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French winter season grain sowings ahead of in 2015 after dry weather condition
French farmers had sown 78% of the anticipated soft wheat location for next year's harvest by last Monday, ahead of the location sown by the very same stage last year, FranceAgriMer stated, in a sign that this month's dry weather enabled field work to accelerate. The soft wheat area sown compared to 62% a week previously and 70% a year earlier however was still behind the five-year average of 83%, the farm workplace stated in a crop report on Friday. French sowings and maize harvesting this year have been obstructed by heavy rainfall during the wettest September in 25 years and in October. The hold-up raised bad memories of last year's harvest when late sowing due to damp weather condition was one of the issues that led to among the worst soft wheat harvests in 40 years. In winter season barley, 89% of the anticipated area for next year's. harvest had actually been planted by Monday, versus 78% a week earlier and. 83% by the exact same stage in 2023. That compared to a 2019-2023. average of 91%. The maize harvest was 71% complete by Nov. 11, up from 58% a. week earlier however below 96% a year back and a five-year. average of 93%, FranceAgriMer said. Growers were speeding up field work before rains begin again. next week, Franck Laborde, the head of French maize growers. group AGPM, said. The regions lagging furthest behind are the west and the. south-west. Climate condition there ought to enable collecting to. continue until mid-week, so we certainly have a window of. opportunity to get closer to normal harvest development, Laborde. informed Reuters. Farmers are mobilised to generate the harvest so as to. maintain quality, because from now on, and even since a couple of days. ago, there is a risk of quality deterioration if the harvest. does not happen really quickly, he included.
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FuelCell Energy to lay off 13% of labor force to lower operating expense
Renewable power company FuelCell Energy said on Friday it will lower 13% of its labor force as part of an international restructuring of its operations in the U.S., Canada and Germany. Shares of the company increased 14.1% in premarket trading. The business stated it aims to decrease operating expense by almost 15% in 2025 and protect its competitive position amid slower-than-expected financial investments in clean energy. High rates of interest and policy unpredictabilities around capital-intensive tidy energy tasks have required numerous renewable resource firms to review their growth plans. FuelCell said it had already made reductions to its workforce in September, with the most recent layoffs bringing the total cuts to 17% of its workers. It anticipates the restructuring plan to be considerably finished by the end of the first quarter (Nov-Jan) of financial year 2025, and to record charges of about $1.7 million to $2. million in expenses associated with severance. The company stated the strategy will not impact its carbonate. making capabilities at its Torrington, Connecticut. center. The Danbury, Connecticut-based company stated it would offer. extra details regarding the restructuring plan throughout its. fourth-quarter earnings get in touch with Dec. 19.
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Romania signs main engineering agreement for two atomic power plants
Romanian stateowned nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica signed the main engineering contract to include two more reactors at its plant in Cernavoda on the Danube river with a consortium of four firms, it stated on Friday. The European Union state presently has 2 706-megawatt (MW). reactors which utilize Canadian CANDU innovation, owned by. AtkinsRealis, formerly referred to as SNC-Lavalin group, accounting. for a fifth of Romania's power production. It prepares to include 2 more 700 MW reactors using the same. innovation by 2031 and 2032, respectively. Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja has said the contract,. which was signed on Friday at COP29 in Baku, will set the brand-new. systems on a course of no return. The consortium makes up Canada's AtkinsRealis, U.S. Fluor. Corporation, Sargent & & Lundy and Italy's Ansaldo Nucleare. The. contract is estimated to cost 3.2 billion euros ($ 3.38 billion). and take 9 years to complete pending a final financial investment. decision. Today marks a significant turning point in the improvement and. ultimately the completion of Romania's tactical Cernavoda Systems. 3 and 4 task, the business's president Cosmin Ghita. said. Once Units 3 and 4 are connected to the grid, 66% of. Romania's clean energy will be supplied by nuclear energy. The business did not expose the upgraded expense quote for the. units. Prior estimates varied from 6.5 billion to 7 billion. euros in overall. U.S. Exim Bank has actually committed financing for the. job.
