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US stocks fall as US tariffs on China are imposed; the euro rises after news of German coalition
The U.S. stock market indexes fell on Tuesday, as the United States announced that 104% of import duties from China would take effect shortly after midnight. However, the euro and European equity futures rose following reports that Germany’s political parties had reached an agreement on a coalition. Investors were optimistic earlier in the morning that Washington would be willing to negotiate some of its aggressive trade tariffs. The Trump administration is also It is important to begin discussions with other trading partners that are being targeted by Donald Trump's tariff plan. Germany's NTV reported Germany's conservatives under chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz on Tuesday reached a deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) to form a government. However, two people who are familiar with the matter said that an agreement has not been reached. Futures for the EuroSTOXX50 index in Germany rose 0.72%. DAX futures increased 0.55%, and CAC futures increased 0.43%. Bund futures have trimmed their losses. The dollar was up by 0.41% to $1.0948. Wall Street saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise 62.46, or 0.16% to 38,028.03, while the S&P 500 dropped 13.34 points or 0.27% to 5,048.75, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 79.19, or 0.51% to 15,522.91. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 4.27 points or 0.57% to 749.75.
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Meloni will meet Trump for tariff talks on April 17, 2019.
Her office announced on Tuesday that Giorgia Mello will meet Donald Trump, the U.S. president in Washington, on April 17, to discuss tariffs imposed by Trump on imports from the European Union. Trump has a policy of imposing tariffs that are 25% on imports of steel, aluminium and automobiles. The tariffs will be a broader 20% for all other goods starting Wednesday. Meloni said she backed an offer by the European Commission for a "zero to zero" tariff agreement to avoid a trade conflict with the United States. Meloni stated in a staff-released speech that "This is a negotiation which must see us at all levels committed, which sees and commits us. I am committed as I will be there in Washington on April 17, next year," Meloni. Meloni, a nationalist who has a deep admiration for Trump is Battle to reconcile Analysts say that there is a growing gap between Washington's ideological instincts and Italy’s strategic ties with the European Union. She is under pressure also to defend Italy's export-driven industry, which last year ran a 40-billion-euro ($43.75-billion)trade surplus with the United States -- the third-largest in the European Union after Germany and Ireland. Italy's total exports are 10% of its total. "I believe (tariffs are) an absolutely wrong decision by the Trump administration. Western economies are interconnected. Meloni stated that such protectionist policies would hurt Europe just as much as they would the U.S. EU FUNDS Meloni stated that her government will discuss alternative ways with the European Union to use funds already allocated to EU to offset the negative impact expected of the tariffs. She said, "We are committed in using all resources available, beginning with those which do not impact public finances." She said that although no additional borrowing is currently planned, 14 billion euro could be derived from a revamp of Italy's EU supported post-COVID Recovery Plan, and an additional 11 billion from EU Regional Development Funds. Another 7 billion euro was expected to be spent using EU funds in order to combat climate change. The government is Prepare to cut Two sources with knowledge of the situation said that the U.S. Tariffs have caused the uncertainty in the economic growth forecasts for this year and next. Sources said that the multi-year budget plan for Italy, which is due to be released on Wednesday, predicts a 0.6% increase in gross domestic product this year. This is down from the 1.2% goal set last September. Next year's GDP is expected to be +0.8% down from the previous target of +1.1%. ($1 = 0.9414 euros) (Reporting and writing by Giuseppe Fonte, Editing and proofreading by Crispia Balmer)
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US oil, biofuel group recommends 5.25 billion gallons in biomass diesel mandates, sources say
Two sources with knowledge of the matter reported that a U.S. biofuel and U.S. coalition has recommended the Environmental Protection Agency to propose federal mandates on biomass diesel blending in 2026, at 5.25 billion gallon, which is a significant increase over previous mandates. Sources said that the coalition recommended a total federal mandate for biofuel blend mandates of 25 billion gallons by 2026. The coalition led by the American Petroleum Institute (API), a major U.S. oil industry trade group, gave the figures to EPA at a recent meeting. EPA will release a proposal covering 2026 and 2027. This was previously reported. The Coalition's request of 5,25 billion gallons for biomass-based diesel mandates is slightly lower than the range between 5.5 billion and 5.75 billion gallons that was considered before the meeting by the. Previously, the EPA had set the biomass-based diesel mandates at 3,35 billion gallons for 2025. API refused to comment on numbers in particular, while the EPA didn't respond to a comment request. The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard requires oil refiners to blend billions gallons worth of biofuels in the nation's fuel or purchase tradable credit from those who do. Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw, both in New York; editing by Mark Porter and Matthew Lewis.
