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Sources say that the Russian Tyumen oil refinery stopped operations on July 25, after a drone attack.
Two industry sources confirmed on Tuesday that the?Tyumen?oil refinery in western Siberia stopped oil processing on 25 July following an attack by a Ukrainian drone. The domestic fuel market has been experiencing a worsening shortage since May when Ukraine intensified its attacks on oil refineries to undermine Russia's military efforts. Local Russian authorities said on Saturday that an 'Ukrainian drone attack' sparked the fire at a refinery located more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles), from Ukraine. Sources said that following the attack, a diesel hydrotreater as well as a unit for producing high-octane gas caught fire. The sources declined to give a timeframe for when the refinery could be back in operation. RI-Invest?which owns?the refinery?did not immediately respond?to a request for a comment. The refinery's nominal capacity is around?9 millions metric tons annually, or 180,000 barrels a day. According to estimates, it processes approximately 6 million?tons crude oil annually and produces?about 0.5million?tons gasoline and 2.8million tons diesel. (Reporting and Editing by Jan Harvey).
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The Fed's rate decision is in the spotlight as gold falls against a dollar that remains firm
Investors waited for the Federal Reserve to announce its policy decision at the end their two-day meeting in this week. They wanted insight into the direction U.S. rates will take. Spot gold dropped 0.8% at $4,042.29 an ounce as of 0843 GMT. U.S. gold contracts for August delivery fell 0.8%, to $4.042.80. "Gold has held to a very tight range since late June based on the support in $4,000 region, which suggests at some stage there will be a breakout," said Rhona Connell, StoneX's head of market research. Connell said: "Fundamentally the physical markets are still very quiet, while professionals are contorting over the interaction between interest rates, oil and the dollar. All of these are important drivers." The U.S. Dollar held at an all-time high on Tuesday, making bullion priced in greenbacks?expensive to buyers abroad. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Monday that Washington is having "good discussions" with Iran, and that there was a possibility of a resolution to their conflict. He warned, however, that if the talks failed, strikes would be resumed. The oil prices fell on Tuesday and hovered around their one-week-low amid?hopes of a resolution to the U.S./Iran conflict. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates due to the rising energy prices. Gold is often seen as a hedge to inflation. However, due to its non-yielding nature, it loses some of its appeal when interest rates rise. Trump said on Monday that the U.S. must have the lowest interest rate in all of the world. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, market participants are preparing for tomorrow's?Fed decision on interest rate. About 34% of participants anticipate a 25 basis-point increase. Also, traders have priced in a 79% probability of an interest rate increase at the September meeting of the central bank. Silver spot fell by 1.4%, to $57.56 an ounce. Platinum dropped 0.8%, to $160776. Palladium was down 1.5%, to $1272.71. (Reporting by Sukanya Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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TotalEnergies and Eni approve Cyprus Gas Field for LNG startup in 2028
TotalEnergies announced on Tuesday that France's TotalEnergies, and Italy's Eni, have 'approved' the development of 'the Cronos gas field' in Cyprus, which will supply Europe with natural gas liquefied. Production is expected to begin in 2028. The two companies will share the 2.8 million tons of LNG expected to be produced by the field. After losing their access to Russian gas and oil in 2022, the European countries are now focusing on their own resources. Cronos is the name of a large?natural gas find in Block 6 in Cyprus' exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea. It was discovered by Eni and TotalEnergies in a joint venture. The project, estimated to contain more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas, will pipe and process reserves at Eni's facilities in Egypt for export to Europe via the Damietta?terminal. Cronos, as Cyprus' first gas project, will help develop a regional gas hub in the Eastern Mediterranean by leveraging Egypt’s infrastructure, said TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne. He added that "this new gas route will help Europe to be more secure in terms of its energy supply by diversifying the LNG sources." Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet, Gdansk; Francesca Landini, Milan; America Hernandez, Paris. Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak, and Louise Heavens.
