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US reverses key climate findings, creating uncertainty for businesses
Lawyers and trade groups say that the Trump administration's plan to undo U.S. Climate Regulation is a way for them to save money, but this could backfire and force automakers, utilities and manufacturers to face a future filled with regulatory uncertainty and litigation risks. The Republican administration of President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that it would rescind a long-held finding that greenhouse gases endanger the health of humans, thus removing the legal basis for U.S. regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that the move would save companies up to $52 billion on environmental compliance costs. The move would eliminate limits on greenhouse gases pollution from vehicle exhaust pipes, power plants and smokestacks. Lawyers said that companies who have already made significant investments to reduce emissions in order to meet government standards, as well as the demands of many shareholders, worry the proposal could lead them into a regulatory and judicial void. Meghan Greenfield, a partner at Jenner & Block, and former EPA Counsel, who represents clients in the auto sector, said: "Industries with GHG standards established by EPA are long-time compliers and do not want them stripped away." The stability of the regulatory framework is important to industry as a base. Zach Pilchen said that if the endangerment determination is repealed, companies will be required to adhere to a patchwork state law on climate change, rather than a single federal standard. Camille Pannu is an associate professor of law at Columbia University. She said, "I believe that the administration has overlooked the fact that most industries have already retrofitted themselves for regulation." "The industry did want deregulation but perhaps not through this mechanism." Sources from the former Trump administration said that during Trump's first tenure, the EPA declined to accept the endangerment findings because of the strong opposition from the industry and the risk involved in undermining federal authorities on this matter. Three sources within the auto industry privately stated that the EPA’s proposal to repeal vehicle efficiency standards was much broader than expected. The proposal also eliminates air conditioning standards and requirements for battery monitoring. Albert Gore is the executive director of Zero Emission Transportation Association. He said that the EPA's action to reverse a long-established law comes at a time when "clean" vehicle sales are steadily increasing and driving a boom in U.S. battery manufacturing and vehicle manufacturing. According to Environmental Defense Fund, over the past decade manufacturers have invested $197.6 Billion in U.S. EV manufacturing and battery production facilities. Gore stated that "taking backward steps, adding regulatory uncertainty, will harm consumers, unsettle markets, and complicate business decisions for automakers." LUKEWARM REACTION The industry groups' reactions to the EPA announcement have been reserved, with most saying that they will review the proposal in the coming weeks and provide comments. Edison Electric Institute (EII), the main lobbying group for the electric utility sector, has said that it supports the EPA in establishing clear, consistent regulations to encourage infrastructure and investment. EEI spokesman Jeremy Ortiz said: "It's essential that EPA uses its authority to create flexible regulations that take into account impacts on reliability and customer costs." Around a quarter (25%) of U.S. greenhouse gases are emitted by the power industry. Over the past decade, this sector has reduced its carbon emissions steadily by replacing coal-fired generation with natural gas and solar. EEI had sided in favor of the EPA (then part of the former president Joe Biden administration) in a Supreme Court case from 2022 in which West Virginia questioned the agency's power to regulate power stations. In its brief, it stated that "Violating this authority could upset that predictability and consistency and potentially expose individual GHG emitters the idiosyncratic wishes of individual district courts judges." The Alliance for Automotive Innovation is a group of auto industry professionals that welcomed the deregulation of tailpipes and said they were digesting a broader proposal for the repeal of the endangerment findings. Both the American Trucking Associations and the American Petroleum Institute praised the proposed repeal of vehicle exhaust rules. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also opposed repealing the law because of its effect on members. Marty Durbin said Tuesday that the Chamber's Energy Institute, the Chamber's president, was reviewing the proposal and consulting with its members to provide constructive feedback.
