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Sources say that Indian Oil purchases Russian crude oil from entities not sanctioned by the United Nations.
Indian Oil Corp, the top refiner in India, has purchased five cargoes from non-sanctioned companies for delivery in December. Traders said that India had resumed purchases despite Washington's pressure to stop purchasing Russian oil. Washington imposed sanctions last week on Rosneft, and Lukoil - the two largest Russian oil companies - in an effort to increase pressure on President Vladimir Putin for the end of the war in Ukraine. Since then, Indian refiners, including the state-run Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd. and Reliance Industries (the operator of the largest refining facility in the world) have stopped buying Russian oil. Anuj Jain is the head of finance at IOC. He has stated that his company will buy Russian oil as long as it is in compliance with the sanctions. The European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) and the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia, including those that affect shipping, for its involvement in the Ukraine conflict. The sanctions forced Russia to offer its oil at steep discounts. India is now the largest buyer of Russian crude oil by sea. One of the sources in the trade said that IOC had purchased about 3.5 millions barrels of ESPO for delivery to an eastern Indian port by December at a price similar to Dubai's. One of the sources said that they did not know who the sellers were. IOC didn't immediately respond to an outside-of-working hours request for comment. The majority of Russian ESPO crude oil exports from Kozmino, a port on the Pacific coast, are usually shipped to China. The demand for ESPO crude from China has decreased after U.S. sanctioned state refiners stopped purchasing, and independent Chinese refineries have used up their import quotas. The price of ESPO has dropped, which makes it more attractive to Indian buyers.
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Iron ore prices fall on rising stocks and falling demand; weekly and monthly gains are expected
Iron ore futures fell on Friday due to dwindling Chinese demand and increasing inventories. However, hopes for a trade agreement between the two largest economies in the world kept prices on course for weekly and month gains. As of 0148 GMT on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most traded January iron ore contract fell 0.93% and was trading at 797 yuan (111.89 dollars) per metric ton. This is a rise of 3.3% for this week. As of 13.8 GMT, the benchmark December iron ore price on the Singapore Exchange dropped 0.61% to $100.8 per ton. This is a 2% increase for this week. Both benchmarks saw a gain of around 2% in the month of March on optimism for a trade agreement during a Thursday meeting between U.S. president Donald Trump and his Chinese equivalent, Xi Jinping. After the meeting, Trump stated that he and Xi had agreed to lower tariffs against China in exchange for Beijing crackingdown on the illicit fentanyl traffic, resuming U.S. soya bean purchases, and maintaining rare earths exports. First Futures analysts said that the macro-driven driving forces have receded since the Trump-Xi summit. Investors shifted their focus to the weakening fundamentals in the steel-making ingredient, as the macro boost was fully priced. Data from Mysteel revealed that the average daily hot metal production, which is a measure of iron ore consumption, dropped 1.5% on a week-on-week basis to 2,36 million tons by October 30. Portside inventories increased 0.8% during this period. A Friday official survey revealed that the decline in China's manufacturing activity for the seventh consecutive month, October, was also pushing up prices. Coke and coking coal, which are used to make steel, both rose by 1.04% apiece. The Shanghai Futures Exchange saw a decline in most steel benchmarks. Rebar fell 0.19%, while hot-rolled coils dropped 0.21%. Stainless steel dropped 0.43%. Wire rod gained 0.12%.
