Latest News
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Sumitomo, Van Oord Land Shetland 2 HVDC Link Job
Sumitomo Electric Industries, together with consortium partner Van Oord, has signed Capacity Reservation Agreement (CRA) with SSEN Transmission, encompassing the supply and installation of a second 525kV HVDC cable link between Shetland and the Scottish mainland.The signing of the CRA follows the announcement from May 2024 that SSEN Transmisison had selected Sumitomo and Van Oord as preferred bidder for the Shetland 2 project.The cables will be delivered from Sumitomo’s new manufacturing facility, currently under construction in Nigg, northeast Scotland.Cables of this type and technology have never previously been manufactured in the U.K., and the Scottish factory is set to become Sumitomo’s flagship for offshore cabling in the U.K. and Europe.The 150,000m2 site build is progressing in accordance with the anticipated program with piling works nearing completion and factory foundations now well under way.“We are delighted to have penned this Capacity Reservation Agreement with SSEN Transmission. This is a significant milestone for Sumitomo’s subsea cable factory investment in Scotland. Sumitomo and Van Oord are committed to successful construction of the HVDC link in a safe and timely manner,” said Yasuyuki Shibata – Chair of Sumitomo Electric UK and Europe.“We are pleased to announce the signing of the Capacity Reservation Agreement with SSEN, representing a significant milestone for the Shetland 2 project. At Van Oord, we take pride in contributing to this initiative with our extensive expertise in cable installation. This agreement underscores our shared commitment to delivering energy infrastructure and enhancing the energy transition,” added Arnoud Kuis – Managing Director Offshore Energy at Van Oord.Rob McDonald – Managing Director of SSEN Transmission commented: “We are delighted to reach this major milestone with Sumitomo and Van Oord for the Shetland 2 project. It’s great to see the progress being made at Sumitomo’s new cable manufacturing facility and we are extremely proud to be supporting their investment and the major boost to the Highland economy this will unlock.”
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Oil costs extend losses on unpredictability over Trump tariff effect
Oil rates dipped in Asian trade on Thursday, extending losses amidst unpredictability over how U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs and energy policies would affect international economic development and energy need. Brent crude futures fell 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $ 78.74 a barrel at 0427 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) eased 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $75.21. In the prior session, Brent futures settled at $79.00 in a. fifth straight day of losses and WTI futures settled at $75.44. in a fourth consecutive day of declines. Oil markets have returned some current gains due to mixed. chauffeurs, said senior market expert Priyanka Sachdeva at. Phillip Nova. Secret factors include expectations of increased. U.S. production under President Trump's pro-drilling policies. and relieving geopolitical stress in Gaza, lifting worries of further. escalation in supply disruption from key producing areas. The more comprehensive financial ramifications of U.S. tariffs could. further moisten global oil need development, she included. Trump has stated he would add new tariffs to his sanctions. risk against Russia if the nation does not make a deal to end. its war in Ukraine. He included these could be applied to other. taking part countries as well. He likewise pledged to hit the European Union with tariffs, enforce. 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico, and stated his. administration was going over a 10% punitive responsibility on China. due to the fact that fentanyl is being sent out to the U.S. from there. On Monday, he likewise declared a national energy emergency situation. That is planned to provide him with the authority to decrease. ecological limitations on energy facilities and projects. and alleviate allowing for new transmission and pipeline. infrastructure, though some experts remain sceptical on the. pace of oil production uptick in the near-term. In general, Trump's policies are introducing volatility,. and the market will carefully watch how sanctions, drilling. growths, and trade policies develop in shaping the international oil. landscape, Phillip Nova's Sachdeva said. On the other hand, on the U.S. oil inventory front, unrefined stocks. rose by 958,000 barrels in the week ended Jan. 17, according to. sources mentioning American Petroleum Institute figures on. Wednesday. Fuel inventories rose by 3.23 million barrels, and. distillate stocks climbed by 1.88 million barrels, they stated.
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Indonesian parliament proposes modification of mining law
Indonesia's parliament proposed on Thursday to revise the nation's mining law to help the government accelerate development of its mineral processing market and to manage mining permits for religious groups and for universities. President Prabowo Subianto has pledged to speed up advancement of Indonesia's mineral processing market and energy transition and formed a special task force to come up with comprehensive plan for the sector. A parliamentary plenary conference on Thursday consented to release a formal consideration procedure for the law revision. Amongst the proposed revisions to the mining law was a plan to provide specific business top priority access to mining areas for downstreaming functions. The draft said business might be prioritised based on their financial investment size, their mineral value-add plan and tasks production for domestic employees. The draft expense is also includes strategies to give priority access to spiritual groups and universities for specific metal ore mining areas, taking into account the size of the mines, the organizations' ability to handle them, and their strategy to develop regional economies and education. Indonesia in 2015 issued a guideline permitting spiritual organisation to manage mining properties to supply them with a. source of income, a relocation that critics have said was to reward. the groups for their longstanding political assistance. The. federal government at the time rejected that. The legal body likewise proposed that mining area smaller. than 2,500 hectares
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Gold alleviates on dollar strength in the middle of Trump policy concerns
Gold costs reduced on Thursday from a. near threemonth peak, as the dollar gained, while financiers. waited for additional instructions from U.S. President Donald Trump's. administration relating to trade policies. Spot gold eased 0.1% to $2,751.87 per ounce by 0307. GMT. Rates increased to $2,763.43 on Wednesday, their highest since. Oct. 31 when they hit a record high of $2,790.15. U.S. gold futures shed 0.3% to $2,761.70. It's simply a technical pullback since the dollar has been. reclaiming on $108 level, triggering some profit-booking, however. the undertone for gold is anticipated to be positive, said Ajay. Kedia, director at Kedia Commodities in Mumbai. Trump has actually mooted levies of around 25% on Mexico and Canada. and 10% tariff on China from Feb. 1. He also promised duties on. European imports, without elaborating further. How Trump's policies impact gold is whether the combination. of tax cuts, deregulation, tariffs, and deportation will amount. to a strong inflationary push, said Ilya Spivak, head of global. macro at Tastylive. If so, Fed rate cuts will be limited and gold is most likely to. struggle. The Federal Reserve is fulfilling next week against a background. of continued financial development and decreasing inflation, but deals with. unpredictabilities from Trump's proposed policies that experts see. as inflationary. The U.S. central bank is expected to hold its benchmark. interest rate steady at its next policy conference on Jan. 28-29. Greater rate of interest moisten the appeal of non-yielding gold. European Central Bank policymakers lined up behind even more. rate cuts on Wednesday, indicating that next week's decrease is. all but a done offer. According to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao, gold might. need to face resistance at $2,759, which might set off a. correction. Area silver dropped 0.5% to $30.63 per ounce, while. platinum shed 0.5% to $941.50. Palladium steadied. at $977.34.
