments by the suspects. GoldBod's spokesperson Prince Kwame minkah said, "Much of this smuggled Gold is exported to India and China. We lose," he added. $1 = 14.1450 Ghanian cedi and 85.1270 Indian Rupees (Reporting by Emmanuel Bruce, Editing by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila Anait Miridzhanian, Hugh Lawson).
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U.S. stock fluctuates, oil drops amid earnings and trade talks
Wall Street was in a state of flux on Tuesday, with gains and losses, as investors tried to balance corporate earnings, progress made by President Donald Trump’s multi-fronted tariff negotiations and the generally negative economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the way, while all three major U.S. indexes rose modestly. Canada's election was a rebuke of U.S. president Donald Trump's brutal trade policies and his comments about annexing Canada to become the 51st State in the United States. Tim Ghriskey is a senior portfolio strategist with Ingalls & Snyder, based in New York. "They will be very strict on trade issues. They're probably insulted that Trump wants them to be the 51st State. Ghriskey said, "I hope the rhetoric coming out of the White House subsides." U.S. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent stated on Tuesday that tariff talks were ongoing. He said that Beijing was responsible for the U.S. China trade negotiations and that he did not expect any disruptions to supply chains as a result of these disputes. According to two sources with knowledge of the situation, China has excluded ethane imports from its 125% tariff, the latest indication that the tariff situation remains fluid. This week, the first-quarter reporting period is in full swing. This week, four of the "Magnificent 7" artificial intelligence megacap stocks are expected to release their results: Meta Platforms (Microsoft), Apple, and Amazon.com. Consumer confidence has deteriorated more than expected, and the number of job openings is down 3.9%. Ghriskey stated that "consumer confidence has also dropped significantly." He added, "I think there's a lot of nervousness in the economy because of these trade issues and tariff issues." "There will be some pain at the consumer level." The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 225.92, or 0.56 percent, to 40.453.51. The S&P 500 gained 10.79, or 0.19 percent, to 5,539.54. And the Nasdaq Composite increased by 13.18, or 0.07 percent, to 17.378.36. Investors pared back initial gains in European shares as they scrutinized corporate earnings and kept an eye on tariff developments. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 2.26 points or 0.27% to 829.47. The pan-European STOXX 600 Index rose 0.38% while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 Index rose 8.18 points or 0.39%. Emerging market stocks increased 4.72 points or 0.43% to 1,107.28. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan closed up by 0.34%, at 575.73. Japan's Nikkei gained 134.25, or 0.38% points, to 35,839.99. The dollar rose after Bessent made his comments about progress in trade negotiations, but it was still on track to record its largest two-month drop in over 20 years. The Canadian loonie weakened against the dollar after the Liberals of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney retained power following the election on Monday. This was fueled by the backlash from Trump's tariffs, and his comments about Canada becoming the 51st State. The dollar index (which measures the greenback versus a basket including the yen, the euro and other currencies) rose by 0.12%, to 99.16. However, the euro fell by 0.21%, at $1.1397. The dollar gained 0.11% against the Japanese yen to 142.18. The dollar fell 0.31%, to $1.3397. The Mexican peso rose 0.03% against the dollar to 19.586. The Canadian dollar fell 0.22% against the greenback, to C$1.39 a dollar. The yields on U.S. Treasury 10-year bonds fell for the sixth consecutive day, reaching a new three-week-low following weaker than expected economic data. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10 year notes dropped 3.7 basis points from 4.216% to 4.179% late on Monday. The 30-year bond rate fell 2.9 basis point to 4.6636%, from 4.693% at the end of Monday. The yield on the 2-year bond, which is usually in line with expectations of interest rates for the Federal Reserve (Federal Reserve), fell by 2.5 basis points, to 3.66% from 3.685% at late Monday. Oil prices fell as Trump's multi-fronted trade war increased the probability of a global recession, and fuelled fears that demand would be dampened. U.S. crude dropped 1.93%, to $60.85 per barrel. Brent was down to $64.54 a barrel on the same day. The dollar gained in value, while gold prices declined. Spot gold dropped 0.9% to $3.311.29 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures dropped 0.69% to an ounce of $3,310.00.
