Latest News
-
ADB authorizes $500 mln loan for Philippines' climate modification efforts
The Asian Advancement Bank has approved a $500 million loan to support the Philippines' efforts to take on climate modification, it said on Tuesday. The loan will assist speed up reforms in the Southeast Asian nation to put sectors like farming, natural deposits, energy and transportation on a climate-resilient and low-carbon path, it added. The Philippines, an island chain of more than 7,600 islands, faces the greatest disaster risk worldwide. It topped the 2022 to 2024 World Threat Index which assesses populations most at threat from earthquakes, cyclones, floods, droughts and sea-level rise. The country's high vulnerability impacts its economic momentum and outlook, ADB Philippines Country Director Pavit Ramachandran stated in a declaration. In 2021, the Philippines pledged a 75% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, up from a target of 70% set 4 years prior. In December, the multilateral loan provider revealed $10 billion in environment finance for the Philippines in between 2024 and 2029 to assistance low-carbon transport and climate strength. The ADB approved a brand-new goal in September to devote 50% of its annual lending to environment finance by 2030.
-
Dollar up, Europe stocks come under fire as Trump swears tariffs
The dollar rallied on Tuesday while European shares fell after U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump promised tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and additional tariffs on China. European equities dropped, led by high declines in automaker stocks, among the potential losers from any Trump-imposed tariffs on the European Union. The Mexican peso and Canadian dollar came under fire, while the euro likewise wilted. The dollar's had a knee-jerk move higher, the Canadian dollar's softer, the peso is softer and the equity response - especially in Europe - makes sense, Pepperstone senior market strategist Michael Brown said. Since the marketplace's thinking, 'well, what's the one nation or the one bloc that's most likely to be next? It's probably going to be the EU. So naturally you're going to be short European equities today, he said. The STOXX 600 fell 0.7% in early trade, with shares like Volkswagen and Stellantis - the maker of Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat - down 2.6-5%. U.S. S&P 500 futures alleviated 0.1% following a 0.3%. gain in the cash index overnight. The weekend election by Trump of Scott Bessent as Treasury. Secretary triggered a wave of favorable sentiment on Monday that. improved stocks and bonds, as the fund manager is viewed as a. voice for Wall Street in Washington. But Tuesday's tariff statement undid much of that. optimism. It's almost as if Trump wishes to advise markets who remains in. control, after nominating Scott Bessent as Treasury Sec - a man. markets expected to cool Trump's strength, said Matt Simpson,. senior market expert at City Index. With the Canadian dollar rising against the Mexican peso,. markets are presuming this will hit Mexico the hardest. DOLLAR BOUNCES The dollar jumped as much as 2.3% to 20.75 Mexican pesos. and was last up 1.7% on the day and increased 1% against the. Canadian dollar to C$ 1.4139. It enhanced 0.3% to 7.2674 yuan in overseas trading. , after earlier reaching the highest since late July at. 7.2730 yuan. It was simply last month that Trump said that 'the most. stunning word in the dictionary is tariff', so there truly. need to not have actually been a surprise in Trump's objective, just in. the timing of the comments, said Sean Callow, a senior FX. expert at ITC Markets. The fall in trade-sensitive currencies makes sense, and. should persist near term. Trump stated in a post on Fact Social that on his very first day. in workplace he would enforce a 25% tariff on all products from. Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff on products from. China, mentioning concerns over unlawful immigration and the trade of. illegal drugs. Trump has formerly threatened to slap tariffs on Chinese. imports in excess of 60%. Our view remains that tariffs will ultimately not end up as. bad as feared, however we will see increased uncertainty over the. coming months. Waking up to check the tweets for any policy. announcements could end up being the norm, Jefferies strategist Mohit. Kumar said. The euro fell 0.1% to $1.04838, while sterling. eased 0.2% to $1.2548. At the exact same time, the dollar compromised 0.3% to 153.66 yen. , after at first reinforcing following Trump's. tariff remarks. The dollar-yen pair tends to track long-lasting U.S. Treasury. yields, which ticked up about 3.7 basis indicate. 4.3% in Europe, after Monday's 15 basis-point fall. Bitcoin fell 1% to $92,781, relieving further from last. week's record high at $99,830. The token has actually benefited from. speculation of a simpler regulatory environment for. cryptocurrencies under Trump. Gold caught the dollar's strength, dipping to a. one-week low of $2,604.99. Oil prices recovered slightly from the previous session's. 2.8% drop as investors mulled the implications of a potential. ceasefire in between Israel and Hezbollah. Brent unrefined futures increased 0.6% to $73.41 a barrel,. while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose. 0.45% to $69.25 a barrel.
