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After talks with the US energy chief, EU has decided to stick to its 2028 Russian gas withdrawal.
After a meeting on Thursday with U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, EU Energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen stated that the EU will stick to its deadline for phasing out Russian oil imports by 2028. The EU is currently negotiating legal proposals that will completely phase out the imports of Russian gas and oil by January 1, 2028. A ban on short-term contracting will be implemented next year. However, it faces pressure from both the United States and Russia to stop Russian energy imports earlier. As part of the new sanctions against Moscow, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated on Wednesday that the EU is considering a quicker phase-out for Russian fossil fuels. Jorgensen confirmed that Wright and he did not discuss sanctions during their meeting in Brussels last Thursday. He said that Jorgensen was focused on getting the EU countries to approve the phase-out of 2028 - separate from any EU sanctions. He said, "This is an ambitious plan." He said: "I am happy to do anything else that can be done at the same time that puts pressure on Russia." A White House official revealed that U.S. president Donald Trump told European leaders to stop buying Russian oil last week in order to end the conflict in Ukraine. Jorgensen refused to comment on whether Wright asked the EU to stop using Russian oil and gas faster. Wright, speaking to reporters following the meeting in Brussels, said: "Our goal is deploying American energy exports around the world... This point strikes home in Europe where I'm today. Nearly 50% of the imported natural gas comes from Russia." We're working to reduce that number to zero. The biggest contributor to that has been the energy exports of the United States. We will continue this and stop all Russian energy imports to the EU. Jorgensen stated that they agreed Europe needed to move as quickly as possible in order to achieve this. They had discussed "several different ways" to make it happen. Jorgensen explained that the EU's phase-out plan by 2028 was designed to "avoid price increases and future supply issues", adding that it would force Europe to purchase more U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas. (Reporting by Kate Abnett, Writing by Mathias de Rozario, Editing by Susan Fenton)
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US CPC predicts 71% La Nina in Oct-Dec
The U.S. Climate Prediction Center said that a transition from El Nino/Southern Oscillation neutral to La Nina will likely occur in the next few months. There is a 71% probability of La Nina between October and December. Climate Prediction Center reported on Thursday. The U.S. forecaster said that "La Nina will be favored in the future, but chances of it occurring are expected to decrease from 54% between December 2025 and February 2026." Why it's important La Nina is a part of El Nino-Southern Oscillation, a climatic cycle that affects the water temperatures in central and eastern Pacific Ocean. La Nina causes cooler water temperatures which increases the risk of droughts and floods. This can have an impact on crops. When ENSO neutral, water temperature stays around average, leading to better weather and possibly higher crop yields. KEY QUOTES Donald Keeney is an agricultural meteorologist with Vaisala. He said that if we do get a weak La Nina it will be brief and weak. All the models should warm back to neutral at the end of the calendar year. Neutral conditions usually result in favorable conditions for growing in the north-central U.S. but dryer conditions in the Central and Southern Plains in the fall/winter. He added that the outlook for South America was a little more positive, particularly in central and northern Brazil. CONTEXT Japan's The weather bureau reported on Wednesday that the chance of rain was 60% Chance The La Nina phenomena would not appear and normal weather conditions will continue into the Northern Hemisphere Winter. The World Meteorological Organization On Tuesday, it was reported that the return of La Nina could start to influence global weather patterns in September. Reporting by Noel John, Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Porter
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TPG to buy Proficy software from GE Vernova for $600 Million
As part of its cost-cutting efforts, GE Vernova, a U.S. manufacturer of power equipment, announced on Thursday that it had agreed to sell Proficy (its industrial software business) to asset management company TPG for $600,000,000. In premarket trading, shares of the company increased by 1.2% to $651. Proficy accounts for approximately 20% of GE Vernova’s electrification revenue. This more than doubled in the second quarter to $332 millions from a year earlier. GE Vernova stated on its first quarter call in April that it expected a $300-400 million increase in cost in 2025. It also said they were looking to offset tariffs, inflation and other costs through pricing. The company also invests to strengthen its supply chains and announced in January a $600,000,000 investment in U.S. factory over the next two-years to meet global electricity demand. The Proficy transaction is expected to be completed in the first half 2026. TPG will own and control the company, while GE Vernova will retain a seat on the board as an observer. GE Vernova anticipates receiving additional proceeds from the sale in the future, depending on different outcomes and conditions. The company stated that the deal would make Proficy a stand-alone software business. TPG Capital is the private equity platform of TPG, which has offices in Europe and the United States. (Reporting and editing by Tasimzahid and Pooja Deai in Bengaluru, and Sumit Saha from Bengaluru)
