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China October aluminium output rises on firm need, higher rates
China's October aluminium output rose from a year previously, main information showed on Friday, with a firm need outlook and higher prices offsetting increasing basic material costs. The world's most significant aluminium producer produced 3.72 million metric lots of main aluminium last month, up 1.6%. year-on-year, data from the National Bureau of Data showed. on Friday. In the very first 10 months of the year, China produced 36.39. million heaps, a rise of 4.3% from the same duration last year, the. information revealed. Smelters ramped up their operations this year as the market. turned more lucrative and demand enhanced. In October, the primary producing regions - Shandong, Xinjiang. and Inner Mongolia - kept strong operating rates, while. some new capacity was included the southwestern China, according. to regional media reports. Beijing's barrage of financial stimulus in late September and. procedures to restore its home market likewise boosted the. demand outlook for the light metal, utilized in construction,. transportation and packaging. The most-traded aluminium agreement on the Shanghai Futures. Exchange struck over 21,650 yuan ($ 2,993.56) per load. previously this month, a more than five-month high. Higher costs balance out rising production expenses, even with. costs of the key raw material alumina climbing as authorities. in Guinea suspended exports of bauxite, utilized to make alumina, in. a currently tight market. Regional information supplier Mysteel approximated aluminium. production expenses increased by 938 yuan per heap last month, nevertheless,. thanks to higher aluminium rates, typical revenues increased by. 128 yuan per load. Daily aluminium output in October balanced 120,000 tons,. lower than the average of 121,667 heaps in September, based on. Reuters' calculation. Southwestern China's dry season began this month, which will. lower hydropower supply and raise power rates, leading some. smelters to trim output. Production of 10 nonferrous metals - including copper,. aluminium, lead, zinc and nickel-- rose 0.6 % to 6.69 million. metric loads from a year earlier. Year-to-date output was up 4.7. % at 65.41 million metric heaps. The other non-ferrous metals are. tin, antimony, mercury, magnesium and titanium.
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Philippines braces for hurricane Man-yi as Usagi deteriorates
Hurricane Usagi damaged sharply on Friday after bearing down on the Philippines' northern towns, blowing away homes in its course as authorities brace for another storm that might hit the capital Manila over the weekend. Usagi, known locally as Ofel, magnified into an extremely tropical cyclone as it made landfall in the town of Baggao in Cagayan province on Thursday afternoon. Philippine meteorological firm Pag-asa stated that Usagi has because weakened and is now headed towards Taiwan. Usagi is the 15th cyclone to hit the Philippines this year. Authorities are currently bracing for another typhoon, Man-yi, which might strike eastern towns and the capital area over the weekend as it continues to intensify in the western Pacific. Man-yi could become a supertyphoon on early Sunday, Pag-asa said. No casualties have actually yet been reported from Usagi, even as countless households living in vulnerable communities fled ahead of its arrival. Rueli Rapsing, head of the Cagayan disaster relief office, said town authorities are still penetrating the extent of the damage from the storm. There were more homes that were partly or totally blown after Marce (Tropical Storm Yinxing). Presently, we're moving around evaluating the damage, Rapsing said on Friday. Preemptive evacuations of vulnerable residents in Hurricane Man-yi's course will start on Friday. Pag-asa stated Man-yi's center was last estimated around 795km ( 494 miles) east of the central town of Guian in Eastern Samar province, and alerted of a storm surge of up to 3 metres (10. feet) in seaside towns of the central provinces. The Philippines is dealing with its sixth storm in a month,. primarily striking the main island of Luzon. Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey brought heavy. flooding and triggered landslides, killing 162 people with 22. still missing out on, according to federal government information. Four storms churned in the western Pacific ocean at the exact same. time this month, the first time it has taken place given that records. began in 1951, the Japan Meteorological Company said. About 20 hurricanes strike the Philippines each year on. average, bringing heavy rains, strong winds and deadly. landslides.