-
India's JSW Steel, SAIL in talks with Mongolia for coking coal deliveries, sources say
India's JSW Steel and staterun Steel Authority of India (SAIL). remain in talks with Mongolian authorities to import two. deliveries of coking coal, two sources with direct knowledge of. the matter stated. JSW Steel, the nation's biggest steelmaker by capability,. plans to purchase 2,500 metric lots, while SAIL intends to import 75,000. metric lots of the steelmaking raw material from Mongolia, said. the sources who requested privacy as the plans are not public. Both JSW Steel and SAIL would import Mongolian coking coal. either via Russia or China, said the sources. We are simply trying to comprehend how the logistics work,. SAIL Chairman Amarendu Prakash informed Reuters when asked if the. business was looking to receive a shipment from Mongolia. SAIL was exploring sourcing coking coal from Mongolia to. diversify its suppliers, it stated in an emailed declaration to. Reuters. India, the world's second-largest manufacturer of unrefined steel,. fulfills 85% of its coking coal requirements through imports. Late in 2015, irregular climate condition hit coking coal. supplies from Australia, which represents over half of India's. coking coal imports of around 70 million metric tons a year. Since then, Indian steel mills have been looking for to source. coking coal from other countries. Last month, a source said India was checking out methods to import. routine materials of Mongolian coking coal by means of Russia to reduce. dependence on materials through China. Industry officials state landlocked however resource-rich Mongolia. can offer exceptional grades of coking coal at fairly lower. rates to India, which is witnessing strong steel demand driven. by quick financial growth and increasing facilities spending. Mongolian coal is about $50 a metric ton cheaper than the. Australian materials, they stated. India's Jindal Steel and Power is likewise eager to. source coking coal from Mongolia, one of the sources stated. India's JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power didn't react. to Reuters emails for comment. The Indian government is working to assist steel business. diversify imports to avoid over-reliance on particular countries,. commodities consultancy BigMint said. India imported 29.4 million metric lots of coking coal. during the very first half of the , up almost 2% from a. year earlier, the consultancy added.
-
Iron ore rangebound amid China rate cut hopes, Trump tariff strategies
Iron ore futures sold a narrow variety on Tuesday as a softer yuan boosted hopes of a. rate cut by China's central bank while higher tariffs loomed. after a promise by U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump. The most-traded January iron ore contract on China's Dalian. Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 0.32%. higher at 783.0 yuan ($ 107.90) a metric ton. The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore. Exchange was flat at $102.6 a lot as of 0803 GMT. Individuals's Bank of China (PBOC) enabled the USD/CNY to. break above 7.25 over night - a line in the sand it had actually been. defending because late July, said Navigate Commodities handling. director Atilla Widnell. As such, China's industrial metals complex is now. prices in growing expectations the PBOC will possibly cut. reserve requirement ratios quicker rather than later on. The Chinese yuan on Monday was up to its weakest in nearly. 4 months against the U.S. dollar,. following Trump's vow to slap an additional 10% tariff on all. Chinese products. The Chinese economy is now in a far more vulnerable. position offered the country's prolonged residential or commercial property decline, financial obligation. risks and weak domestic need. China still faces extreme structural headwinds to. development, however at least, financial and monetary policy. settings are now more undoubtedly injecting meaningful support,. Westpac said in a different note. In October, the PBOC governor had flagged further cuts to the reserve requirement ratio for. industrial loan providers by the year-end. Iron ore markets remain concentrated on upcoming Chinese. meetings set up for December, consisting of the Politburo conference. and Central Economic Work Conference, Westpac analysts stated in a. note. Other steelmaking components on the DCE lost ground, with. coking coal and coke down 0.97% and 0.47%,. respectively. A lot of steel standards on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. reversed earlier gains. Rebar and hot-rolled coil. lost 0.12%, stainless-steel shed 1.24%,. although wire rod reinforced almost 0.3%.