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Venezuela restarts El Palito’s fluid catalytic cracked to offset the largest refinery’s problems
Sources close to the company's operations on Tuesday said that Venezuela's PDVSA, a state-owned oil company, is restarting the fluid catalytic cracked (FCC) at its El Palito refinery, which was shut down for 11 months. This will partially offset a suspension of key refinery units due to an electrical blackout. PDVSA is increasing domestic refining in order to avoid a fuel crisis. The U.S. government has tightened sanctions against the energy sector of the country, which prevents it from importing replacement parts and equipment necessary to maintain and upgrade its refining units. Venezuela's largest refinery, the 645,000-barrel-per-day Amuay, has been restarting several operational units since a blackout late last week, but its FCC is still out of service, limiting the volume of gasoline blendstock the country can produce. One source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: "That's the reason they're restarting El Palito cracker." It's already producing 26,000. bpd catalytic naphtha. El Palito, Venezuela's smallest refining facility, has a capacity of 146,000 bpd for crude processing. The previous attempts to restart the FCC were unsuccessful. Now, workers are trying to produce up to 35,000 bpd blendstock. Sources say that the 955,000-bpd Paraguana refinery center, which includes Amuay & Cardon refineries and four crude distillation units, was processing 237,000 bpd or 25% of the installed capacity as of Tuesday. PDVSA didn't immediately respond to a comment request. The state oil company is trying to provide more crude and feedstock Cardon Petropiar will be reorganized as part of the plan to reorganize its operations once a U.S. licence for Chevron Venezuela's unit expires in a month. This will leave all operations to PDVSA. A separate source reported that Venezuela is also trying to reactivate an important thermoelectric plant in the central region of the country to reduce blackouts and power rationing. Reporting by Staff; Editing by Mark Porter & Paul Simao
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Codelco CEO: Codelco plans to return to the bond market and aims at higher end of copper production range
Ruben Alvarado said that Codelco's CEO, Ruben, believes the company will reach the upper limit of its production range in this year. He expects to achieve 1.39 million metric tonnes. Alvarado stated that the world's biggest copper producer intends to return to bond markets but is still evaluating the timing. We know that we have to get to the market. "We'll be there for sure, but we have to decide the exact date," he said on the sidelines of the CRU/CESCO World Copper Conference. Our bond prices are very competitive. "We are very careful with our investment grade. We believe that we still have room to move ahead with financing our project." Codelco has managed to increase production in 2024 after 2023 saw it hit a 25-year low due to delays and operational issues. Alvarado expects to improve performance following a better quarter than the previous year. He said that this year they were aiming for 1,39 million tonnes. He added, "We are focused on doing the right thing and ensuring operational continuity. We're also very careful about safety." Alvarado said that the company has not yet decided whether it will send any new spot copper shipments into the U.S. as they did in the past. first quarter When customers tried to get ahead of the expected U.S. import tariffs. He said that the main reason for increasing shipments to the United States was to meet the needs of long-term clients. (Reporting and editing by Alexander Villegas, David Gregorio and Fabian Andres Cambero)
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JSW, a Polish miner, suffers a net loss of $500,000 due to lower coal prices and weak demand
The company reported on Tuesday that the decline in coking coal prices, and a weaker demand for coal led to a loss of 7,24 billion zlotys (1.85 billion dollars) in 2018 from a profit of 993.9 millions zlotys (993.9 million dollars) made by JSW between 2023 and 2018. The results were in line with the preliminary data that was reported by the company at the beginning of March. Why it's important JSW is Europe's largest coking coal producer, essential to steel production. The EU has listed coking coal as a critical raw material because steel is essential for the construction of renewable energy sources and other infrastructure. The EU wants to guarantee a sustainable and secure supply of the materials listed. CONTEXT JSW will be hit by the falling prices of coking coal, a weaker demand as a result of lower steel production and increased competition with non-European suppliers, such as China and Indonesia, in 2024. The company has proposed to not pay a dividend in 2024. In 2018, it stopped paying dividends. By the Numbers JSW's revenue fell to 11,33 billion zlotys from 15,34 billion zlotys by 2023. This was mainly due to the lower coal price and decreased demand. The company reported a 6.50 billion-zloty loss for the year, as compared to earnings of 4.56 billion-zlotys on the same basis in 2023.