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Stocks and the euro slump as ECB remains steady, US inflation increases
The euro and the dollar were largely unmoved by the European Central Bank's decision to keep interest rates unchanged and the U.S. inflation figures that showed a slight increase. The ECB held its rate at 2% as expected. However, with the ECB reducing its inflation forecasts during its press conference and Christine Lagarde at the helm of it, traders were looking for any indication of when another rate reduction might be coming. The euro moved a fraction lower to $1.1672, after soaring nearly 13% against the dollar in this year. Bond vigilantes have not yet been able to push France's politically-strained borrowing costs above Italy. The headline rate for August U.S. Consumer Price Inflation was 2.9%, the highest since January. However, the core measure remained at 3.1%. Stock markets mostly shrugged off the news as it was in line with expectations. Wall Street futures continued to price in more record highs on the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow after the 36% jump in Oracle shares Wednesday was the latest driver. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.4% ahead Lagarde. Benoit Begoc, ABN AMRO's strategist, said that while the ECB was widely expected to maintain rates in the near future, it is important for Lagarde to keep the door open. "I'm wondering why you don't cut rates more." Begoc stated. Begoc said. Oracle's U.S. surge helped Asia overnight, where Japan's, Taiwan's and South Korea’s main stock exchanges also achieved record highs. Germany's 10-year Bond yield fell to 2.63% as Lagarde began to speak. It had reached 2.80%, its highest level since March last week. Oil prices fell 1.2% on the commodity market after three consecutive days of gains. Poland's downing a suspected Russian drone sparked new talk of sanctions on Wednesday, while Israel had attacked Hamas leaders in Qatar the previous day. Gold, the safe-haven metal, also dipped from recent records and copper, the bellwether of metals took a break from its 20%+ rally since U.S. president Donald Trump's tariffs on trade shook markets worldwide in April. TRADERS BET ON TRIO OF FED CUTS The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates next week, despite the higher U.S. data on consumer prices. Recent signs of weakness in employment markets have led many to expect this. Wall Street futures point to further gains in fractions when the markets return at record levels soon. Oracle's 36% gain on Wednesday was the largest one-day increase for the 48-year old tech giant since 1992. Investors now fully price in a quarter point move by the Fed during next week's meetings, with an 8 percent chance of a cut of 50 basis points. Katy Stoves is an Investment Manager with Mattioli Woods. She said that despite the modest increase in inflation, the market expects a rate cut of 0.25% next week. Turkey's Central Bank was also in the spotlight after it cut interest rates by more than expected 250 basis points amid growing concerns over a crackdown on the political opposition of the country and recent higher-than anticipated inflation. The foreign exchange market was relatively quiet, with little movement in the U.S. Dollar and the six-currency dollar index barely above its seven-week low. The 10-year Treasury yields remained at 4.03% after falling 4 basis points Wednesday following the PPI data. A solid 10-year note sale also helped to ease investor concerns about long-term U.S. government debt. The Treasury's sale of $22 billion in 30-year bonds, which will take place on Thursday, is a more accurate gauge. The 30-year bond yield remained at 4.68% after falling more than 30 basis point since briefly topping 5% last week.
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Namibia will boost its sulphuric production as the critical mineral output increases
Namibia will increase its production of sulphuric acids in response to the critical rise in mineral output. Vedanta and Green Metals Refining announced plans to establish and revive plants on Thursday. The extraction of metals such as uranium and copper is a common process. Namibia, which is the third largest producer of uranium in the world, has eight critical minerals projects that are set to place it at the forefront for global green energy initiatives. Green Metals Refining, based in London, plans to invest $59 million for the first phase of an acid plant that will be able to produce 175,000 tons of sulphuric acids a year. In a Thursday statement, the company stated that it expects to increase annual production to 720,000 tonnes. Derk Hartman, CEO of Green Metals Refining, said that Namibia is a net exporter of sulphuric acids and has a large pipeline containing acid-consuming projects. We have therefore established a compelling case for local metals projects by third parties. The company plans to build a sulphuric-acid plant in Walvis Bay port, which will supply the country's copper and uranium mines. Both plants should be operational by the end 2027. Vedanta announced this week that it will recommission its Skorpion Zinc operations sulphuric plant within the next 4 to 6 months, to produce approximately 1,000 tons of sulphuric acids per day Since 2020, the facility has been on care and maintainance.