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Households gather at South African mine shaft where hundreds are feared underground
Desperate family members of unlawful miners believed to number in the hundreds waited outside a disused mine shaft in South Africa on Friday in the hope of their loved ones emerging from the hole in the ground. The miners remain in a standoff with authorities, who have actually obstructed their materials of food and water and are attempting to require them out to detain them for illegally getting in the abandoned mine in search of leftover gold - a typical problem in South Africa. More than 1,000 unlawful miners have already resurfaced in recent weeks as the cops have split down, and a minimum of one dead body has been brought up. It was unclear if those staying in the mine in Stilfontein, North West province, were unwilling or not able to leave the shaft, which comes down vertically for more than 2 km (1.2 miles) underground. Police and community members stood around the rocky entryway, where a wheel had actually been established to hoist males out. I'm here waiting for youths who are underground, who are dying, Zimbabwean nationwide Roselina Nyuzeya informed Reuters from behind the cops barricade obstructing access to the open hole. A woman sobbing close-by was waiting for her spouse, who had been underground since April, Nyuzeya stated. Illegal mining has actually plagued South Africa for years through small-time pilfering and arranged criminal networks. A number of those who do the dangerous work of getting into old commercial mines are immigrants from neighbouring countries. They are referred to as zama-zamas - a local term that comes from the Zulu expression for taking a chance. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Wednesday the government would not send help for lawbreakers but rather would smoke them out Some community members held signs that read Smoke ANC out. in action, referring to the governing African National Congress celebration. We are requesting help from the government to assist us so our children can come out of the mine. All we are requesting is their remains to come out, said Matsidiso Ramolla, a. 41-one-year-old homeowner of Stilfontein.
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South Africa's revised carbon tax to be harsher however with more offsets, Treasury says
South Africa's revised carbon tax intends to balance the rival demands of climate activists and polluters by lowering taxfree allowances while letting business make greater use of offsets, the Treasury's. acting tax chief said on Friday. The modifications, to come into effect in 2026, will help South. Africa satisfy environment commitments however provide 'hard-to-abate' sectors. more versatility, said Chris Axelson, Performing Head of Tax and. Financial Sector Policy at the Treasury. South Africa is one of the world's top 15 greenhouse gas. emitters and the only nation in Africa with a carbon tax. It definitely is a change to the previous structure (in. which) ... the offsets were quite a little percentage, Axelson. informed Reuters in a videocall interview. At COP29 talks in Azerbaijan, developing countries pressured. their richer equivalents for approximately $1 trillion in climate. finance to help nations traditionally least responsible for the. crisis to move to greener energy and adjust. A Treasury policy paper launched on Wednesday shows the. offset allowance for combustion emissions going up to 25%, from. 10%, after 2026. But this is counterbalanced by slashing. tax-free allowances from 60% currently to half in 2026, and by a. additional 2.5 percentage points yearly till 2030. South Africa enacted its carbon tax in May 2019 after almost. a decade of shelving it over objections from mining business,. steelmakers and state-owned power energy, Eskom. Since then,. market has actually complained the tax is too difficult while climate. activists decry it as too generous. We're in a place where they're all screaming at us, Axelson. said. We're searching for that balance ... We do not want one. side to say, 'well, you're harming us excessive' and the other. side to say, 'well, you aren't doing enough'. The proposition also changes a 3.5 cent per kilowatt levy on. non-renewable power with the carbon tax, which Axelson said. would motivate Eskom - whose overreliance on coal has actually made. South Africa a bigger emitter than Britain or France - to utilize. renewables but however without the capacity of passing on expenses to. the customers..
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VEGOILS-Palm rises after 3 days of fall, logs first weekly drop in four
Malaysian palm oil futures increased on Friday after three straight sessions of losses, supported by recovery in competing vegetable oils and talks of possible modifications in Indonesia's export levy, yet it posted the initially weekly decline in four weeks. The benchmark palm oil agreement for January shipment on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange got 118 ringgit, or 2.38%, to 5,081 ringgit ($ 1,137.20) a metric lot at closing. The agreement fell 0.37% for the week. This rumour about a possibility of Indonesia modifying levy or tax structure triggered some panic buying, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said. There was no official announcement on the levy changes and Indonesian authorities did not react to Reuters' ask for remarks about the rumour. Profit taking ahead of the weekend and recovery in Chicago soyoil and Dalian palm olein added strength to the contract, another trader said. Dalian's most-active soyoil contract fell 0.46%, while its palm oil agreement increased 2.06%. Soyoil costs on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 2.33%. Palm oil tracks rate movements of competing edible oils, as it completes for a share in the worldwide veggie oils market. Malaysian palm oil exports in Nov. 1-15 decreased between 6%. to 7.3% from a month ago, data from AmSpec Agri and freight. property surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Friday, however improved. from Nov. 1-10 export information. Indonesia's federal government reaffirmed to lawmakers today a strategy to carry out a 40% necessary. biodiesel mix with palm oil-based fuel, called B40, in January. 2025, as part of the brand-new federal government's fast wins programs. The European Parliament sought on Thursday to water down a. restriction on the import of commodities such as beef and soy linked to. logging, and backed a 1 year delay to the new rule, in a. fresh push-back against the EU's ecological program.
