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IRNA reports that Iran and Russia have signed a $25 billion agreement to build four nuclear reactors in Iran.
IRNA, the Iranian news agency, reported on Friday that Iran had signed a 25 billion dollar agreement with Rosatom, Russia's nuclear state corporation to build four nuclear plants in Iran. Rosatom had previously stated that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday regarding the construction of small nucleo-power plants in Iran, but did not give a number. The Iranian official news agency IRNA said that the agreement for construction of Generation III plants in the Sirik area of the south-eastern province of Hormozgan will generate 5,000 Megawatts of electric power. The MOU has been signed in Moscow. Iran has only one nuclear power plant operating in Bushehr, a city located in the south of the country. This plant was built by Russia, and it has a 1 GW capacity. Russia has good relations with Iran, and in June it condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel claimed, without proving it, that Iran is on the brink of acquiring nuclear arms. Iran denies that it has such an intention. Reporting by Jana Choukeir, Ahmed Elimam and Alison Williams; editing by Gareth Jones and Alison Williams
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Copper prices fall as Grasberg's rally impacts demand
The price of copper fell on Friday, as the rally this week -- driven by concerns about supply following an accident in the second-largest mine in the world -- affected demand. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.6%, to $10.202.50 per metric ton at 0947 GMT. After a disruption in the Grasberg Mine in Indonesia, analysts have lowered their forecasts of global supply for 2025 and 2020. Indonesia's government has reached an agreement with Freeport Indonesia, to stop operations at the mine in order to prioritize the search for trapped employees, said the country's Mining Minister on Friday. This confirms a previous update from Freeport-McMoRan. Alice Fox, Macquarie's commodities strategist, says that the drop in Grasberg supply will reduce the global surplus of copper Macquarie Group forecasted for 2025 and 2030, but it will not be sufficient to turn the market into a deficiency. Fox said that "this should support higher prices over the short-term, as compared to our previous forecasts. However, prices may struggle to remain above $10,000 per ton." The yuan, which is heading for its largest weekly decline in two months against dollar, added another layer of pressure to copper. China is the largest metal consumer in the world. Dollar-priced materials are more expensive to Chinese buyers before the national holiday. This is from October 1-8 this year. The Shanghai Futures Exchange monitored copper inventories in Chinese warehouses, which fell 6.6% last week. Yangshan premium on copper also decreased. The price of copper, which reflects the demand for imported copper into China, has stabilised at $53 per ton. This is its lowest level in a month. Aluminium fell by 0.2%, to $2.653.50 per ton. Zinc lost 0.8%, to $2.901, while lead dropped 0.4%, to $2.007; tin remained at $34,360 and nickel dropped 0.2%, to $15,245. (Reporting and editing by Kirby Donovan; Additional reporting by Dylan Duan)
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Three dead in Philippines as tropical storm Bualoi sweeps across the country
Three people have died in the Philippines following a tropical storm that intensified to a typhoon and hit land late Thursday. This comes days after the super typhoon which struck the north. In many parts of the Philippines, including Metro Manila, classes and government work were suspended in advance of Tropical Storm Bualoi. The storm hit just days after Super Typhoon Ragasa, which left a path of destruction in the Philippines' northern region, killing at least 14 people, before making a mess in Taiwan where 15 people were killed. The latest storm hit Eastern Samar, in central Philippines. It then crossed into Masbate before sweeping across the Bicol region of southern Luzon. Officials from the disaster agency said that three deaths occurred in Masbate Province. The first was killed by a falling branch, the second drowned and the third died when a wall fell. In a press briefing, Masbate Governor Antonio Kho appealed to the central government for immediate assistance, citing an urgent need to remove debris, restore electricity and reopen the ports to allow aid to be delivered. Local officials in other parts of Southern Luzon reported that heavy rains, winds and power outages caused damage to crops, infrastructure and infrastructure. JC Borromeo of Manila, along with his three kids, was evacuated in advance of the Bualoi earthquake, locally called Opong. While carrying his child, he said: "We live right by the river corner and it would be hard when the water rose." Bualoi is expected to intensify again into a typhoon as it moves towards Vietnam. It has maximum wind speeds of up to 110 kph with gusts reaching 135 kph. The Vietnamese government announced that the storm, which is moving fast, would strike the northern and central coasts of the country on Monday. It will also bring torrential rainfall from September 28-30. In a Friday statement, the National Weather Agency warned that heavy rains may cause flooding in low lying areas as well as in urban and industrial areas. The agency says that rain could reach 150 millimetres in some areas within 24 hours. Reporting by Karen Lema in Manila and Adrian Portugal; Additional reporting in Vietnam by Khanh Vu; Editing by David Stanway