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Companies count the costs of blackouts in Spain and Portugal
Business associations and companies started counting the costs as factories, hotels, and stores in Spain and Portugal slowly returned to normal after the massive blackout of the previous day. CEOE, the main Spanish business lobby, estimated that the outage could shave off 1.6 billion euro ($1.82 billion) or 0.1% of gross domestic product. They noted it would take a week or longer for oil refineries to fully resume their operations, and some industrial ovens were damaged. The meat industry estimates losses up to 190 millions of euros due to the loss of power in fridges, among other things. In some parts of Spain, the blackout lasted for more than 12 hour. The sector's association ANGED reported that most food stores operated normally on Tuesday. However, they were still assessing the amount of produce that had gone bad, or how much money had been lost due to card payment systems going offline and ATMs being out of service. Not everyone had the cash to purchase water, canned foods, flashlights and radios. Bank of Spain has confirmed that payments via card have resumed and ATMs are working. Volkswagen's Navarra plant, which employs 4,600 workers, only resumed production at 2.30 p.m. Tuesday, as the industry was facing some of its biggest challenges. A company spokesperson confirmed that the factory had lost about 1,400 vehicles since Monday. Volkswagen's Spanish SEAT brand also reported that production at its Barcelona factory, where 14,000 workers work, had not been fully restored after the power was restored at 1 am local time. Other sectors such as Spain’s vital tourism industry were mostly unaffected. The telecommunications failure has created a "very complex situation", said Jorge Marichal, the chairman of Spain's Hotel Association CEHAT. Many guests sought refuge in hotels. He said that we had a good occupancy rate and were able to assist some public agencies who requested help in accommodating people. Some companies, hoping for a quick fix to the blackout kept their staff on site for hours. Others, like industrial manufacturer Thune Eureka, in northern Spain sent workers home earlier during the blackout. The company's president, Adrian Garcia Aranyos said that his head of IT was a former power grid supervisor in Venezuela, and this had given them an unexpected advantage. "He knew that it would take at least eight... He said that we made a quick decision because of him after an hour without power. $1 = 0.8771 Euros (Reporting and Editing by Andrei Khalip, Barbara Lewis, Aislinn laing, Jesus Aguado)
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Grangemouth Oil Refinery in Scotland ends crude processing and redundancies begin
The operator of Scotland's sole oil refinery, Petroineos, said in a press release that the facility has ceased processing crude oil as of Tuesday. It is now converting to an import terminal. Petroineos (a joint venture between Ineos founded by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and Chinese state-owned PetroChina) confirmed in September the Grangemouth refinery will cease production in the second half of 2025. Iain Hardie is the region head for legal and external affairs of Petroineos. He said that the company had invested 67.06 millions pounds (50 million pounds) to convert to an import terminal. Petroineos announced that it would close the refinery due to losses of around $5000 per day. It also said the refinery was no longer competitive with other sites, such as those in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Grangemouth is Britain's oldest refinery. Closures are being made in Europe due to a decline in refining capacity as companies look to convert or close oil refining assets. Shell will also close its German Wesseling Refinery in this year. Unite has announced that the first round of layoffs at Grangemouth is underway. Petroineos reported in September that as part of the closure of Grangemouth, the number employees was expected to drop from just 75 to 475. Sharon Graham, Unite's general secretary, said: "Highly-skilled and well-paid workers were thrown onto an industrial trash heap." Hardie, from Petroineos, said: "Our colleagues showed incredible commitment, dignity, and resilience throughout the months of uncertainty about the future of this plant, during the consultation period, the phased shutdown, and the beginning of refinery decommissioning." Unite, however, said that the UK government did not do enough in the short-term to protect jobs. The Grangemouth refinery was primarily responsible for processing crude oil from the North Sea. It is connected to the Forties Pipeline System. According to Kpler, a global provider of real-time analytics and data, it also imports crude oil by sea to the Finnart Terminal, where the last shipment from Algeria arrived on 7 March.
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John Paulson, a billionaire investor, believes that gold will be near $5,000 in 2028.
In an interview, John Paulson, a billionaire investor who has reaffirmed his commitment to U.S. mine projects, said that central bank gold purchases and global trade tensions will likely push bullion to prices near $5,000 per ounce by the year 2028. Gold reached a record-high just above $3.500 last week, and banks are now increasing their estimates. Deutsche Bank, for example, believes that bullion will reach $3,700 per ounce next year. Paulson, who is already the largest shareholder of Idaho gold and antimony developer Perpetua Resources in Alaska, bought last week a 40% stake from Barrick in NovaGold’s Donlin project. When asked where he expected bullion to go, Paulson quoted a recent estimate that he received for levels in the "high $4,000" range within three years. "It is a well-informed forecast." Paulson stated, "I think that number is reasonable." "Central banks and the public are looking to invest their money in more stable sources... "I think that gold will continue to increase in importance around the globe," he said. The New York-based investment cited the Western confiscation after Moscow invaded Ukraine of Russia's holdings of foreign reserves as a catalyst to get central banks around the world - and especially China - to buy gold. Paulson stated that "when the war began, (Russian) kept their gold reserves, which were safe, but their cash – the paper reserve – was confiscated." "So, that made other central banks wake up and ask... "What happens if there is a conflict with America? "Would the U.S. be able to keep our treasuries and our savings disappear?" Paulson stated. He said that the global trade uncertainty, which is fueled by Washington's new tariffs in part, further supports gold. The best option if you lose faith in the dollar (U.S.), is to use gold as a currency reserve, said Paulson. He was being considered for a position in Donald Trump's cabinet during his second term. Paulson refused to disclose details of his conversations with Trump. However, he said that the president was "very pro-America first, the golden age of America and bringing manufacturing, mining and other industries back to America." Paulson has been investing in gold for many years and has said that he is not interested in expanding his investments into other metals or copper. He said that other minerals were a different world and they are not where he wants to focus his efforts. Paulson, the largest shareholder of Perpetua in Idaho, has been receiving support from Trump's White House. Perpetua received its federal mining license in January and is now applying for funding through the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Perpetua’s gold production has been seen as a financial boost to the mine’s antimony production, and ensures a domestic supply for the Pentagon of the metal used in bullets and weaponry. China has banned antimony exports from the U.S. Perpetua works with Sunshine Silver & Refining, backed by Thomas Kaplan’s Electrum Group, to build an antimony refining facility. Sunshine has permits to build a refinery that would meet 40% of the country's antimony needs. Kaplan said that the process of refinement was well established. "We are just upgrading it, and putting it into production." Paulson stated that the Donlin Project in Alaska has been granted federal permits. Paulson also said operating costs should be around $1,000 per ounce, which is far below the current gold price. Paulson and Electrum have also invested in International Tower Hill which is developing a gold mine in Alaska, as well Trilogy Metals which aims at developing projects in Alaska's Ambler District.
