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ADM closes soybean processing plant at Kershaw, South Carolina
Grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland will permanently close its soybean processing plant in Kershaw, South Carolina, later this spring as part of a cost-cutting and consolidation push announced earlier this year, the company confirmed to on Monday. ADM has cut jobs and downsized some operations ever since February, when it announced that it would be cutting costs by $500 to $700 millions over three to five year. Dane Lisser, ADM's spokesperson, said: "After exploring many alternatives, we have determined that our Kershaw crushing plant does not align with our future operating needs." Still reeling from a scandal that sent the stock price of the company plummeting last year, the company is now facing tough headwinds due to rising trade tensions with key markets, including China, which is a major soybean importer. According to sources in the industry, Kershaw will be closing as the first U.S. soya processing plant after a multi-year expansion of industry-wide facilities amid an escalating demand for vegetable oil from biofuels manufacturers. The biofuel sector, however, has recently slowed down production because of the uncertainty surrounding U.S. policy on biofuels and the possibility of a worsening trading war. According to industry sources, the Kershaw plant is one of the smaller soy processing plants operated by ADM. It has the capacity to crush up to 50,000 bushels per day. ADM has said that it will assist Kershaw employees in finding new jobs, and offer financial severance to those who choose to leave the company. However, the number of affected workers was not disclosed. According to South Carolina Department of Commerce statistics, the Kershaw plant employed 11 to 50 workers.
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Prosecutors say that a Russian attack killed one person in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
According to local prosecutors, Russian forces launched an attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv region in the northeast, Monday. One person was killed in a village near the border. According to a report posted on Telegram, which was released after a ceasefire of 30 hours announced by Moscow for Easter had expired, a Russian drone killed a man riding a scooter in Ivashki. The statement added that an artillery attack by the Russians hit a private home area in Kupiansk. This is a place where Russian military activity has increased in recent months. Kupiansk, which was captured by Ukrainian forces later in that year in a massive counter-offensive after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was initially occupied by Russian troops. At least once, Russian forces entered the city briefly. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Oleksandr Kozoukhar, Ron Popeski)
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US Antimony restarts Mexico Smelter Plant after Over a Year
United States Antimony Corp announced on Monday that it had restarted operations in its Madero plant in Mexico. This comes more than a year since the miner of critical minerals stopped operating in Latin America. Why it's important China has banned the export of critical minerals such as gallium, antimony and germanium to the United States. This is part of a escalating tech and trade war between two major economies. China is expected to produce almost half the world's supply of antimony by 2023. Prices of the mineral are soaring as a result of China's heavy export restrictions. This has disrupted global supply chains. U.S. president Donald Trump also pushed to increase domestic production of important minerals, such as antimony to counter China's near-total control in the sector. Minerals are widely used to make ammunition, infrared weapons, night-vision goggles and nuclear weapons, as well batteries and photovoltaic devices. CONTEXT United States Antimony announced in March of last year that it would cease all operations in Latin America, and sell its Mexican subsidiary. This decision was taken after a review of financial performance, negative cash flow of the unit and low prices of antimony. What's Next? The company announced that it had begun processing the antimony ore purchased from international sources in the Madero Smelter. Next week, the second and third shipments will also arrive at the facility. U.S. Antimony stated that it plans to produce approximately 200 tons of antimony each month at the Madero Smelter by the end of 2025. (Reporting and editing by Sahal Muhammad in Bengaluru, Vallari Srivastava from Bengaluru)
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The Russian Economy Ministry has cut its Brent price forecast for 2025 by almost 17%
According to documents obtained by, the Russian economy ministry's forecast for the average Brent crude price in 2025 has been cut by 17% compared to what they thought it would be in September. Interfax reported that in the ministry's baseline scenario for economic forecasts of 2025, the ministry assumes the average price of Brent to be $68 per barrel, down from $81.7 per barrel in its September predictions. The Ministry of Finance estimates that the price for Urals - Russia's main blend - is $56 per barrel - compared to the $69.7 barrel price on which Russia has based their budget 2025 - and lower than the $60 "cut-off" price, which determines the amount of money sent to the National Wealth Fund Reserve (NWF) budget reserve. In the baseline scenario, we assume at some point that the export price drops below the cutoff, but then goes up. In this scenario, we do not deplete our NWF," a ministry representative told Interfax. Oil and gas revenues account for a third (or more) of the budget. The representative said that "from a budgetary standpoint, these conditions are difficult, but normal." The Russian rainy day NWF is now