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Eramet revises volume targets for 2025 after a H1 earnings decline
The French mining group Eramet announced a sharp drop in its first-half earnings on Wednesday. It warned that macroeconomic conditions would remain difficult throughout the rest of this year. This led to a revision downwards of Eramet's production targets for 2025. Eramet reported adjusted earnings prior to interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA), of 191 millions euros ($219.12million) for the first half of this year, a drop of 45% compared to a year ago. Earnings exclude Eramet’s New Caledonian Nickel subsidiary SLN which is supported by French government loans. Eramet's Chief Executive Paulo Castellari said to reporters that "our first-half results were not in line at all with our goals." Castellari stated that the decline was primarily due to a 92-million euro reduction in contributions from operations conducted in Indonesia. This amounted to nearly two thirds of the EBITDA drop, which was caused by lower nickel grades at new mining sites located in Weda Bay and higher operating expenses. In early February, the company had revised its production targets. It reduced manganese ore to 6.5-7.0 million tons from 6.7-7.2 millions, and lithium to 4-7 kilograms from 10-13 kilograms. This was due to operational delays in Argentina. The revisions are a response to the challenges presented by a weakening global steel market, a declining Chinese demand and operational bottlenecks. Eramet, on the other hand, has raised its target of marketable nickel ore for 2025 from 32 Mwmt to 36-39 Mwmt. The progress in Gabon, Senegal, and other countries provided some relief. Logistics improvements in Gabon increased manganese ore volume in the second quarter. Senegal achieved a 20% rise in mineral sands during the first half. Castellari confirmed that he had met Gabonese president Brice Oligui nguema in this month, after the West African nation announced last month an export ban for unrefined Manganese starting 2029. This would affect Eramet’s massive export-oriented production of steel ingredient.
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Trump's 'targeted' attack on climate data escalates across government
Trump administration limits climate data and references The effort is seen as being more "targeted" than the first term Volunteers restore and preserve historical information By David Sherfinski Data experts are scrambling in the campaign to restore and conserve what they can, while trying to keep up with an all-out effort they claim extends beyond what President Obama was attempting to achieve during his first term. Jonathan Gilmour of the Public Environmental Data Partners coalition, which works on data restoration, said: "It's far more focused, organized and rapid." The Environmental Protection Agency, as part of the administration's efforts to improve public health, is working to revert the long-held conclusion that greenhouse gasses are harmful. The administration also deletes, removes and minimizes reams and reams data and web pages related to environmental justice. "The dominant attitude of the first administration to climate change was a kind of denial." Now, we're seeing climate erasure," Gilmour said. It is much more dangerous than the standard denial. They are trying to remove data that we use in order to understand how humans have affected the world, and how these changes affect us, our societies and health. LIMITATION OF ONLINE AVAILABILITY The Trump administration is limiting and removing climate change data and studies through the EPA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This includes limiting public access to the National Climate Assessment (NCA), a report mandated by Congress that is released every four years. It documents the human impact on global warming. After the administration fired hundreds of researchers and expert workers working on the new version, a White House official stated that the scope of the report was "reevaluated." Officials said that participants in the assessment were informed they would be "released from their role... whilst plans are being developed for the next assessment, noting there may be future chances for them to engage or contribute." NASA had indicated that it would attempt to host older reports online following the shutdown of the U.S. The Global Change Research Program, which oversees climate assessments, went dark at the end of June. This appears to be no longer the case. NASA spokesperson said that the USGCRP had "met its statutory obligations by presenting their reports to Congress." Bethany Stevens, spokesperson for NASA, said that the agency was not legally bound to host data from globalchange.gov. The Biden administration also removed the environmental justice screening tool it had set up online as part of their pledge to direct at least 40% certain federal benefits towards historically underserved areas. Izzy Pacenza is the project coordinator for the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, which also works with Public Environmental Data Partners. "But personally, I did not expect it to be so extensive and that it would be one of first things that the Administration targeted." The EPA has not responded to any requests for comments. "SHOOTING YOURSELF in the FOOT" NOAA announced in May that it will no longer be adding disasters to its database if the damage exceeds one billion dollars, but it will keep all historical data up until 2024. NOAA did not also respond to requests for comments. Fulton Ring is a private firm that works in partnership with the Partnership. This month, Fulton Ring announced it had restored its version of the billion dollar disaster database. Rajan Desai is a co-founder of the company. He said, "I believe the attack on data may have been unprecedented. It's a case where you prove a point by shooting yourself in your foot." Why would you ruin your government's capability to send a signal, right? It makes no sense." Desai explained that part of the problem is now spreading the message, which is essentially a grassroots, volunteer effort. "It is a good thing to archive these data sets but, it's like a tree falling in the forest, and no one was around to hear it. Did it really happen?" Desai stated. If you don't do anything useful with these datasets, you won't have the support to start recollecting these data. Pacenza stated that the message was to not allow private individuals to fill government functions. Pacenza stated that "they have the resources and the money to do this and it is also funded by our taxpayer dollars."