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China's refinery output succumbs to seventh straight month despite ramp-up at new plant
China's refinery throughput fell 4.6%. from last year in October for a seventh successive month of. decrease, regardless of a rampup in production at a recently begun. refinery and holiday travel, official information showed on Friday. Refiners processed 59.54 million metric tons of crude oil. last month, data from the National Bureau of Stats (NBS). revealed, equivalent to 14.02 million barrels daily (bpd). The October figure was lower versus September's 14.3 million. bpd and 15.05 million bpd in October of 2023. Yulong Petrochemical, China's most recent refiner which began. up among its two 200,000-bpd crude processors in late. September, has raised operations to about 90% of capability,. Reuters reported. Analysts said last month's intake of air travel fuel and. fuel increased as more individuals travelled for the National Day. golden week holiday. Nevertheless, data from consultancy Sublime China Info. revealed smaller independent plants were running at 58.7% of. their capability in the refining center Shandong by late October,. greatly below the 77% rate a year previously. Five refineries were totally closed or under maintenance, the. firm said. These include Sinochem's plants - Zhenghe, Huaxing. and Changyi - which were stated bankrupt in September, a. Sublime expert said. In addition, PetroChina's shutting of a 90,000-bpd crude. unit at its plant in northeastern Dalian, part of a huge. relocation task, also added to the lower output. Data revealed throughput throughout the first 10 months stood at. 590.59 million loads, or 14.14 million bpd, down 2% year-on-year,. in its fifth successive decrease for year-to-date volumes. Domestic crude oil production last month got 2.5% on the. year to 17.17 million loads, or 4.04 million bpd, the NBS information. showed. Year-to-date output increased 2% on the year to 177.64 million. tons, or 4.25 million bpd. Natural gas production broadened 8.4% in October over the. year-ago level to 20.8 billion cubic meters
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China Oct unrefined steel output enhanced by enhanced demand, China stimulus
China's unrefined steel output rose 6.2% in October from September, ending a fourmonth slide, main data showed on Friday, amidst enhanced need and an increase to sentiment from Beijing's current burst of economic stimulus. The world's biggest steel manufacturer produced 81.88 million metric lots of unrefined steel last month, up from 77.07 million loads in September, information from the National Bureau of Data showed. October's volume was likewise up 2.9% from a year earlier, NBS information showed. The month's daily output averaged about 2.64 million heaps, compared with 2.57 million heaps in September and 2.55 million tons in October 2023, according to Reuters calculations based upon the information. Experts attributed the increase in output to enhanced demand and production margins following Beijing's economic stimulus steps. The increased need was reflected in China's typical daily home sales throughout the Golden Week holiday, which leapt 23% by floor location from a year previously, while production activity broadened for the first time in six months and services got in October. Likewise, steel exports hit a nine-year high of 11.18 million loads in October. Output in the first 10 months of 2024 fell 3% on the year to 850.73 million lots, the bureau said. Output in November is anticipated to fall due to seasonally weaker need, analysts said. China modified up its overall crude steel output for 2023 by nearly 1% to 1.029 billion lots from 1.019 billion lots formerly.
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Oil dips on oversupply concerns, heads for weekly loss
Oil rates edged down early on Friday as oversupply issues and demand worries coming from a. more powerful dollar outweighed a steep draw in U.S. fuel stocks. Brent unrefined futures were down 30 cents, or 0.41%, at. $ 72.26 a barrel by 0105 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude. futures were down 25 cents, or 0.36%, at $68.45. For the week, Brent is set to fall about 2.2% while WTI is. set to decline 2.7%. U.S. crude stocks recently rose by 2.1 million. barrels, the Energy Info Administration (EIA) said on. Thursday, a lot more than analysts' expectations for a. 750,000-barrel rise. Meanwhile, gasoline stocks fell by 4.4 million barrels last. week to the most affordable since November 2022, the EIA said, compared. with analysts' expectations in a Reuters survey for a. 600,000-barrel develop.? Extract stockpiles, that include. diesel and heating oil, also fell all of a sudden by 1.4 million. barrels, the information showed. Indications of stronger need supported oil prices, ANZ expert. Daniel Hynes said. However, prices came under pressure after. the marketplace was reminded of the bleak outlook for demand. The International Energy Company forecast global oil supply. will go beyond demand in 2025 even if cuts remain in location from. OPEC+, which includes the Company of the Petroleum. Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, as rising. production from the U.S. and other outdoors producers outpaces. slow need. The Paris-based company raised its 2024 demand growth. forecast by 60,000 barrels per day to 920,000 bpd, and left its. 2025 oil need development forecast little changed at 990,000 bpd. OPEC today cut its projection for global oil demand development. for this year and 2025, highlighting weakness in China, India. and other regions, marking the producer group's. fourth-consecutive down modification to its 2024 outlook. Likewise pressing oil prices, the dollar surged on Thursday to. an one-year high and headed for a fifth-straight daily gain. fuelled by greater yields and Donald Trump's presidential. election success in the United States. A more powerful greenback makes dollar-denominated oil more. pricey for holders of other currencies, which can minimize. need.