-
Leading importer Vietnam has a hard time to recycle plastic waste
Countless discarded bags float on the canal going through Minh Khai village, whose narrow streets are obstructed with high stacks of plastic waste spilling out from villagers' front lawns and stacked near furnaces where nonrecyclable scrap is burned. This socalled plastic recycling craft town, an hour's. drive from Vietnam's capital Hanoi, is where a few of the plastic. arranged for recycling in Japan, America and Europe ends up for. final treatment. Delegates at a United Nations summit in South Korea this week. are talking about brand-new worldwide guidelines that could restrict that trade,. which U.N. data shows deserved $3.8 billion in 2015. Stricter. domestic requirements on waste imports will likewise apply. in Vietnam from next year. The Southeast Asian country has actually become a significant importer. of plastic scrap recently after China, when the top. player in the industry, prohibited imports in 2018. Vietnam was the. world's 4th biggest importer in 2022, according to the. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Advancement (OECD). But that rise in imports has actually taken place as the nation is. struggling to recycle even its own plastic waste. Extra constraints could minimize the trade however the big. size of the domestic informal market might make it hard to. monitor industrial flows and recycling rates, experts and. officials said. FROM SORTING TO LANDFILLS. More than one quarter of Vietnam's plastic recycling capacity is. concentrated in craft villages like Minh Khai, the World Bank. stated in a 2021 report, noting that extra capacity to procedure. imported plastic totaled up to 300,000 metric tons. That was well short of the 420,000 tons of plastic scrap. Vietnam imported last year, which was up 11% from 2022,. according to U.N. data, which does not catch the whole. volume. Vietnam's environment ministry did not reply to requests for. updated figures. Scientists have discovered that recycling is being hindered by. the inability to effectively arrange plastic waste, both offshore and. in Vietnam. Only 30% of plastic waste generated in Vietnam is. sorted, stated a government-backed WWF report in 2023. As a result, in spite of shipment expenses, Vietnam's recyclers. depend on higher-quality foreign plastic scrap, according to. FiinGroup, a research study firm. However price quotes recommend Vietnam recycles just up to one-third. of the imported plastic waste, stated a term paper published. in January. That is partially due to the fact that some imported plastic is often mixed. with natural waste that makes it hard or impossible to deal with,. stated one of the paper's authors, Kaustubh Thapa, from the. Netherlands' Utrecht University. A recycler at Minh Khai village was more upbeat. The quantity. of imported waste that can't be recycled is often about 5% of. the volume, however sometimes it increases to 25%, said Chi, who. decreased to provide his complete name. Many people contacted in the village personally or by phone. declined to talk with media for worry of effects on their. activities. Much of the unrecycled plastic is discarded in unsanitary. garbage dumps, and about 15% of that is directly launched into the. environment and the oceans, the WWF report said. Exporting waste for recycling to destinations without noise. recycling capacity raises questions of fairness and. sustainability, concluded the research paper by Thapa and. co-authors.
-
China draws up seaborne thermal coal, however domestic output caps prices: Russell
China's. seaborne imports of thermal coal are on track to surge to an. alltime high in November as the world's most significant buyer of the. power station fuel ramps up electricity generation. However the strong hunger for imports isn't increasing the. prices of seaborne grades, which are being kept low by falling. costs for China's domestic supplies. Imports of thermal coal are estimated at 37.5 million metric. heaps for November, up from 32.12 million in October and the. highest in information put together by commodity experts Kpler going back. to 2017. The spike in seaborne thermal coal imports comes ahead of. peak winter need and as the world's second-biggest economy. increases coal-fired generation amid weaker output from. hydropower plants. Nevertheless, the strength in China's need for seaborne thermal. coal isn't being matched by the rest of Asia, with other top. importers such as India and Japan showing stable to somewhat. weaker arrivals in recent months. Top thermal coal exporters Indonesia and Australia are also. needing to compete against China's domestic supplies, and the. regional rate has been trending lower as production increases. The rate of thermal coal at China's Qinhuangdao. , as examined by specialists SteelHome, dropped. to 830 yuan($ 114.64) a ton on Monday, below 835 yuan at the. previous close. The benchmark grade has actually been trending lower given that early. October, and is now down 5.1% from the current peak of 875 yuan a. heap on Oct. 9. The softer domestic rate has indicated that seaborne rates. have actually been not able to move higher, despite the strong import. need from China. Indonesian coal with an energy material of 4,200 kilocalories. per kilogram (kcal/kg), as evaluated by. commodity cost reporting agency Argus, ended last week at. $ 52.19 a ton, down from $52.34 the previous week. The price has shifted somewhat greater, getting 4.2% since. hitting a 41-month low of $50.08 a load in late August. The modest increase in the cost contrasts with the strong. gain in volumes, with China's imports of Indonesian thermal coal. poised to hit a record 25.32 million loads in November, up from. 22.24 million in October, according to Kpler information. AUSTRALIAN COAL China is also purchasing cargoes from Australia, the. second-biggest exporter of thermal coal behind Indonesia, with. November imports estimated at a record 7.84 million tons, up. from 5.35 million in October. China tends to favour Australian coal priced versus the. 5,500 kcal/kg benchmark, which was up to $87.60 a. ton in the week to Nov. 22, down from $88.12 the previous week and. down 3.7% because the current peak of $90.97 in early October. It appears that Indonesian and Australian exporters are. selecting to keep their rates competitive in the China market in. order to ensure strong growth in export volumes. China might well continue to import high volumes of thermal. coal provided rising electrical energy output, with thermal generation,. which is generally coal-fired, getting 1.8% in October from the. exact same month in 2023, according to main information released on Nov. 15. The increase in thermal power output came as hydropower moved. 14.9% in October year-on-year, the 2nd straight month of. decline. China's output of coal also increased in October, getting. 4.6% from the very same month in 2023 to 411.8 million lots. It's most likely that coal miners will attempt to further lift. production this month and next after the state-owned asset. regulator urged greater output to meet winter demand. The overall picture is among strength for China's coal. sector, with increasing domestic production and surging imports. being sufficient to fulfill demand and therefore prevent a rally in. rates. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist. .