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Australian shares snap a three-day losing streak as Banks and miners drive the Australian share price upwards
Australian shares rose Friday, ending three consecutive sessions of losses. Banks and miners saw gains, while Origin Energy shares fell to a new two-month-low after the company reported a sequential decline in its first quarter revenue. By 0004 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 0.5% to 8,930.80. The benchmark closed Thursday 0.5% lower. Origin, a power producer, was one of the biggest losers in the benchmark index after it reported a 12% decline in revenue from its stakes in the Australia Pacific LNG Project. This was due to lower LNG prices and volumes. The firm's shares fell 6.3% to A$11.81 in their lowest trading session since April 7. Separately shares of insurance broker Steadfast Group were the biggest losers on the benchmark index, dropping up to 18.9% to A$5.03, their lowest level since November 16, 2022. After the company's bell rang on Thursday, Robert Kelly, its CEO and managing director, announced that he would temporarily step down from his position while an investigation was conducted by an outside party into a complaint lodged against him. On the local stock exchange, the banks rose 0.8% while the "Big Four", which includes the four largest banks, rose between 0.1% to 1.3%. Gold miners rose on the backs of higher gold prices, which boosted their gains by 1.2%. The shares of gold miners Evolution Mining (up 3.5%) and Northern Star Resources (up 3.8%) rose respectively. JB Hi Fi continued to fall for the second consecutive session. The firm had posted on Wednesday a dramatic sequential decline in sales growth for its Australia and New Zealand segment in the first quarter. Shares of Mayne Pharma, a potential acquirer, fell to their lowest intraday performance ever after it was revealed that Australia's Treasurer would block the A$672 ($436.67$) takeover. The benchmark S&P/NZX50 index in New Zealand rose 0.4% to 13,509.0.
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Hastings, Australia, to negotiate an offtake agreement with Ucore on Yangibana Project
Hastings Technology Metals, an Australian company, announced on Friday that its Yangibana joint-venture project in Western Australia had agreed to negotiate a possible offtake agreement with Ucore Rare Metals Inc. of North America. The Yangibana project for rare-earths, niobium, and other metals is a joint-venture with Wyloo Metals of Andrew Forrest, who holds 60%, and Hastings Rare-Earths, which has the remaining 40% via its subsidiary Yangibana Jubilee. Hastings CEO Vince Catania said, "The joint assessment of a downstream Hydromet facility in the U.S. shows the efforts made by Wyloo Ucore and Hastings for accessing the financing and commercial opportunity arising from a rare-earths agreement recently announced by the U.S. government and Australian government to support jointly "ready to go "projects." The deal could cover up to 37,000 tonnes of high-grade rare earth concentrate per year, while both parties evaluate the feasibility of building an downstream hydrometallurgy facility in Louisiana. Hastings stated in a press release that the parties would work to execute a definitive agreement. This is expected be finalised by June 2026. If the current momentum continues, shares of the Australian developer of rare-earths could rise as high as 19.3% and reach A$0.68. This would be their best session in over a week.
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SK Innovation expects Q4 margins to be resilient
SK Innovation Co Ltd, the owner of South Korea’s largest refiner SK Energy said on Friday that it expects the refining margins to remain stable in the fourth-quarter amid global supply disruptions as well as the onset winter peak demand. The company reported an operating loss of 423 billion won in the period July-September, but a profit of 573 trillion won for that same period. This compares to an analyst's average forecast of 304 billion dollars in profit. The third-quarter revenue increased 16.3%, to 20.5 trillion won, from the same period last year. SK On, a battery supplier to Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen and Hyundai Motor, among others, increased its operating loss from 66.4 billion won to 124.8 billion in the third quarter. This was due to a slowdown in EV batteries shipments. SK Innovation stated in a press release that the performance of its battery unit in the third quarter was affected by lower sales of batteries, which were affected by the phase out subsidies for battery powered vehicles in the United States. In September, SK On entered into a contract with U.S. based Flatiron Energy Development for the supply of lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP) for energy storage systems. This was its first order to use LFP batteries in ESS. SK's agreement echoes a growing trend of EV battery manufacturers expanding into energy storage to hedge against the slowdown in EV batteries demand. On Thursday, LG Energy Solution, SK On’s rival across the street from it in South Korea said that they expect U.S. EV batteries sales to decrease this year compared to a year earlier. After the earnings announcement, shares of SK Innovation rose 0.2%, compared to the benchmark KOSPI which grew by 0.3%.
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The strong dollar and ample supply of oil weigh on the price of crude oil, which is expected to fall for a third consecutive month.