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Dollar sits atop one-year peak as Powell sends yields up, shares hesitant
The U.S. dollar extended its broad rally early on Friday, towering at oneyear highs as a. hawkish turn from the Federal Reserve chief sent shortterm. Treasury yields higher, leaving Wall Street futures in the red. and a lot of Asia markets struggling. Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated there was no need to hurry rate. cuts with the economy still growing, the job market strong and. inflation still above the 2% target, tempering expectations for. a rate cut next month. Fed fund futures for next year slumped with December. off 7 ticks and suggest just 71 basis points of rate cuts by. end-2025. A rate cut next month is no longer a high likelihood. event, with simply 61% priced in, below 82.5% in the prior. session. That raised the dollar throughout the board, particularly versus. the euro as expectations for more aggressive policy easing in. Europe further undermined the single currency already trading at. one-year lows. On Friday, Nasdaq futures fell 0.4% while S&P 500. futures reduced 0.3%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell. 0.5%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. was off 0.1% and down 4.6% for the week, the. greatest weekly loss in more than two years. Tokyo's Nikkei, nevertheless, gained 1.1% driven by a. pull back in the yen, which enhanced the outlook for Japanese. exporters. Still, it was down 1.3% for the week. Even before Powell spoke, manufacturer prices information showed that. the core gauge surprised a little to the upside, which likewise had. markets fretted about the rate of relieving ahead. Goldman Sachs now sees a greater danger that the Fed could. slow the speed of relieving faster, potentially as quickly as the December. or January meetings, while JPMorgan still pointers the Fed to cut in. December though they expect the reserve bank could call down the. reducing pace in January. After the sugar hit of Trump's election and its subsequent. influence on expectations for company profits, the market's. enthusiasm is being diminished by greater rates of interest. unpredictability, especially entering into next year, stated Kyle Rodda,. a senior analyst at Capital.com. Short-term Treasury yields soared over night and stayed. elevated on Friday. The two-year yields held at. 4.36%, having leapt 6 basis points overnight to close at. 4.357%. In the currency markets, the dollar towered versus its. significant peers at an one-year top. It gained for five days on the. yen, up another 0.2% to 156.56, the highest since. July. The euro nursed heavy losses at $1.0529 and is set. for a substantial weekly loss of 1.77%. Minutes of the latest meeting. from the European Central Bank revealed the cut last month was. likely an insurance coverage relocation. Markets are, however, more dovish on the ECB and see a. good 36% opportunity it might step up its reducing in December with a. half-point relocate to guard against growth dangers. They are also. wagering that the ECB will have to cut at each conference till mid. next year. The lofty dollar pressured commodity costs, with gold. rates down 4.4% today to $2,566.45, bringing the. regular monthly loss so far to a large 8%. Oil are also down for the week. Brent unrefined futures. are set for a weekly loss of 2.1% and were last at $72.33 a. barrel.
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Australia eyes US climate policy shift for green energy increase
Any relocation by the Trump administration to change U.S. environment policy could benefit Australia's aspirations to bring in higher financial investment to its crucial minerals and green energy market, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday. Australia has rich deposits of copper, vanadium, cobalt and lithium utilized in electrical automobile batteries. It is contending for global investment to build its clean energy sector, including crucial minerals processing. Trump has actually guaranteed to rescind President Joe Biden's landmark environment legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, which offers billions of dollars in subsidies for clean energy. There are possible advantages if there are changes in U.S. policy. We'll wait and see what happens, Albanese told reporters in Peru, where he is attending the APEC top. Australia sees climate action as an excellent financial chance, he stated. The Inflation Decrease Act, for example, has seen substantial capital circulation to the United States. If those incentives aren't there, then that has implications for the nature of the international economy, he stated. Australia was not pre-empting changes, he included. We have all of the resources under the ground that will drive the worldwide economy in the 21st century. Copper, vanadium, cobalt, lithium, and so on. We have a terrific chance to produce green hydrogen through use of the renewables, he said. Albanese met Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday, and informed press reporters the impact of a Trump presidency on the world was part of the background of APEC, and was being gone over by leaders. Albanese included his call with Trump last week was really. positive.