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Japan's Kyushu region is hit by a major earthquake
A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 hit Japan's southern Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday. It knocked out the power to thousands of homes, stopped rail services, and triggered warnings about tsunamis and aftershocks. The area where the quake occurred is home to many companies, including Sony, the world's biggest contract chipmaker. Sony's spokesperson confirmed that the company is?checking on the situation. TSMC didn't immediately respond to a?request for comment. The Japanese government has issued emergency earthquake alerts for Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures as well as Kagoshima and Fukuoka. These are all located on Japan's southern Kyushu Island. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that a tsunami warning was issued for a wave measuring 1 m (3.2 feet). Japan is one the most earthquake-prone nations in the world, with an earthquake occurring every five minutes. Japan, located along the "Ring of Fire", a series of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partially surround the Pacific Basin region, is responsible for about 20% of all earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher in the world. According to an official count, a massive earthquake that struck Kumamoto ten years ago killed 275 and injured 2,739 people. Kyushu Electric Power reported that 40,000 homes lost power due to the quake. JR Kyushu, a railway company, said it suspended all services including bullet trains. The nuclear regulating authority in Japan said that there were no irregularities at the nuclear power stations. (Reporting and writing by Anton Bridge, Kantaro Kommiya and Mariko Katsumura; editing by Chang-Ran and Kate Mayberry; Writing by John Geddie)
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Major Gulf bourses are in red as they await Fed decision and Iran talks
The major Gulf stock markets fell in early trading on Tuesday as investors awaited U.S. Federal Reserve policy decisions and developments in the Iran Conflict, although ongoing corporate earnings provided some support. The majority of Gulf?Cooperation Council nations,?including?UAE?, have their currencies pegged against the U.S. Dollar and closely follow the Fed?s policy, exposing them to the direct effect of monetary tightening on the world?s largest economy. The Fed ends its two-day session on Wednesday. CME FedWatch?shows that 62% of policymakers are likely to keep rates the same, and 38% are expecting a minimum 25-basis point increase. This is up from 16% one week ago. The markets are also pricing in an 81% probability of a rate increase at the meeting scheduled for September. Donald Trump urged the Fed on Monday to lower rates. He argued that the United States should have the lowest borrowing costs in the world. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index fell 0.4%. This was due to a 0.6% drop in the oil giant Saudi Aramco, and a 1.2% decline in Saudi Arabian Mining Co. Yemen's Iran aligned Houthi group said that it had attacked several crude oil transportation and supply facilities linking eastern Saudi Arabia with Yanbu, an important Red Sea oil export hub. Zain Saudi Arabia, however, saw its share price rise by 1.4% after it reported a profit increase of more than 60% in the second quarter. Dubai's main stock index fell?0.5% due to a 1.5% drop in the sharia compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank. Alpha Dhabi Holding, a major Abu Dhabi-based company, lost 0.8%. Fertiglobe, a?fertilizer company, reported a sharp rise in its quarterly profit. The Qatari Index was down by 0.1%. Trump warned that the U.S. would resume strikes if negotiations fail. He said that Washington was having "good talks" and that a possible deal to end the conflict with Iran was in sight. Iran said it would retaliate if any more attacks were made. (Reporting and editing by Andrei Khalip in Bengaluru. Ateeq Sharif is based in Bengaluru.
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Copper prices fall as bets on rate hikes weigh down on demand
The copper price fell on Tuesday as investors assessed a possible pause in the 'U.S. Strikes?on Iran. By 0700 GMT, the benchmark three-month price of copper at the London Metal Exchange had fallen by 0.4% to $13,678 per metric tonne. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract fell 0.13% to 104,810 Yuan ($15.487.03) per ton. The market awaits the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting on Wednesday and weighs the impact that a reduction in oil prices will have after the lull between U.S.-Iran fighting. Analysts from Chinese broker Galaxy Futures stated that "as tensions between the United States and Iran ease, crude oil prices have fallen. However, expectations of more Federal Reserve rate increases?have increased." According to CME FedWatch, 62% of market participants believe that the Fed will keep interest rates steady, and 38% expect a minimum 25 basis point increase. This is up from just 16% one week ago. Copper market fears that higher rates will dampen economic activity and reduce demand. Red metal has benefited from the expectation of increased demand for AI infrastructure, electric vehicles and electrification. Stock markets that are jittery also weigh. On Tuesday, chipmakers led Asian stocks?down? on concerns about funding requirements of the AI boom. Galaxy Futures analysts stated that "with the?market entering into a week of heavy earnings reporting, sentiment remains fairly cautious." Aluminum was up by 0.19% at the SHFE and down by 0.44% at the LME. Total stocks in LME registered warehouses On Monday, the lowest level since 1998 was reached. Other?LME Metals: Zinc lost 0.43%;?lead fell 0.16%; nickel dropped 0.71% and tin lost 1.56%. On the SHFE, zinc fell 0.3%, while lead was unchanged, nickel dropped 1.35%, and tin declined 1.33%. $1 = 6.7676 Chinese Yuan Renminbi (Reporting and editing by Varun H. K. and Mrigank. Dhaniwala).