the main source for financing Russia's persistent budget deficit. The liquid assets of the fund have fallen by two-thirds, from $112.7 to $39 billion. According to the new estimates, the rouble value of Russian oil has decreased by 21.5% to 5,281 Roubles per barrel compared to the previous forecast. In April, the Russian central bank had warned that due to a lower global demand, oil prices may be lower for several years than expected. Urals prices dropped to their lowest level since 2023 early April, trading at around $53 a barrel. They traded below $60 per barrel last week. The first quarter of this year saw Russia's oil revenues fall by 10% compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the average price for Urals in roubles since April began was 31% lower than the planned amount, forcing the government to sell foreign currency for first time. The ministry said that it did not expect a recession to occur due to the trade wars of U.S. president Donald Trump and believes global growth will be slightly higher than 2% this year. Interfax quoted the representative of the ministry as saying: "The world's still bigger than the United States. So some flows will be directed." The Ministry maintained its forecast of 2.5% for the gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Russia and raised its inflation forecast from 4.5% to 7.6%. The rouble is also expected to be stronger this year than it was previously forecasted, with an average of 94.3% of the dollar per rouble, compared to an earlier prediction of 96.5 roubles. (Written by Lidia Kelley in Melbourne and Gleb Brnski in Moscow, edited by Leslie Adler & Darlie Butler)
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Russia's Nornickel maintains 2025 nickel production forecast
Nornickel, a Russian company that is one of the largest nickel producers in the world and also the biggest palladium producer, maintained Monday its nickel production forecast for 2025 as 204,000-211,000 tons. The company reported that it produced 42,000 tonnes of nickel in 2025's first quarter, down 1.1% from the previous year. Palladium production fell 0.6%, to 741,00 ounces. The production of platinum increased by 0.6%, to 180,000 ounces. The company's Senior Vice-President Alexander Popov stated that the modest drop in nickel production was due to short-term scheduled repairs and maintenance. This was done to ensure a steady operation of its main technological units. Nornickel said that the decrease in nickel production is due to maintenance work at its various plants. Nornickel faces pressure in the domestic market due to the 40% rise of the rouble against the U.S. Dollar, which reduces revenues, and high interest rates which impact investment plans. The company faces falling or stagnating metal prices internationally due to lower demand in the wake of market turmoil triggered by U.S. president Donald Trump's tariffs. Nornickel may not be directly subject to Western sanctions but the measures have led some Western producers to refrain from buying Russian metal. They also complicate payments and restrict access to Western equipment. BCS analysts wrote in a report that they believe the threat of a global slowdown due to tariff wars would negatively impact the metals portfolio of the company. (Reporting and writing by Anastasia Lyrchikova; editing by Kirsten Doovan and Ros Russel)
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India imposes temporary tariffs of 12% on certain steel imports
A government notification announced that India had imposed a temporary tariff of 12%, known locally as a "safeguard duty", on certain steel products in order to curb unbridled imports. India, the second largest producer of crude iron and steel in the world, announced that the tariffs will be effective for 200 days starting Monday. The Ministry of Finance stated that "the safeguard duty imposed by this notification will be in effect for a period of 200 days (unless earlier revoked or modified) after the publication of the notification." India's steel tax increase is the first major trade policy decision since U.S. president Donald Trump imposed duties on a number of countries in April. New Delhi's tariffs primarily target China, the second largest steel exporter to India in 2024/25 behind South Korea. According to government data, India became a net steel importer for the second year in a row during the fiscal year 2024/25. Shipments reached a record high of 9 million metric tonnes, a figure not seen since the early 1990s. Steel Authority of India, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, and JSW Steel, New Delhi's largest steelmaking body, have raised concerns about imports. Reporting by Neha Misra and Surbhi Arora; Editing and Toby Chopra and Alison Williams
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In March, India's infrastructure production rose 3.8% year-on-year.
Government data released on Monday showed that India's infrastructure production grew by 3.8% in March, mainly due to strong steel and cement output. The infrastructure output (which tracks eight different sectors and accounts for 40% of industrial production in the country) grew by a revised 3,4% in February compared to an initial estimate of 2,9%. Cement production increased 11.6% in march, compared with a revised 10.8% rise in February. Steel production rose 7.1%, against a revised advance of 6.9% a month before. Fertilizer output grew by 8.8%, compared to 10.2% the month before. Coal production increased 1.6% compared to 1.7% in February. The electricity generation in March was 6.2% higher than the revised 3.6% growth in the previous month. Refined oil products were up 0.2% compared to 0.8% the month prior. In March, crude oil production fell 1.9% compared to a 5.2% decline in February. Natural gas production also declined 12.7% compared to a 6% decrease in February. The infrastructure output increased by 4.4% during the fiscal years 2024-25.