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Slovak leader Fico sets out conditions to support more Russia sanctions
Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, said that Slovakia will not support any more European Union sanctions towards Russia until it receives EU proposals aligning climate targets to carmakers' and heavy industries' needs. Fico demanded also that measures be taken to reduce electricity prices across the EU. The EU is currently debating the 19th package in its sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. EU diplomats said that a new package would likely include additional listings of Chinese companies and Russian banks, as well as vessels from Moscow's "shadow fleet" which evades sanctions. They also predicted a ban on Russian oil transactions. Fico has long maintained that sanctions don't work. He has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on three occasions since last year and has broken ranks among European allies because of his pro-Moscow position. Fico stated on Thursday that "he will not support the adoption of another package, until the Commission presents realistic proposals which align the demands of climate targets to the needs of car production, not just in Slovakia, but also with the heavy industry's needs". After meeting the EU Council President Antonio Costa, he said: "I won't support any other package until the European Commission makes realistic proposals about electricity prices in Europe." Fico held up temporarily the last package of sanctions, demanding guarantees to cover potential losses resulting from a separate EU-wide plan that would end all gas imports and oil exports from Russia by 2028. How many sanctions do we need to adopt before Russia changes its approach to war? Fico said. In an effort to cripple Russia's economy, the West has imposed sanctions worth tens and thousands of dollars on Russia for its three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine and its 2014 annexation Crimea. Fico also said that the EU should not provide military aid to Ukraine, but instead work for peace. (Reporting and editing by Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet)
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The price of copper drops from $10,000 to $9,000 on the back of a stronger dollar and uncertainty about tariffs
The copper price fell on Thursday. It climbed above $10,000 per metric ton, but then retreated under the pressure of a stronger dollar and lingering uncertainty about how tariffs would affect demand. After touching $10,015, the price of three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange dropped 0.3% to $9.983 per ton during official open-outcry trades. This was the second consecutive session that it moved above $10,000. Nitesh Sha, a commodities strategist at WisdomTree, said: "I believe the news on copper markets is still quite positive, but the dollar has firmed up a little this morning and added some headwinds to prices." Dollar index remained steady as traders awaited important U.S. consumer prices data to get a hint on Federal Reserve's interest rate-cutting path. The strong dollar increases the cost of commodities in other currencies for those who use it. Shah continued, "Miners have experienced more disruptions in their production than expected. This is combined with the fact capex for copper mines just aren't enough to keep pace with metal demand growth." After an underground incident, Grasberg, one of the largest copper mines in the world, temporarily halted its mining operations this week. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most traded copper contract gained 0.6%, to 80,130 Yuan ($11251.37) per ton. Since March, when it reached its highest level in over eight months at $10,0164.50, copper has struggled to break through $10,000 several times. Shah said that many investors were waiting to see whether U.S. Tariffs would dampen the demand as expected. He said that the situation was more complex and that the overall effect could be that the metal demand is not really affected by all the other stimuli. Other metals include LME aluminium, which rose by 0.9% to $2.649.50 per ton, and tin, which gained 0.1%, to $34,650. Zinc fell 0.3%, to $2.879, while lead dropped 0.1%, to $1.985, and nickel, down 0.5%, to $15,065. Click here to see the top metals stories ($1 = 7.1218 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting and editing by David Goodman).
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Sources say that the Indian court has dismissed Asian Paints' appeal against the antitrust investigation.
Six people with knowledge of the proceedings confirmed that an Indian court dismissed Asian Paints' request to halt a current antitrust investigation against the company on Thursday. The Competition Commission of India has opened an investigation into Asian Paints. This paints manufacturer, with a 52% share of the market, was investigated after officials found that a complaint by Birla Opus, the biggest paints producer in India, had merit. Birla Opus claimed that Asian Paints abused their dominant position by giving discounts and incentives for dealers. Asian Paints tried to end the inquiry by filing a case at the High Court of Mumbai in July, arguing CCI officials had damaged the company's reputation by publishing and then deleting allegations made against its CEO in the investigation order. Six sources said that the High Court dismissed the company’s claim in a short hearing on Thursday. A detailed order would be issued later. One source said that the court found no merit in Asian Paints' complaint. Asian Paints has not responded to our request for a comment. CCI and Birla Opus - the paints division of Aditya Birla Group, Grasim Industries led by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla – also failed to respond to requests for comments. Paints are a profitable business in India. The country is one of the fastest growing economies on the planet. Elara Capital data show that Birla has eroded Asian Paints dominance since its launch in 2024. The company has grown rapidly, reaching a market share of nearly 7% by March. In its initial review, the CCI found that Asian Paints had imposed unfair conditions to dealers. It called this "exploitative behavior".