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India's summer crops planting accelerates as the monsoon returns
A revival of monsoon rainfall has led to a rapid increase in the planting of summer-sown grains such as rice, cotton and soybeans across a large part of India. This has helped reduce a?earlier deficit in sowing caused by?below normal rainfall. India is the largest rice exporter in the world, with about 40% of the global total. It's also the biggest importer for vegetable oils like palm oil, sunflower oil and soyoil. Indian farmers usually sow summer crops between June and July, after the annual'monsoon' reaches Kerala in the south. The monsoon was three days late this year and its progress across the western farming regions stalled about two weeks. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the summer crop sowing at the end June was almost a quarter less than it had been a year before. However, the'shortfall' has now narrowed down to less than 5 percent. The data from the Ministry showed that farmers had planted summer-sown crop on 78.7 millions hectares by July 24 compared to 82.6 million acres a year ago. Data showed that the area under rice cultivation was 23.4 million ha, down from 24 million ha last year. We waited for rain to transplant the seedlings. Krishna Beuraa is a farmer in Konark, Odisha. "After we received good rains this month, paddy planting began," he said. India's monsoon rainfall deficit has decreased to 16%, from nearly 40% by the end of June. However, some regions still face rainfall deficits as high as 40%. Farmers planted soybeans in 11.4 million acres, down 3% compared to a year earlier. The area of corn planted was 7.8 million acres, down 9.7% compared to the same time last year. Cotton planted area dropped 4%, to 9.87m hectares. Sugar cane increased 1.5%, to 5.76m hectares. (Reporting and editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar; Jatindra dash and Rajendra Jadhav)
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Gold falls as dollar strength weighs on gold; attention turns to Fed meeting
The gold price?fell Tuesday as a result of a stronger dollar, while markets awaited the Federal Reserve's next policy decision to get clues about interest rate expectations. Gold spot fell by 0.6% at $4,051.07 an ounce to $726 GMT on Saturday after rising by as much as 1% Monday. U.S. Gold Futures for August Delivery fell 0.6% to $4051.60. Dollars held near a month-high, making bullion priced in greenbacks more expensive for holders other currencies. Ilya Spirak, global macro manager at Tastylive, said that the market was just waiting for Fed signals. The Fed's?two day policy meeting will be concluded on Wednesday. The Fed's expectations to keep interest rates steady are at 62%. According to CME FedWatch however, 38% of market participants anticipate at least a 25% rate increase. The markets are pricing in a 81% chance that the central bank will raise rates at its meeting in September. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, called on the Fed on Monday to lower interest rates. He said that the U.S. would have the lowest rate of interest in the world. Trump said that the U.S. and Iran were having "good discussions"?and there was a possibility of a?deal to'resolve?their conflict. He warned, however, that if negotiations did not produce results then strikes would be resumed. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq reported drone attacks on Sunday, indicating that Tehran was testing the pause. Spivak stated that if the Fed meeting does not produce language which sets the groundwork for a rate increase in September, then gold will likely rally?above $4.200 per ounce. Silver spot fell by 1.6%, to $57.48 an ounce. Platinum lost 0.6%, to $1.611,48, and palladium dropped 1.4%, to $1.274.10. (Reporting and editing by Varun H. K., Ronojoy Mazumdar, and Subhranshu S. in Bengaluru.)
China fires most current warning signal with antimony controls: Andy Home
China's announcement of antimony export restrictions has actually fanned to a redhot market and opens another prospective flashpoint with the West for control of crucial minerals.
Antimony is a little-known metal with several applications. Its biggest end-use is as a flame retardant, but it is likewise discovered in photovoltaic panels and lead-acid batteries.