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Climate non-profits prepare for a fight with Trump on tax status
Non-profits in the United States that are focused on climate change prepare to fight against a possible action by the Trump Administration to revoke tax exemptions this week. Climate change groups have circulated memos in the last few weeks outlining the rumored executive action they expect from Donald Trump. This includes a change to IRS regulations to remove climate changes from the list of charitable topics that qualify and blocking the use U.S. grant funding to fund overseas projects. Concerns were raised after Trump made comments criticizing the charitable status granted to Harvard University. This was seen as an initial shot at other so-called "501(c3)" organizations, which are named after the section of the tax code exempting charities from income taxes. According to three non-profit leaders who participated, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Public Citizen hosted a Zoom call Friday to discuss ways charities can prepare themselves for a potential executive action. After the maximum of 5,000 people had signed up, the call was oversubscribed. Sandler Reiff, a political law firm, sent a memo on Friday to its clients in the non-profit sector and philanthropy to tell them to not panic if they are threatened with losing their tax exemption status or having international work frozen by the government. The memo said that the President cannot unilaterally revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization. It also stated that any executive orders that attempt to do this "doesn't have legal validity". Trump has been adamant about his antisemitism-free policy since his January inauguration. He has also moved swiftly to sidestep or undo environmental regulations, eliminate climate science research, and stop federal support for renewable energy. In a post on social media last week, Trump said he was weighing whether he should seek to end Harvard’s tax-exempt designation. The Trump administration has been threatening to halt climate change work by environmental groups and grant-making charities. The foundations that donate to charities have said they will fight any attempts to limit the amount of money they give. The MacArthur Foundation has committed to spending an additional $150 millions in charitable donations over the next two year. John Palfrey, the Foundation's president, told delegates in Britain that "we have more strength and protection than we realize" at a recent meeting of philanthropic organizations. Drop any restrictions that we believe we can. "Give gifts wherever you can." Lawrence Lessig is a Harvard Law School professor who said that any order to change the tax status of non-profits would be legally questionable. He said that there was no way a court could conclude that Trump had the authority to change the tax status for any organization without an investigation that began before Trump targeted that organization and determined that the organization violated the laws. (Reporting and editing by Peter Graff, Virginia Furness and Valerie Volcovici)
Post-COVID, China is back in Africa and doubling down on minerals
China's. flagship financial cooperation program is recuperating after a. lull during the international pandemic, with Africa a primary focus,. according to a analysis of loaning, financial investment and trade. information.
Chinese leaders have been citing the billions of dollars. devoted to brand-new building and construction jobs and record two-way trade. as proof of their commitment to assist with the continent's. modernisation and foster win-win cooperation.
But the information exposes a more intricate relationship, one that. is still mostly extractive and has actually up until now failed to live up to. a few of Beijing's rhetoric about the Belt and Roadway Initiative,. President Xi Jinping's method to develop a facilities. network connecting China to the world.
While new Chinese investment in Africa increased 114% last. year, according to the Griffith Asia Institute at Australia's. Griffith University, it was greatly focused on minerals. necessary to the international energy transition and China's plans to. revive its own flagging economy.
Those minerals and oil likewise controlled trade. As efforts. falter to improve other imports from Africa, including. agricultural items and made products, the continent's. trade deficit with China has ballooned.
Chinese sovereign loaning, once the main source of funding. for Africa's infrastructure, is at its least expensive level in 2. years. And public-private collaborations (PPPs), which China has. touted as its new favored financial investment lorry internationally, have. yet to gain traction in Africa.
The result is a more one-sided relationship than China. states it wants, one that is dominated by imports of Africa's raw. products and that some analysts argue contains echoes of. colonial-era Europe's economic relations with the continent.
This is something late-19th century Britain would. identify, stated Eric Olander, co-founder of the China-Global. South Project site and podcast.
China rejects such assertions.
Africa has the right, capability and knowledge to establish its. external relations and pick its partners, China's foreign. ministry wrote in action to ' concerns.
China's useful assistance for Africa's course of. modernisation in accordance with its own characteristics has. been welcomed by an increasing number of African countries.
A PIVOT WITH CAPACITY?
China's engagement in Africa, a focus of the Belt and Roadway. Effort (BRI), proliferated in the 2 years before the. COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese business constructed ports, hydropower. plants and railways throughout the continent, financed generally. through sovereign loans. Annual financing dedications peaked at. $ 28.4 billion in 2016, according to the Global China Effort. at Boston University.
However numerous tasks proved unprofitable. As some federal governments. had a hard time to pay back loans, China cut lending. COVID-19 then. pressed it to turn inward, and Chinese building tasks in. Africa fell.
A rebound in sovereign lending is not expected.
Policymakers in Beijing have actually instead been pressing Chinese. business to take equity stakes and run infrastructure they. construct for foreign governments. The goal, China experts say, is. to assist companies win higher-value contracts and, by giving them. skin in the game, guarantee the tasks are financially feasible.