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Southern Copper warns of a possible short-term impact on copper from the U.S.-China Trade War
Raul Jacob, CFO of Grupo Mexico’s Southern Copper, said that the U.S. - China trade war would affect the global economy and the copper sector. He made this statement on a conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s quarterly results on Wednesday. He said: "We think that an intense trade war between the U.S.A. and China could affect economic growth around the world." Jacob, the Chief Financial Officer, said that he expects the industry to remain resilient over the long term. He said, "We continue to maintain a positive outlook for the long-term future of copper." Jacob said that the huge price differential between the U.S. Comex and London Metal Exchange (LME), indicated "a strong possibility" for U.S. Tariffs on Copper Imports. The Trump administration announced that it would implement a tariff of 50% starting Friday. Southern Copper is Peru's third largest copper producer. Peru is also the world's third biggest producer of red metal. Peru is one of the largest suppliers of refined copper in the United States. However, the majority of its exports go to China. Jacob stated that there is still uncertainty about the tariffs or their impact on the company. He also noted the fluctuation of U.S. tariff levels on goods from other countries and goods. He declined to comment about the impact of the price differential between Comex and LME. In a recent statement, Grupo Mexico's Chairman German Larrea said that the company is monitoring the impact of tariffs on the business. However, Southern Copper has a strong position to deal with the uncertainty.
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Bloomberg News reports that Five Point is in negotiations to sell Northwind Midstream for $2.3 billion to MPLX.
Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that private equity firm Five Point Infrastructure was in discussions to sell Northwind Midstream Partners to U.S. Midstream Company MPLX for approximately $2.3 billion, citing sources familiar with the situation. Five Point had reported in May that it is looking into a possible sale of Permian Gas Infrastructure Operator. Any deal would be valued at upwards of $ 2 billion including debt. Bloomberg reported that a deal could be struck in the next few weeks, but the talks could still be stalled or delayed. The pipeline sector is booming with deals as companies seek to reduce costs, increase scale or gain access to attractive oil and natural gas producing regions. MPLX announced in February that it would purchase the remaining 55% of the BANGL pipeline from affiliates WhiteWater and Diamondback Energy, for $715m. The company is looking to expand its operations in the Permian basin. Five Point Infrastructure MPLX, and Northwind Midstream Partners have not responded to comments immediately. Northwind Midstream, a company formed by Five Point 2022, has built a pipeline system, compressor stations, and a treatment plant in New Mexico. (Reporting and editing by Sahal Muhammad in Bengaluru, with Pooja Menon from Bengaluru)
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The Dutch court found that Stellantis, the company now in control of Stellantis Diesel brands, had cheating software dating back to 2009.
On Wednesday, a Dutch court ruled that diesel cars sold in the Netherlands by Opel Peugeot Citroen DS from 2009 had software to cheat emission tests. The court, in its interim ruling on a class-action suit brought by Stellantis against the car companies targeted, did not decide whether compensation was to be paid. Stellantis has denied the allegations and stated that it is considering "appropriate steps" to protect its interests. Stellantis said that it was "firmly convinced" that the vehicles met all emission standards and that the court had made the wrong interim considerations. In Europe, the car brands, as well as several other automakers have been investigated in light of Volkswagen's Dieselgate scandal. The Dutch court stated that it was obvious that the diesel cars sold by four different brands from 2014 had software installed that controlled their emission control systems, resulting in artificially low nitrogen oxide emissions during official tests. The same was suspected for Peugeot, Citroen, and DS diesels from this generation.