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India's highest court approves JSW Steel taking over Bhushan Power and Steel
The Indian Supreme Court announced on Friday that JSW Steel could proceed with its $2.3 billion acquisition of Bhushan Power and Steel. The country's highest court in May rejected the deal, six years after the first approval. This upset buyers of other distressed properties and cast a shadow on the Indian bankruptcy reforms implemented in 2016. JSW filed a request to have it review the rejection. The court ruled on Friday that JSW had revitalized BPSL through heavy investments in modernization, and protected thousands of jobs by keeping the business a going concern. The court stated that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code's purpose - to transform a losing entity into one that is profitable - was achieved. In an exchange filing, the company stated that the Supreme Court had dismissed the appeals filed by BPSL's promoters and operational creditors. The Supreme Court, in its May decision to cancel one of the biggest insolvency deals ever in India's past - Bhushan Power's takeover by India's largest steelmaker in 2019, cited procedural errors. JSW Steel shares rose by as much as 1.6% following the news. However, they subsequently retreated to trade at 1.4% lower due to a general sell-off. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez, Edwina Gibbs and Arpan Chaturvedi; Reporting by Chandini Monnappa, and Anuran Sahhu)
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The Russian rouble gains against the US dollar as corporate tax payments boost
The Russian rouble gained against the U.S. Dollar and the Chinese yuan Friday. This was due to the fact that corporate tax payments are due at the end the month, and there is certainty regarding the new state budget as well as new tax increases. LSEG data based off of over-the counter quotes showed that the rouble had strengthened by 0.5%, to 83.50 USD, as of 0930 GMT. The rouble was up 0.3% to 11.67 against the Chinese yuan. It is the most commonly traded foreign currency in Russia. Bogdan Zvarich, a PSB banker, said that if geopolitical expectations do not deteriorate, rising oil prices will support the rouble and increase exporters' supply of foreign currencies. The rouble is supported by the expectation that the central bank will slow or stop the easing cycle due to the new planned increases in value-added taxes, which are expected to accelerate inflation starting at the beginning of 2026. In the latest set of macroeconomic projections released by the government this week, the average rouble exchange rate in 2026 is 92.2 roubles to the dollar. This is about 8% higher than the previous set. (Reporting and editing by Shilpi Mahumdar; Reporting by Gleb Brnski)
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Erdogan praises the'meaningful progress" in his discussions with Trump
The Turkish President Tayyip Erdoan said that he and Donald Trump made "meaningful" progress on a number of regional and bi-lateral issues during their first meeting at the White House after six years. They discussed defence cooperation, trade and other bilateral and regional issues. After Erdogan's Thursday meeting, Trump told reporters that he thought NATO member Turkey would accept his request to stop buying Russian oil. He also said that the U.S. could lift sanctions against Ankara to allow it to buy American F-35 jets. Erdogan told reporters that he and President Obama had discussed ways to increase trade. This included a revision of the customs duty to reach their $100 billion target. "It is impossible to solve every problem in one meeting." This meeting, however, has resulted in meaningful progress on many matters," Erdogan said. According to a transcription of his remarks shared by his offices on Friday. Erdogan said that he was "happy" to have left his meeting with Trump. The transcript did not mention the U.S. sanction or Turkey's imports from Russia of oil. Erdogan said that he supported Trump's vision for peace and they reached an agreement on how to achieve peace and a ceasefire in Gaza and Palestine. The Turkish leader is a fierce critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and he told Trump that there must be a two-state Middle East solution to achieve peace in the region. "We explained the steps to a lasting peace in Gaza and Palestine." He said that an understanding had been reached, but did not elaborate.