The oil prices fell on Friday and are heading towards a third consecutive monthly decline as the stronger dollar has capped gains in commodities, while a rising global supply from major producers offsets the effect of Western sanctions against Russian exports. Brent crude futures fell 33 cents or 0.51% to $64.67 per barrel at 0027 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was $60.22 per barrel, down by 35 cents or 0.58%. In a recent note, ANZ analysts stated that a stronger USD impacted investor appetite for commodities. The greenback gained after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated on Wednesday that a rate reduction in December is not guaranteed. Brent and WTI prices are expected to drop by about 3% this October, as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers will be increasing production to gain market shares. The increased supply will also help to cushion the impact on Russian oil exports, which are currently restricted by Western sanctions. These include China and India. Sources familiar with the discussions said that OPEC+ was leaning toward a modest increase in output for December. The group will meet on Sunday. Eight OPEC+ member countries have increased their monthly production targets by a combined total of 2.7 million barrels a day - about 2.5% global supply – in a series. The data released by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative on Wednesday showed that crude exports in August from Saudi Arabia, which is the world's top oil exporter, reached a six-month record of 6.407 millions barrels per day. They are expected to continue rising. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA), in a report, also reported a record production of 13,6 million bpd for the week. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that China had agreed to start the process of buying U.S. Energy. He added that an extremely large transaction could take place regarding the purchase of oil from Alaska. Analysts are unsure whether the U.S. - China trade agreement will increase Chinese demand for U.S. Energy. Michael McLean, Barclays' analyst, said that Alaska produces less than 3% of the total US crude output. "We think Chinese purchases would likely be driven by market forces," he wrote in a Barclays note. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Florence Tan)
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Australian shares snap a three-day losing streak as Banks and miners drive the Australian share price upward
Australian shares rose Friday, ending three consecutive sessions of losses. Banks and miners saw gains, while Origin Energy shares fell to a new two-month-low after the company reported a sequential decline in its first quarter revenue. By 0004 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 0.5% to 8,930.80. The benchmark closed Thursday 0.5% lower. Origin, a power producer, was one of the biggest losers in the benchmark index after it reported a 12% decline in revenue from its stakes in the Australia Pacific LNG Project. This was due to lower LNG prices and volumes. The firm's shares fell 6.3% to A$11.81 in their lowest trading session since April 7. Separately shares of insurance broker Steadfast Group were the biggest losers on the benchmark index, dropping up to 18.9% to A$5.03, their lowest level since November 16, 2022. After the company's bell rang on Thursday, Robert Kelly, its CEO and managing director, announced that he would temporarily step down from his position while an investigation was conducted by an outside party into a complaint lodged against him. On the local stock exchange, the banks rose 0.8% while the "Big Four", which includes the four largest banks, rose between 0.1% to 1.3%. Gold miners rose on the backs of higher gold prices, which boosted their gains by 1.2%. The shares of gold miners Evolution Mining (up 3.5%) and Northern Star Resources (up 3.8%) rose respectively. JB Hi Fi continued to fall for the second consecutive session. The firm had posted on Wednesday a dramatic sequential decline in sales growth for its Australia and New Zealand segment in the first quarter. Shares of Mayne Pharma, a potential acquirer, fell to their lowest intraday performance ever after it was revealed that Australia's Treasurer would block the A$672 ($436.67$) takeover. The benchmark S&P/NZX50 index in New Zealand rose 0.4% to 13,509.0.
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Electric vehicles end China's annual holiday spike in gasoline consumption
Tianyu Jiang drove his electric car from the southwest Sichuan basin in China to Beijing during the national holiday week this month. "I used a petrol vehicle and never took an EV on such a long trip. But driving an EV over a distance doesn't seem like a problem any more," Jiang said. The expansion of the charging infrastructure has helped to reduce the use of gasoline during the "Golden Week" holiday in October. According to Chinese consultancy Sublime China Information, China's gas demand has fallen by 9% on an annual basis in October, to 12.5 millions tons. The average daily consumption is roughly the same as September. The sagging holiday demands are symptomatic for the broader decline of Chinese fuel consumption due to the wider adoption of EVs, which signals the end of China's decades-long role of being the primary driving force behind new global oil demand. The peak in gasoline consumption was reached in 2023 in the world’s largest importer of crude oil. According to the research division of the state oil company Sinopec, the demand is expected to drop by more than 4% in this year compared with 2024. During the nine-month period of this year, EVs accounted for almost half of new car sales. Transport ministry reports that a fifth of the 63.5 millions car trips made during the eight-day break was in hybrid or electric vehicles. The daily use of electricity at charging stations - a proxy for the use of EVs - increased by 45,73% during Golden Week in this year compared to 2024. China's drive to build charging infrastructure has led to a 54.5% increase in the number of charging ports at the end September. Jiang said that both charging and refuelling during peak travel times means waiting. If you need to charge your car, you can find a charging station within 10km (6 miles) of the highway. It's also cheap. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez in Beijing, Sam Li and Lewis Jackson)
Serious cold forces Trump inauguration inside your home, very first time in 40 years
Presidentelect Donald Trump's inauguration will happen inside the U.S. Capitol on Monday rather than outdoors due to the fact that of serious cold, the very first time in 40 years that U.S. governmental inaugural ceremonies will be moved inside.