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Newcleo Energy has announced that it will no longer be developing UK lead-cooled reactors.
The energy firm newcleo announced on Wednesday that it will suspend its programme for developing lead-cooled fast nuclear reactors in Britain, and wind down substantially its UK activities because of the lack funding and support from the government. LFRs is a type advanced nuclear reactor which can be constructed in factories, assembled on-site and provide heat to industrial processes or hydrogen production. The company, founded in 2021 in Britain, has said that it plans to build up to four reactors of this type in the UK. This would produce a total output of 800 megawatts - enough to power 1.6 million households - and represent an investment of around 4 billion pounds. The company stated that it had been in contact with successive UK governments regarding access to stored plutonium, which it planned to recycle and use in reactors. Stefano Buono is the founder and CEO at newcleo. He said that despite numerous attempts to engage political stakeholders, the UK Government has decided not to make its plutonium readily available in the near future. Instead, it will lend its considerable political backing and funding to other technologies. The firm stated that although funding and support were made available for other small modular reactors, they had not been provided to LFR developers in Britain such as newcleo. It will instead focus on other markets. In Slovakia, newcleo announced that it had formed a joint venture, with the state-owned JAVYS, to build four LFRs, powered by spent nuclear fuel from the country. This has been endorsed by government officials. A similar strategy was used to sign an agreement in June with the Lithuanian Government. The company stated that "newcleo believes these markets, by comparison, offer better prospects than UK at this point in time, and this decision has driven it to focus its attention on territories more aligned to its offering."
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Angola reports 22 deaths in protests against fuel price hikes
Angola’s government announced on Wednesday that violent protests against an increase in fuel prices had resulted in 22 deaths, up from four the day before. Minibus taxi associations began a three-day walkout on Monday to protest the government's decision to raise diesel prices by one-third as part of its efforts to reduce costly subsidies and stabilize public finances. The looting, vandalism, and clashes between police began in Luanda's capital, then spread into other provinces. On Wednesday, the President Joao Lurenco's Cabinet met and received an updated on security and police response. In a statement, the presidency said that 22 people had died and 197 others were injured. It also reported 1,214 arrests. The statement stated that 65 shops, 25 vehicles, and a few supermarkets and warehouses had been looted. Angola gradually removed fuel subsidies from 2023 when an increase in petrol prices sparked deadly protests. The International Monetary Fund, among others, was also involved. According to the finance minister of this oil-producing nation in Southern Africa, subsidies amounted up to 4% GDP last year. Investors closely monitor the move to phase out subsidy. Pieter Niesten is the portfolio manager of emerging market debt for Neuberger Berman. He said that fuel subsidies are estimated to be 1.8% GDP this year and contribute to fiscal pressures. He said that investors and international financial institutions view subsidy reforms as proof of Angola’s commitment to structural changes. Reporting by Miguel Gomes, Luanda; Colleen Goko, Johannesburg; Writing and editing by Alexander Winning
The Indonesian nickel slump puts pressure on coal miners hit by declining exports
The Indonesian coal producers find themselves in a difficult situation, as their exports are falling and the demand for fuel from nickel smelters is at an all-time high. This creates a conundrum of growth.
Indonesia's largest export is coal, which will generate $30.49 billion by 2024. A decline in revenues would have an adverse effect on Southeast Asia's largest economy, which is heavily dependent on commodities.
Lower profit margins and falling share prices point to coal's future woes, which include a reduction in workforce, a slowdown in production, and less money going into government coffers, at a time that President Prabowo is launching ambitious spending plans.