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President says that most automakers will remain in Mexico
The Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum stated on Tuesday that most auto executives who have plants in Mexico said they do not have any plans to relocate their factories. The president spoke at her morning news conference. "I've personally spoken to many CEOs and global mangers of several auto companies, to find out what their thoughts are about the future...Most have told us they don't plan to make any changes for the time being," she said. Mexico, which exports nearly 80% of all its goods to the United States was not on Trump's global list of tariffs that were announced last week. Mexico remains subject to the 25% tariffs that Trump imposed on steel, aluminium and automobiles as well as goods that did not comply with regional USMCA. Sheinbaum reported that Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick will meet in Washington on Tuesday evening to discuss these tariffs. Sheinbaum said that the government of Sheinbaum would Avoid They cannot be completely ruled out. (Reporting and editing by Kylie Madry; Raul Cortes)
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Petrobras, Brazil's oil giant, to tender for new production vessel in Buzios field
The state-owned Brazilian oil company Petrobras will hold an auction for a new production ship for the pre-salt Buzios Field in the "next few months", the firm said on Tuesday. The tender was to be made public within 60 days, according to sources who were familiar with the issue. Petrobras announced that the new vessel would have a daily production capacity of 180.000 barrels of crude oil and be capable of transporting 5.5 million cubic metres of natural gas to land. Petrobras said that the vessel will receive, process, and ship gas from a vessel P-82 which also operates on the Buzios Field. Petrobras said that P-82 will no longer be able to reinject all of the gas produced back into the reservoir. Instead, it can ship a portion to the land. Petrobras said that the new vessel can also handle a portion of gas production from vessels other than its own. The tender for the floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) is set to follow the build-operate-transfer commissioning model, sources told , in which the firm that builds the vessel operates it for a set number of years and then transfers ownership to Petrobras. Luiz inacio Lula da So, the Brazilian president, wants to lower gas prices to stimulate industry. A source said that according to studies the vessel could in the future also treat gas from fields other than Buzios. (Reporting and writing by Rodrigo Viga Gaier, Fabio Teixeira, Editing by Kylie Madry).
China's state-owned firms pledge to increase share purchases in order to stabilize the market
On Tuesday, several Chinese state-owned companies pledged to increase their share investments as Beijing intensifies efforts to stabilize the stock market that has been soaring due to U.S. trade tariff woes.
China Chengtong Holdings Group, and China Reform Holdings Corp made their announcements after Chinese state fund Central Huijin announced the day before that it would increase its shareholdings in order to promote stability on the markets.
China's benchmark stock index fell 7% on Sunday amid investor concerns about the possibility of a trade war that could cause damage and a global economic recession.
Washington imposed tariffs of 34% extra on China last week, and China responded with 34% additional levies against U.S. imports.
Chengtong's investment units are increasing their holdings of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to ensure market stability.
The state investment firm stated in a press release that it was "firmly optimistic" about the growth prospects for China's capital market. It also pledged to support the high-quality growth among Chinese listed companies.
China Reform Holdings Corp., or Guoxin as it is also known, announced in a separate press release that its investment unit would increase holdings of tech companies, ETFs and state-owned firms, utilizing a refinancing scheme to buy back shares. The initial investment will be 80 billion Yuan ($10.95billion).
China Electronics Technology Group is another state-owned holding company that has announced it will increase share buybacks of listed units in order to boost investor confidence.
(source: Reuters)