There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Nation. I don't desire to see people injured, or injured, in any way, Trump stated on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
For that reason, I have actually purchased the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be provided in the United States Capitol Rotunda, Trump added.
The last time an inauguration was moved indoors because of the bitter cold was in 1985 for former Republican politician President Ronald Reagan's second swearing-in when the afternoon wind chill fell into the variety of minus 10 to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit ( minus 23 to minus 29 degrees Celsius).
The forecast for Washington on Monday is for a temperature level at the time of Trump's swearing-in around 19 F (minus 7 C) but it is expected to feel even cooler with wind chill.
Trump said fans can see the event on screens inside the Capital One Arena, an expert basketball and hockey place in downtown Washington that holds 20,000 people.
He said his governmental parade, which was set to include marching bands and other groups proceeding down Pennsylvania Opportunity to the White House, will be changed to Capital One Arena. It was not right away clear how a parade would be organized inside the sports location.
Trump stated he would join the crowd at the arena after being sworn in.
NO CROWD-SIZE COMPARISONS THIS TIME
The switch suggests there will be no contrasts of Trump's. crowd size to previous inauguration events. After his first. swearing-in, in 2017, the Republican Trump was exasperated by. media reports suggesting the crowd on the National Shopping mall was far. smaller than the one that saw former Democratic President Barack. Obama initially take the oath of workplace in 2009.
The change in strategies will considerably decrease the number of people. able to watch the event face to face. Much of the more than. 220,000 ticketed visitors who had been due to view from the U.S. Capitol premises will be unable to view the swearing-in inside. the structure.
In addition, 250,000 unticketed members of the public were. forecasted to stand on the National Shopping center for the outdoor. event, according to an authorization released to Trump's inaugural. committee by the National Park Service. Simply a fraction of that. number will fit into the Capital One Arena.
School secretary Tammy Matte, her pastor hubby Paul and. their high school child Michael had tickets provided by their. regional congressman however canceled the trip from Laurel, Mississippi. after discovering they would not see Trump in person.
Matte, 58, stated they were no longer prepared to do the. nearly 1,000-mile automobile trip to Washington. We don't feel it's. worth it not to see the ceremony face to face, Matte stated.
The National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall,. did not immediately say whether crowds will still be permitted on. the Shopping mall to watch the indoor ceremony on giant video screens. already in location.
Trump is because of hold a rally with advocates inside the. Capital One Arena on Sunday, the eve of his inauguration.
Alexi Worley, a representative for the law enforcement. agencies charged with inauguration security, stated the U.S. Trick. Service was working carefully with Trump's inauguration committee. and the congressional committee in charge of the swearing-in. ceremony to adapt our security prepares as required due to the. expected harsh weather condition.
WINTER CHILL AN INAUGURAL CUSTOM
Frigid weather has actually featured at numerous a previous inauguration. Temperature levels for Obama's first inauguration in 2009 were likewise. cold, increasing to around 29 F (minus 1.5 degrees C).
William Henry Harrison, the ninth U.S. president, delivered. the longest inaugural address on March 4, 1841, in wet and cold. conditions without a hat or topcoat.
That occasion and speech were believed to have actually added to. his later succumbing to pneumonia. He passed away one month after. taking office, making his presidency the shortest in American. history.
Throughout the second swearing-in ceremony for President Ulysses. S. Grant on March 4, 1873, numerous cadets and midshipmen. standing outside without overcoats collapsed and gusting winds. made Grant's address inaudible to even those near to him on the. platform, according to a history published by the National. Weather condition Service. The morning low temperature of 4 F
(source: Reuters)