The fastest-growing demand for Indonesian coal has been from electricity-hungry smelters that process nickel.
According to the Indonesian Coal Miners Association, (ICMA), the demand for nickel will reach a peak of 84.2 million tonnes by 2026, and then fall to 78.6 millions tons in 2027 due to overcapacity of the nickel industry and possible implementation of stricter emission regulations.
Kpler data showed that Indonesian coal exports were down 12.6% by volume compared to a year ago, while government data indicated a 19.1% drop in value.
Chinese data show that exports to China, which is the largest coal buyer in the world, dropped by 30% compared to a year ago. The country relies more on its domestic production and uses low prices to import coal of higher quality from other countries.
Manish Gupta is a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie for Asia thermal coal. He said that Indonesian coal miners were diversifying their businesses to protect themselves against the steeply declining demand for low to mid-grade coal.
He said that he did not expect to see the increase in the number of captive plants, which are power plants linked to nickel smelting facilities.
According to Global Energy Monitor's coal plant tracker, Indonesia's nickel smelting sector has led to a threefold increase in Indonesian coal-fired power capacity from 5.5 gigawatts in 2019 to 16.6 GW by 2024.
As nickel prices fell due to increased overcapacity, and China's lower stainless steel imports, some Indonesian smelters idled their facilities.
Data from geospatial analysis firm Earth-i revealed that in June, Indonesian nickel pig-iron operations experienced a 9% increase in smelting activity compared to a year ago, which was the highest level in the past two years. This is primarily because the country's largest nickel producer, Tsingshan, likely stopped production at its joint-venture plants in Morowali Industrial Park.
H. Kristiono is the deputy chairman of ICMA which includes Adaro Bayan Bukit Asam and foreign traders Adani Global Trafigura. He still expects that the coal-fired capacity of the smelter sector will grow despite underutilisation.
The nickel industry will continue to use coal as its primary power source due to difficulties in switching to alternative sources, the slow progress of connecting sites to national grids and Indonesia's opposition to more stringent regulations.
Global Coal Monitor reports that the Global Coal Monitor estimates that Central Sulawesi, North Maluku and Central Sulawesi provinces are expected to have a combined capacity of 6 GW, or 46%, of all coal-fired plants currently under construction in Indonesia. These two provinces are where the nickel processing industry is concentrated.
Companies are squeezed
Indonesian coal producers are being squeezed by a combination of lower exports, slower growth in captive power demand and higher government payments.
LSEG data revealed that the profit margins of Bayan, a major miner in Indonesia, have been falling for three years. Bukit Asam has also seen its first-quarter margins fall below averages every year since 2010. This is due to higher royalty payments and increasing machinery costs.
The shares of Indonesia's five largest coal producers by production are down between 1% and 18% in this year. This is below the broader market growth rate of almost 7%. Adaro has fallen 18% while Golden Energy Mines, Bukit Asam and Bukit Asam lost over a tenth since the start of this year.
Requests for comment from the companies were not answered.
Indonesia announced in April new rates of royalty for nickel, coal and other minerals, to help Prabowo increase his spending. Some coal miners experienced a drop in their royalty rates, while others saw an increase of 1 percentage point.
According to the Energy Shift Institute, based in Australia, by 2024 royalties will account for 16% of average coal producers' cost structures, making them the most expensive among the major commodities produced in Indonesia.
Jakarta also considers export duties on coal for certain price levels in order to bolster state coffers. This is at a moment when miners are already facing higher fuel prices due to the removal biodiesel subsidy.
Analysts say that some coal miners are looking at diversification as a way to survive the current downturn, but they have made little progress. Bukit Asam said, for instance, in May that it was considering an investment of $3.1 billion in a facility to convert coal into synthetic natural gas.
Gupta, of Wood Mackenzie, said that producers are looking at a combination of downstream options, renewables, or investment in alternative commodities. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger, Ashitha Shivaprasad, Hongmei LI, Fransiska Nanangoy; Additional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan).
(source: Reuters)