-
Dollar climbs up, stocks retreat after Trump swears tariffs
The dollar rallied sharply on Tuesday after U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump pledged tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and additional tariffs on China. Asian stocks decreased, giving back some of the robust gains of the previous session, when they were buoyed by the election of fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, considered by investors as a voice for Wall Street in Washington. Bessent's consultation had also led to a sharp fall in U.S. yields as investors scooped up Treasury bonds, sending the dollar moving in the previous session. It's practically as if Trump wants to advise markets who is in control, after nominating Scott Bessent as Treasury Sec - a man markets anticipated to cool Trump's effectiveness, said Matt Simpson, senior market expert at City Index. With the Canadian dollar increasing against the Mexican peso, markets are presuming this will strike Mexico the hardest. The dollar jumped 1.5% to 20.5810 Mexican pesos since 0549 GMT on Tuesday, and climbed up 0.9% to C$ 1.4115. It reinforced 0.25% to 7.2644 yuan in offshore trading , after earlier reaching the greatest given that late July at 7.2730 yuan. Australia's risk-sensitive dollar - which also tends to show the outlook for leading trading partner China - declined 0.25% to $0.6488, after earlier dipping to $0.64335 for the first time since Aug. 5. It was simply last month that Trump said that 'the most gorgeous word in the dictionary is tariff', so there truly ought to not have actually been a surprise in Trump's intent, simply in the timing of the remarks, stated Sean Callow, a senior FX expert at ITC Markets. The fall in trade-sensitive currencies makes good sense, and must persist near term. Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.4%, giving back Monday's gains, as financiers considered the risks of tariffs on the nation's numerous heavyweight exports, especially car manufacturers. Toyota slid more than 2% and Nissan tumbled nearly 4%. Australia's stock standard relieved 0.69%, a day after rising to a record high. Taiwan's share index lost 0.9%. Nevertheless, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat, while mainland blue chips eased 0.2%, after fluctuating between small gains and losses. Trump stated in a post on Truth Social that on his very first day in office he would impose a 25% tariff on all items from Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff on items from China, pointing out concerns over illegal immigration and the trade of illicit drugs. Trump has previously threatened to slap tariffs on Chinese imports in excess of 60%. It's definitely a shock to the marketplace and weighing on Chinese assets, especially the export sectors, said Gary Ng, senior financial expert at Natixis. But compared to what he troubled Canada and Mexico, the magnitude (of the Chinese tariff) is not that big, so investors might still wish to see what are the follow ups and when/if the 60% guaranteed will actually come through. U.S. S&P 500 futures pointed 0.1% lower following a. 0.3% gain in the money index over night. Pan-European STOXX 50 futures dropped 0.9%. The euro slipped 0.2% to $1.0475. Sterling. lost 0.17% to $1.2548. At the same time, the dollar compromised 0.3% to 153.66 yen. , after at first reinforcing following Trump's. tariff remarks. The dollar-yen set tends to track long-lasting U.S. Treasury yields, which ticked up about 2 basis. indicate 4.2809% in Tokyo, however following a 15 basis-point slide. on Monday. Bitcoin increased 1% to $94,661, finding its feet. following a pullback from last week's record high at $99,830. The token has actually gained from speculation of a simpler regulatory. environment for cryptocurrencies under Trump. Gold caught the dollar's strength, dipping to a. one-week low of $2,604.99. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was. down 0.4% at $9,010.50 per metric heap, while the most-traded. January copper agreement on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. reduced 0.1% to 73,900 yuan a load. Oil rates rebounded somewhat from the previous session's. depression as investors weighed a prospective ceasefire between Israel. and Hezbollah. Brent crude futures included 0.25% to $73.19 a barrel,. while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased. 0.23% to $69.10 a barrel. Both criteria settled $2 per. barrel on Monday.