Providing to Unique Function Vehicles (SPVs), possibly the most. typical methods of PPP facilities financial investment, has actually been growing. as a percentage of China's overseas loans, according to figures. shared solely with by AidData, a research study centre at. U.S. university William & & Mary.
The $668-million Nairobi Expressway, a public-private. collaboration developed and run by the state-owned China Roadway and. Bridge Corporation (CRBC), could be evidence of concept for the. model in Africa. Since it opened in August 2022, the toll road. has actually been enabling commuters to speed above the Kenyan capital's. notorious traffic snarls, beating profits and use targets.
Day-to-day average use in March was currently 57,000 vehicles,. surpassing a 2049 target of around 55,000 set by CRBC in a 2019. presentation on the job's financial viability seen by. .
However couple of business are following CRBC's example in Africa. While worldwide some 45% of Chinese non-emergency lending was to. SPVs from 2018 to 2021, the most current year for which AidData. figures are offered, the figure was only 27% for Africa.
Analysts point to a variety of likely reasons, consisting of a. lack of legal structures for PPPs in many African countries and. the view among some Chinese companies - many of them relative. newbies to PPPs - that African markets are dangerous.
China's foreign ministry did not straight attend to a request. for discuss the lower SPV figures for Africa. But it said the. federal government motivates Chinese business to actively establish new. modes of cooperation such as PPPs to bring more personal. financial investment to Africa.
GROWING ENGAGEMENT
The Griffith Asia Institute put China's overall engagement in. Africa - a mix of construction contracts and financial investment. commitments - at $21.7 billion in 2015, making it the biggest. regional recipient.
Information from the American Enterprise Institute, a. Washington-based think tank, showed financial investments hitting nearly. $ 11 billion in 2023, the highest level considering that it started tracking. Chinese financial activity in Africa in 2005.
Some $7.8 billion of that went to mining, like Botswana's. Khoemacau copper mine, which China's MMG Ltd purchased for $1.9. billion, and cobalt and lithium mines in countries including. Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The hunt for important minerals is driving facilities. building and construction too. In January, for example, Chinese business. pledged up to $7 billion in facilities financial investment under a. modification of their copper and cobalt joint venture arrangement with. Democratic Republic of Congo.
Western and Gulf powers are also racing to lead the world's. energy shift, with the United States and European. federal governments backing the Lobito Passage, a rail link to bring. metals from Zambia and Congo to Africa's Atlantic coast.
African leaders have actually struggled, nevertheless, to raise financing. for some other priority projects.
In spite of the success of the Nairobi Expressway, for instance,. deal with several Kenyan roadways stalled when the federal government ran out. of cash to pay the Chinese construction companies.
During a visit to Beijing last October, President William. Ruto requested for a $1 billion loan to finish the jobs.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, stated. conversations about the demand were ongoing. Kenya's finance. ministry did not react to an ask for comment.
The last phase of a train line intended to traverse Kenya. from its main port to the border with Uganda has been in similar. limbo since Chinese financing dried up in 2019. Uganda cancelled. the contract for its portion of the line in 2022, after Chinese. backers pulled out.
When inquired about the decline in loaning for African. facilities, Chinese authorities indicate a pivot to trade and. investment, arguing that BRI-generated trade increases Africa's. wealth and development.
Two-way trade reached a record $282 billion in 2015,. according to Chinese customs information. But at the very same time, the. value of Africa's exports to China fell 7%, mainly due to a. decrease in oil rates, and its trade deficit expanded 46%.
Chinese officials have actually sought to lighten the issues of. some African leaders.
At a summit in Johannesburg last August, Xi stated Beijing. would introduce efforts to support the continent's. manufacturing and agricultural modernisation - sectors African. policymakers consider key to closing trade spaces, diversifying. their economies and developing jobs.
China has likewise vowed to increase farming imports from. Africa.
Such efforts, for now, are coming up short.
With among Africa's largest trade deficits to China, Kenya. has actually been pushing to increase access to the world's. second-largest consumer market, just recently acquiring it for avocados. and seafood. But cumbersome health and health policies suggest. Chinese customers remain out of reach for lots of producers.
The Chinese market is a new one, stated Ernest Muthomi, CEO. of the Avocado Society of Kenya. It was a challenge due to the fact that you. need to set up the devices for fumigation.
Of 20 billion shillings ($ 150.94 million) worth of avocados. exported in 2015, simply 10% went to China.
In general, Kenyan exports to China tipped over 15% to $228. million, Chinese customizeds data showed, as a decrease in titanium. production led to a drop in shipments of the metal - a key. export to China.
But Chinese produced items kept coming.
That's not sustainable, stated Francis Mangeni, an advisor at. the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Unless African countries can include value to their exports. through increased processing and production, he stated, we are. simply exporting raw minerals to fuel their economy.
(source: Reuters)