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More mass displacement possible in Ukraine if energy sector hit, UN warns
Any additional Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy system might set off a further wave of mass displacement as winter techniques, a senior U.N. official stated on Friday. As the war grinds towards its third winter, civilians are more vulnerable than at any other winter season during the dispute due to Russian strikes on its energy system and donor fatigue, said U.N. Humanitarian Organizer in Ukraine Matthias Schmale. The genuine issue is if they were to target the energy sector again, this might be a tipping point ... for more mass motions, both inside the nation and outside the country, he told reporters in Geneva. Any further displacement would contribute to the 3.6 million that are presently displaced within Ukraine and the more than 6 million who have fled across its borders to get away the dispute that started when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Around 65% of Ukraine's own energy production is presently offline due to Russian strikes which is more than at this exact same point of the year in 2022 or 2023, Schmale stated. Ukraine now relies mostly on power produced by its nuclear plants and its grid operator this week introduced power limits for companies in the very first such relocation given that August after a. huge Russian rocket and drone attack. The United Nations and partners are carrying out the. Humanitarian Winter Reaction Strategy intending to address emergency. needs by delivering fuel and other products to help people remain. warm. Shelters, known as Invincibility Points, where homeowners can. heat up and consume tea have actually also been set up, he said. Schmale voiced particular concern about individuals stranded in. high-rise buildings and the handicapped and senior living close to. the cutting edge in Kharkiv and Kherson. So far, aid workers have reached about half of the 1.7. million individuals targeted however moneying shortages are constraining. efforts, he said. This year, the U.N. humanitarian reaction has received $1.8. billion out of $3.1 billion sought which is less than in 2022. and 2023, he stated. So the pattern is plainly down, however we still get a lot. of money compared to other crisis situations and our plea is. that this is preserved because the war is not over..
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COP climate talks not fit for function and need reform, state environment leaders
A group of previous leaders and climate specialists said the annual U.N. police officer climate talks were no longer suitable for function and needed to be reformed, releasing a. crucial open letter midway through what has actually up until now been a. fractious summit. Almost 200 nations are gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan with a. main goal of agreeing a new target for how much cash needs. to be provided to assist developing nations adapt to environment. modification and recuperate from destructive weather. Up until now those talks have actually made little development. Delegates struggled for hours on the opening day to concur an. agenda and the mood has actually been soured by doubts about the United. States' future role under a Donald Trump presidency, diplomatic. spats involving the host country and the withdrawal of the. Argentinian delegation. Friday's letter, signed by more than 20 specialists, former. leaders and scientists, including former UNFCCC boss Christiana. Figueres and former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said the. COP process had actually accomplished much, today required an overhaul. It is now clear that the COP is no longer fit for purpose. Its existing structure just can not deliver the modification at. rapid speed and scale, which is vital to guarantee a safe. climate landing for mankind, the letter stated. This is what forces our call for a basic overhaul of. the police. We need a shift from settlement to execution,. making it possible for the COP to deliver on concurred dedications and ensure the. immediate energy transition and phase-out of fossil energy. Figueres later on stated some of the ideas in the letter had actually been. misinterpreted. The police procedure is a necessary and irreplaceable lorry. for supporting the multilateral, multisectoral, systemic change. we urgently need. Now more than ever, she stated in a post on. LinkedIn. However, others have actually likewise criticised the police process in. Baku. Previously this week Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley called. for immediate reform and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama mentioned. leaders resting on couches and taking pictures while speeches. at the top played out on soft television screens. Inquired about the letter and the total process, the COP29. Presidency's Lead Negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev said: The process. has already provided ... so far by reducing the forecasted. warming, providing financing to those in requirement - and it's better. than any alternative. Nevertheless he said the multilateral process was under pressure. and that COP29 would be a litmus test for the international climate. architecture..
New Caledonia's Prony to reboot nickel operations after six-month stop
New Caledonian nickel producer Prony Resources will resume operations from Monday after a. sixmonth shutdown prompted by riots in the Frenchcontrolled. Pacific territory, the business said on Friday.
The choice follows the bring back of power and supply of water. as well as road access to its facilities, Prony said in a. declaration, without providing a timeline or quotes for. production.
Prony is part of a loss-making New Caledonian nickel. industry whose potential customers have degraded further due to the. unrest that erupted in May over a proposed electoral reform.
The French authorities have sought to alleviate stress by. dropping the reform and holding off local elections, though a. partial night-time curfew remains in place.
Prony is one of 3 significant manufacturers in New Caledonia that. employ thousands to mine and process the territory's large. nickel reserves.
The company, which has stated it produced nearly 32,000 metric. tons of nickel last year, is seeking a purchaser to replace present. investors consisting of global commodity merchant. Trafigura.
South African rare-earth elements producer Sibanye-Stillwater. stated in September it was studying Prony as a possible. source for battery-grade nickel, however was not interested in. acquisitions.
Somewhere Else in New Caledonia, Koniambo Nickel SAS has actually shut. down its operations while it looks for an investor to replace. Glencore after the commodity group put its 49% stake up. for sale.
Societe Le Nickel is running at very little capability due to. disruption to mine supply and is relying on French federal government. help after primary shareholder Eramet stopped injecting. cash.
(source: Reuters)