-
Worldwide renewal in protective commercial policies, EBRD states
An international renewal in industrial policies that intend to enhance or secure domestic interests threatens worldwide cooperation and could hurt poorer countries in particular, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in an annual report. The annual shifts report, which this year analyzed information impacting trade for 140 countries, found a impressive global renewal in strategic interventions created to shape nations' economies. Industrial policy is back with a vengeance, Beata Javorcik, EBRD Chief Economist said in an interview. It is back in rich countries in addition to in emerging markets. Such policies typically include state-backed grants or loans or aids for regional market; 90% of those in innovative economies and EBRD areas victimize foreign interests in favour of domestic ones. The report found that such policies have actually increased rapidly considering that 2019 due to elements including boosting the green transition, following the lead of major economies such as China or the United States, and since residents significantly back a. higher state role in the economy. The report found that while such policies can be efficient,. when they are not thoroughly managed they risk weakening the. equal opportunity. This means that industrial policy can end up being a force that. will push the world towards fragmentation, Javorcik said. The report, from the EBRD's workplace of the primary economist,. was the very first put together by it with making use of Artificial. Intelligence, which researchers utilized to crunch information from the. Global Trade Alert database. Javorcik said the financial turmoil in recent years - due to. globalisation, automation, the green transition and now AI - had. enhanced support for greater state involvement - especially. amongst those born before 1975. The increasing use of such policies in lower-income. nations that have restricted administrative capabilities is. particularly worrying, Javorcik stated, as they tend to choose. the most distortive, such as import or export bans or export. licensing, which bring risk of corruption.
NNPC Inks FLNG Deal with Golar LNG to Boost Gas Developments in Nigeria
Marine LNG infrastructure developer Golar LNG has signed a project development agreement (PDA) with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the deployment of an FLNG facility offshore Niger Delta.
With a capacity of 400-500 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d), the facility will produce LNG, LPG and condensate. The companies are eyeing the end of 2024 to achieve a final investment decision (FID), with first gas production expected by 2027.
The Golar LNG-led FLNG facility will monetize proven gas reserves within shallow water acreage in Nigeria and falls under a broader national agenda to monetize the country’s offshore natural gas resources.
According to the NNPC, the facility aligns closely with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mandate to leverage Nigerian gas for sustained economic growth and is a major milestone in strengthening commercialization through FLNG infrastructure.
The FLNG project represents just one of the many key developments underway in Nigeria. In May 2024, Nigeria inaugurated three new gas projects – the expanded AHL Gas Processing Plant, the ANOH Gas Processing Plant and the 23.3-km ANOH to Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Custody Transfer Metering Station Gas Pipeline.
Once operational, these projects will collectively supply 500 MMscf/d to the domestic market.
Additionally, the development of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline is progressing, with feasibility studies for the first section – which connects Morocco to Mauritania and Senegal – nearing completion. The $25 billion project anticipates FID in 2025.
Meanwhile, in 2023, the NNPC signed a Heads of Terms agreement with Nigerian oil and gas company UTM Offshore for the development of the country’s first indigenous FLNG project.
In March 2024, the companies announced that the project was advancing to the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning phase. Energy major Shell has also unveiled plans to invest up to $1 billion over the next ten years to develop natural gas in Nigeria, drawing on a high level of global interest in the country’s gas market potential.
“With over 200 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves – the largest in Africa – Nigeria is well-positioned to become a global hub for sustainable energy. The launch of the FLNG project by the NNPC and Golar LNG marks a crucial step towards bolstering gas commercialization in the country, with the project set to unlock a new wave of economic opportunities, job creation and infrastructure development.
“The AEC commends the efforts of Golar LNG to strengthen Africa’s natural gas infrastructure and looks forward to many more fruitful collaborations among African nations,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber .
(source: Reuters)