The U.S. Department of the Interior has designated it a. crucial mineral due to the fact that it is likewise important for. armour-piercing ammunition, infrared sensing units and precision. optics.
The Department of Defense was holding stocks of just over 90. metric tons (198,763 pounds) at the end of September 2022,. according to the U.S. Congressional Research Study Service.
The Yearly Products Prepare for the existing enables. for the purchase of up to an additional 1,100 lots.
That is going to be a difficult difficulty if the world's. dominant antimony producer limits global supply.
There is an emerging pattern here.
In 2015 Beijing bent its metallic muscles with similar. constraints on exports of gallium, germanium and graphite in a. tit-for-tat response to U.S. controls on exports of advanced. semiconductor chips to China.
Nor is antimony most likely to be the last strategic metal to be. weaponised for a potential trade war with the West.
HOT MARKET
Antimony prices have actually nearly doubled because the start of the. year to a record $22,750 per ton, basis metal delivered to. Northwest Europe.
That remains in part because of diminishing exports from major. producers. China's exports remain in medium-term decrease due to. higher need from its solar power sector, while Russian supply. has actually been crimped by falling output and Western sanctions.
The flow from other big producing nations such as Vietnam,. Tajikistan and Myanmar has been interfered with by the re-routing of. deliveries from the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks on shipping.
Experts at Task Blue estimate the marketplace was already. taking a look at a 10,000-ton deficiency before China's limitations.
These new guidelines don't set specific limits on exports but. rather need exporters to get licences for dual-use. civilian and military materials and innovation, a procedure that. normally takes two to three months in China.
On paper, the controls are not targeted at any specific. nation but Chinese authorities can decline licences to export to. private end-user companies or countries as they see fit.
If gallium and germanium are anything to go by, anticipate a. collapse in outgoing antimony deliveries once the new rules come. into impact on Sept. 15, followed by a weak healing in volumes.
Chinese exports of the two chip metals fell by 74% and 63%. respectively in the first quarter on a year-on-year basis.
WARNING SHOTS
China's export controls are more a signalling device than an. outright trade attack at this phase.
Beijing overplayed its critical metals hand in 2010 when it. suspended shipments of uncommon earths to Japan. It lost a resulting. World Trade Company case and seen as high costs. generated a wave of substitution far from uncommon earth magnets.
This time, export controls are being used as warning shots. to hinder Western countries from executing even more. restrictions on exports of next-generation innovation such as. artificial-intelligence computer chips.
The messaging is aimed most importantly at the United. States, where there is bipartisan hostility to China's growing. military and innovation difficulty.
The U.S. stays critically dependent on China for antimony. It consumed 22,000 lots of antimony products in 2023. Domestic. production totaled up to just 4,000 lots, primarily in the type of. antimonial lead recovered from invested lead-acid batteries and. taken in back into the battery chain.
China represented 63% of U.S. imports of antimony metal. and oxide in 2015, according to the United States Geological. Study (USGS). The next biggest supplier, Belgium, simply 8%.
One domestic operator, Perpetua Resources, is. wanting to reopen the Stibnite antimony mine in Idaho. The. company has gotten support from both the Pentagon and the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
But, like lots of prospective domestic vital metal manufacturers,. Perpetua is facing environmental opposition. Very first production at. Stibnite is presently pencilled in for 2028, assuming Perpetua. can navigate the permitting process.
LENGTHENING LIST
This is extremely not likely to be the last metallic caution shot. fired by China.
Next up might be tungsten, another minor metal with. overlapping civilian and military applications and a supply. chain controlled by China.
China's Ministry of Commerce provided brand-new guidelines for exporters. of tungsten, antimony and silver in November 2023, including a. minimum financial liquidity threshold and a complete record of. overseas deliveries over the 2020-2022 duration.
The U.S. REEShore Act currently prohibits making use of Chinese. tungsten in military equipment beginning with 2026, which makes. the metal an obvious choice for a retaliatory gesture.
Nevertheless, China is not except alternatives when it pertains to. leveraging its supremacy in important metals production.
It is the biggest source of supply for 26 of the 50 minerals. presently classified as crucial by the USGS, according to the. Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.
It's simply a concern of what follows.
The viewpoints expressed here are those of the author, a. columnist .
(source: Reuters)