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Gold prices rise as US GDP data is positive and dampens bets on rate cuts; PCE focussed
The price of gold held steady Friday, as investors waited for key inflation data to be released later that day. Better-than-expected U.S. economic data dampened expectations of more rate cuts in the U.S. As of 0817 GMT, spot gold remained at $3,749.24 an ounce. The metal is up 1.9% this week and reached a record-high of $3,790.82 Tuesday. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery rose by 0.2% to $3.779.40. The data released on Thursday revealed that the U.S. economic growth was faster than expected in the second quarter. Meanwhile, weekly unemployment claims decreased. Han Tan, Chief Market Analyst at Nemo.money, said, "Gold has held steady in the mid-$3,700 range, given the latest demonstration of resilience by the U.S. Economy. Bets on Fed rate reductions by the end of 2025 have been pared by up to 18 percentage points. CME FedWatch Tool shows that investors now expect a rate cut in October and December of 87% and 62% respectively. This is down from 91% & 76% before the data. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure is the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index data due at 1230 GMT. A poll suggests that the report may show an increase of 0.3% from month to month and 2.7% on a year-to-year basis in August. The markets do not expect a wild performance from the PCE numbers, which suggests that inflation is still under control. Tan said that if they are higher than expected, it could cause gold to fall. In times of geopolitical or economic uncertainty, safe-haven gold bullion flourishes. On the trade front President Trump announced that a new round of tariffs would be imposed on imports of drugs, trucks, and furniture beginning October 1. Silver fell by 0.5% at $45.01 an ounce. Platinum jumped by 0.6% to $1.539.44, hovering near a 12-year-high, while palladium remained steady at $1.250.40. All three metals were on track for gains this week. (Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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Eni and five oil companies fined for Italian anti-competitiveness
The Italian antitrust regulator fined Eni, a major energy company in Italy, and five other oil firms operating in Italy for unfair competition practices in the sale fuel for trucks. The regulator announced that more than $9 billion in fines had been imposed on Eni, Esso owned by ExxonMobil, Ip, Q8, Saras, and Tamoil. In a press release, the watchdog revealed that the companies had operated as a cartel to fix the price of biofuel components contributing to the cost of fuel between January 2020 to June 2023. It said that the value of this price component increased from 20 euros per cubic metre to 60 euros by 2023. The organization added that it was prompted to launch what they called a "complex inquiry" after receiving an anonymous tip. The authority fined Eni 336 million Euros, Q8 173 Million Euros, Ip 164 Million Euros, Esso 129MillionEuros, Tamoil 91MillionEuros and Saras 44MillionEuros. Eni and IP failed to respond to comments immediately and were unable to reach the other companies. Reporting by Gavin Jones Editing David Goodman
Shanghai copper firms capped gains due to soft demand and supply concerns
Shanghai copper prices rose on Friday as supply disruption worries arose following Freeport's declaration of force majeure. However, gains were limited due to weaker demand and high prices.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract closed the day with a gain of 0.38%, closing at 82470 yuan per metric ton ($11,558.68), ending the week on a 3.39% increase.
The benchmark three-month price of copper at the London Metal Exchange dropped 0.35% as of 0716 GMT to $10,223.5 per ton, but it is expected to finish the week with a gain 2.33%.
The LME copper price was impacted by a stronger dollar. The dollar maintained its steep gains on the Friday after better than expected U.S. economic data dampened expectations of further Federal Reserve easing this year.
Shanghai copper prices rose to their highest level in a year on Thursday, after Freeport announced that it expects its Indonesian unit’s production will be 35% less than originally estimated by 2026.
Analysts at Chinese broker Haitong Futures stated that the high prices are due to restocking in anticipation of China's National Day Holiday from October 1 through October 8. This is expected to have an impact on demand. Further gains in copper prices will depend on downstream acceptance of high prices.
A state-run news outlet reported that China was studying ways to regulate its capacity for copper smelting. Chen Xuesen is vice chairman of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
Chen said that copper enterprises should oppose the "involutionary" style of competition which is harmful to both the industry's and country's interests.
Other LME metals saw a decline of 0.85% in zinc, 0.62% in lead, 0.45% for nickel, 0.38% for aluminium, and 0.16% on tin.
Nickel fell 1.05% for SHFE base metals. Lead remained unchanged. Tin added 0.16%. Zinc, aluminium, and tin showed little change.
(source: Reuters)