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Global carbon balanced out standard setter okays three logging job types
A global standard setter for voluntary carbon projects has actually authorized three new approaches for tasks that lower emissions from deforestation and forest deterioration (REDD+), aiming to restore confidence in the market. Preserving forests is crucial to meeting global objectives to limit international temperature level increases to prevent the most extreme consequences of worldwide warming. In the voluntary carbon market, business can purchase credits from projects that prevent emissions such as cleaner cooking fuels or deforestation prevention schemes across the world and use them to satisfy their internal carbon-cutting targets. REDD+ projects have been under big examination over the past couple of years after media reports cast doubt over whether numerous tasks maintained as much forest as they had declared and that the communities included did not benefit as much as anticipated. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market ( ICVCM), an independent governance body, has actually sought to deal with integrity concerns by launching Core Carbon Principle (CCP). standards and is assessing the credibility of projects. It said three brand-new REDD+ approaches, none of which have. already provided credits, had actually satisfied its CCP criteria. The Governing Board was pleased that the authorized. methods deal with the concerns determined in older REDD+. approaches, and will introduce a new generation of. high-integrity projects, the ICVCM said in a declaration. The authorized Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology. ( VM0048) for example will now utilize standards set on. jurisdictional deforestation information rather than on recommendation areas. picked by task designers. Verra, among the largest credit providers has issued more. than 400 million VCS REDD+ credits to date to jobs using the. old approaches. It did not send the older REDD+ methodologies for. assessment by ICVCM and said all signed up VCS jobs are. needed to transition to the brand-new approach with the timing. depending on the status of the projects. The other approved methods are (ART) The REDD+. Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) v2.0, TREES Crediting. Level and the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR). Framework v4.1. ICVCM said the present pipeline of jobs with the. approved methodologies have the prospective to provide more than 400. million carbon credits.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards - a powerful group with a wide regional reach
Iranian English-language Press TV reported Iranian sources saying that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards carried out a drone strike against Israel targets on Saturday.
Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian Supreme Leader, vowed revenge after a senior commander of the Corps' Quds Force, Mohammad Reza Zahedi was killed in an airstrike that Iran blamed Israel for on April 1, in Damascus.
Here are some questions and their answers regarding the IRGC - Iran's most powerful military force, which includes its own army and navy, as well as an air force and intelligence wing.
What is the IRGC?
The Shi'ite Muslim ruling clerical system was protected by the IRA shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. It also provided a counterweight for the regular armed force.
The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is the one who answers to it. It is estimated that the IRGC's military comprises 125,000 soldiers, including army, navy, and air units. The IRGC also commands the Basij, a religious paramilitary that is loyal to the clerical regime and often used to suppress anti-government demonstrations.
In the 1980s, Basijis launched "human waves" against Iraqi soldiers during a conflict. They enforce the social codes of Shi'ite Iran in peacetime. Analysts estimate that Basij volunteers could number millions with around 1 million being active.
Quds Force, the IRGC overseas arm, has a major influence on its allied militias in the Middle East - from Lebanon to Iraq, Yemen, and Syria. The Quds Force has fought alongside President Bashar al Assad in the civil war in Syria and has supported Iraqi security forces against Islamic State militants.
In 2020, the United States killed its top commander, Major General Qassem Solimani, in a drone strike in Iraq, which raised fears of an escalating conflict.
Since its founding in 1982, the IRGC has been attempting to mold the Middle East to Iran's liking. It founded in 1982 the heavily armed Shi'ite movement Hezbollah to fight Israeli forces who invaded Lebanon and export Iran's Islamic Revolution.
Hezbollah has become a major force in the military and played a significant role in conflicts across the region.
WHAT ARE THE IRGC'S MILITARY CAPABILITIES?
Experts consider Iran's missile programme to be the largest in the Middle East.
The Guards used missiles to attack Sunni Muslim militants and Iranian Kurdish groups in northern Iraq. The United States and European powers, as well as Saudi Arabia, blamed Iran for the 2019 missile and drone attacks that crippled Saudi Arabia's largest oil processing facility. Iran, however, denied any involvement.
Donald Trump, the former U.S. President, cited Iran's missile program as one of the issues not addressed in the 2015 nuclear agreement with the world powers. He cited this as the reason for withdrawing from the deal in 2018.
The Guards' conventional combat capabilities and hardware were demonstrated in their participation in the conflict in Syria and Iraq.
What is the IRGC’s position in Iran’s political system?
From the government to the parliament, former Revolutionary Guards officers hold key positions within Iran's establishment. Former IRGC officers make up the majority of President Ebrahim Raisi's Cabinet.
Its mandate, to protect revolutionary ideals, has led it to speak up when the system is threatened.
What about business interests?
The IRGC was heavily involved in Iran’s reconstruction after the war with Iraq in the 1980s. Since then, it has expanded its economic interests into a vast business network worth billions of dollar, from oil and gas to construction and telecommunication. (Reporting and editing by Kevin Liffey, Michael Georgy)
(source: Reuters)