Israel aims to boost Red Sea oil deliveries despite ecological dangers
Israel plans to permit more oil tankers to dock at a Red Sea port in Eilat despite environmental threats, as it makes every effort to preserve energy security amidst dispute on numerous fronts, according to Israeli authorities and government documents.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's workplace wishes to withdraw limitations on the quantity of oil that can be unloaded at a. jetty in the city, which sits in the middle of a string of. resorts and beaches and is surrounding to a fragile reef.
The curbs enforced in 2021 by the Environmental Protection. Ministry and which efficiently halted an oil supply handle. the United Arab Emirates, were relieved momentarily late last year. at the start of the Gaza war.
The jetty comes from state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Co. ( EAPC), which runs a pipeline across Israel linking the. Red and Mediterranean seas as an option for tankers. crossing the Suez Canal.
EAPC wishes to get more oil but ecological regulators. and Eilat's mayor oppose the plan.
With the war versus Hamas triggering battling with. Hezbollah in Lebanon and drawing attacks from other Iranian. proxies in Yemen, Iraq and even by Iran itself, Israel is. pushing to guarantee it can keep its economy running efficiently.
When its primary energy source, the offshore Tamar gas field,. was briefly shut at the beginning of the war with Hamas, the. country turned to products allocated for export.
With Yemeni Houthis interfering with trade in the Red Sea, ships. have diverted to Mediterranean ports. Utilities have developed their. own backup networks.
EAPC signed an offer to transfer large amounts of oil from the. UAE to Europe through its pipeline in 2020, soon after Israel. and the UAE stabilized ties, in one of the most significant. collaborations to emerge from the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords.
The deal was anticipated to move tens of millions of loads. of oil, meaning about 50 tankers docking at the congested Eilat. coastline yearly, the Environmental Protection Ministry said. The previous average was two.
The environment ministry took a hardline policy of no. additional risk and set a limitation of 2 million tons of oil,. successfully blocking the offer.
Eilat's reef is unique in having proved more resilient. to environment change, when numerous reefs around the globe are dying. It is also a huge tourist draw. Its proximity to the jetty leaves. it vulnerable to even the tiniest leakage from one tanker.
Despite those threats, Netanyahu's office advised this. month that the easing of constraints be extended and broadened. to consist of fuel for trade in addition to domestic usage, and even for. capacity to unload oil products in Eilat to be broadened, an. internal report seen showed.
The federal government of Israel does not take an approach of. total risk avoidance - not in security, not in energy and not. in the environment, a ministerial committee formed by Yossi. Shelley, director general of Netanyahu's office, stated in the. report which has not been made public.
Not canceling the constraint of the 'no additional risk'. policy, without managing the danger, and not broadening the. distillates port may cause the closure of the Eilat terminal. and not permit the necessary response in times of emergency.
The committee advised the environment ministry to come up. with a strategy to minimize risks from more oil deliveries.
The Environmental Protection Ministry composed to Netanyahu's. workplace on April 16 after receiving the report, and in its letter. seen said its issues were ignored, the report's. suggestions were undesirable, and that it did not have the. resources to control the proposed increase in shipments.
In arguing its case, the ministry has actually cited past accidents,. like in 2014 when EAPC's pipeline burst, spilling countless. litres of oil into a nature preserve.
It was uncertain whether eliminating the Eilat constraints would. revive the UAE oil deal. Petromal, a system of Abu Dhabi-based. National Holding and among the owners of the company that. signed the handle EAPC, did not instantly react to a. ask for comment.
KEEPING THE OIL FLOWING
EAPC Chairman Erez Halfon invited the government's U-turn. in a statement in which he said the war has actually made clear the. strategic, security and energy importance of EAPC's facility in. Eilat.
Without consistent oil deliveries, the Eilat center will. degenerate and end up being unreliable, EAPC stated.
Nearly all Israel's trade, consisting of energy deliveries, is. seaborne and most takes place along the Mediterranean coast in ports. at Haifa, Ashdod and Ashkelon.
In 2023 Israel imported 267,000 barrels per day of crude. oil, according to data from delivering analytics firm Kpler,. mostly from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Kurdistan.
The Emirati oil offer might be worth about $50 million a year. for EAPC, according to the internal report.
Israel's Energy Ministry informed that oil shipments. need to be enough to economically sustain the terminal however require. to be managed appropriately vis a vis the environment.
One government main dismissed an argument by the. director general of the Environmental Protection Ministry that. there were other ways to keep the jetty functioning.
The professional position was clearly specified that any methods. aside from functional activity will not be sufficient to keep. that channel performance, the official told .
The committee, the official highlighted, did not tell the. Environmental management Ministry exactly how much oil should be. allowed or how to conduct the survey, only that it be brought. out. It offered the ministry 3 months to comply.
(source: Reuters)