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Ecolab confirms its annual profit forecast despite tariffs and a weak quarter
Ecolab, a water solutions company, kept its annual profit outlook unchanged on Tuesday in spite of tariff uncertainty and lower first-quarter revenues and profits. This sent its shares up 1.7%. The company that offers water services such as cleaning, sanitization and cooling to many industries still expects to see earnings grow between 12% and 15% this year. Ecolab uses its diverse supply chain and its 'local-for-local' production model, as well as a recently announced surcharge of 5% on all products and services sold in the U.S., to minimize tariff impact. The tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on his trade partners and the retaliatory measures taken by other countries, such as China have raised concerns that raw materials and equipment prices for companies like Ecolab could increase. The company's sales for the first quarter fell by 1.5% compared to a year earlier, reaching $3.69 billion. This was due to the sale of its surgery unit announced in 2013 and the weak demand from customers. The company reported a profit of 402.5 million dollars, or 1.41 cents per share for the quarter ending March 31. This compares to $412.1 millions, or 1.43 cents per share a year earlier. Saint Paul, Minnesota based company also predicted current quarter adjusted profits between $1.84 and $1.94 each share. According to data compiled from LSEG, analysts were expecting $1.90 a share. (Reporting and editing by Sahal Muhammad in Bengaluru, Katha Kalia from Bengaluru)
World Bank expects commodity prices to fall back to levels before COVID
The World Bank forecast on Tuesday that a weakening of global growth, due to trade tensions, will drive global commodity prices down by 12% in 2020 and another 5% to their lowest levels in the 2000s.
According to the latest Commodity Markets Outlook Report from the development lender, inflation-adjusted commodity prices will fall to their average 2015-2019 in the next two year, bringing an end to the price boom fuelled by the COVID-19 recovery and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 2022.
This decline may moderate the inflation risks that are associated with new U.S. trade barriers and steep tariffs, but could also have adverse consequences for developing countries that export commodities.
Indermit Gil, World Bank's Chief Economist, said that higher commodity prices were a boon to many developing countries. Two-thirds are exporters of commodities. Now we are seeing the most volatile price levels in over 50 years. "The combination of low prices and high price volatility spells trouble."
He said that these countries should liberalize their trade wherever possible, restore fiscal discipline, and create an environment more friendly to business in order to attract private investment.
The World Bank reported that while rising energy prices contributed to global inflation by more than 2 percentage points in 2022 but felling prices in 2023-2024 helped moderate it.
The report predicted that energy prices will fall by 17%, to the lowest level they have been in five years. They are then expected to drop another 6% between 2026 and 2026.
Brent crude is expected to average $64 a barrel by 2025, a $17 decline from 2024, and $60 a bar in 2026, amidst abundant supply and declining demand. This is partly due to China's rapid adoption of electric cars, the largest auto market in the world. Brent traded at $64.80 per barrel in the early hours of Tuesday.
As coal consumption in developing countries slows, the price of coal is expected to drop by 27% in 2025.
Food prices will also be expected to fall, by 7% by 2025, and another 1% in the following year. However, this won't do much to alleviate food insecurity in some of those countries that are most vulnerable, as humanitarian aid is cut back and armed conflict fuels acute hunger.
According to the World Bank report, gold prices will likely set a record in 2025 due to investors seeking safe havens in an uncertain world. However, they predict that price stabilization in 2026. (Reporting and editing by Andrea Ricci; Reporting by David Lawder)
(source: Reuters)