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Metals trend lower on Trump tariff risk
The majority of base metals declined in rangebound trade on Thursday in the middle of a lack of clarity around U.S. President Donald Trump's policy strategies, which investors fear might trigger trade wars. The three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange ( LME) moved 0.6% to $9,167 a metric load by 0332 GMT. The most-active copper contract on the SHFE slid 0.7% to 75,030 yuan ($ 10,317.49) a lot by the close of Asia early morning trade. Metals costs began trending lower after Trump said his administration was talking about enforcing a 10% tariff on imports from China starting Feb. 1, the exact same day that he previously stated Mexico and Canada would deal with levies of around 25%. He also vowed tasks on European imports, without supplying further information. The U.S. President has actually likewise threatened high levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions on anything being offered by Russia to the United States and numerous other getting involved nations if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not reached soon. The U.S. dollar dipped to a more than three-week low previously in the session, making greenback-priced commodities less pricey for holders of other currencies. The dollar index was last at 108.3, listed below the 26-month high of 110.17 touched last week. We are taking a wait-and-see stance nowadays as we are not sure what sort of policies Trump may enforce, a trader stated. LME aluminium alleviated 0.9% to $2,610, tin lost 1.1% to $29,955, nickel fell 0.7% to $15,615, lead shed 0.6% to $1,955 and zinc dipped 1.3% to $ 2,863. SHFE aluminium fell 1.0% to 20,125 yuan a load, nickel dipped 2.7% to 124,080 yuan, zinc moved 1.8% to 23,715 yuan, lead lost 0.1% to 16,685 yuan and tin reduced 0.9% to 247,570 yuan. For the leading stories in metals and other news, click or
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Iron ore rangebound amid China support for stocks and tariff concerns
Iron ore futures traded in a narrow range on Thursday, as financiers weighed fresh efforts by top consumer China to support its equity markets against concerns of higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. The most-traded May iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 0.13% higher at 799 yuan ($ 109.76) a metric ton, since 0313 GMT. The benchmark February iron ore on the Singapore Exchange ticked down 0.06% to $103.5 a lot. Chinese stocks strengthened in early trading, acquiring broad assistance from Beijing's newest initiative to prompt insurance coverage funds into acquiring shares noted on the mainland. Beijing has been heightening policy assistance to enhance investor confidence, as the country navigates deflationary pressure and geopolitical stress. Iron ore is under pressure amid issues that a wider trade war will dent export-driven need in the steel sector, said ANZ experts. U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday his administration was thinking about a 10% tariff on Chinese imports. Since taking office, Trump has yet to make a decision on tariffs versus China, stiring uncertainty, and steel prices are still primarily range-bound, Chinese consultancy Galaxy Futures stated in a note. On the supply-side, Australia's Fortescue posted a. minimal increase in its second-quarter iron ore shipments. Fortescue, the world's fourth largest iron ore miner, stated. its output was impacted by a major shutdown in facilities at its. Iron Bridge task. The project is anticipated to produce at full. capacity later this year. Other steelmaking components on the DCE got, with coking. coal and coke up 0.18% and 1.29%,. respectively. Many steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose. Rebar acquired nearly 0.4%, hot-rolled coil. ticked up 0.29%, wire rod was up 0.45%, while stainless. steel dipped 0.87%.
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Metals trend lower on Trump tariff danger
The majority of base metals decreased in rangebound trade on Wednesday amid an absence of clearness around U.S. President Donald Trump's policy plans, which investors fear could set off trade wars. The three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange ( LME) moved 0.4% to $9,187 a metric heap by 0231 GMT. The most-active copper agreement on the SHFE moved 0.6% to 75,100 yuan ($ 10,317.49) a lot. Metals rates started trending lower after Trump stated his administration was discussing enforcing a 10% tariff on imports from China beginning Feb. 1, the same day that he formerly said Mexico and Canada would deal with levies of around 25%. He likewise swore duties on European imports, without supplying further information. The U.S. President has actually likewise threatened high levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States and different other taking part nations if an offer to end the war in Ukraine is not reached quickly. The U.S. dollar dipped to a more than three-week low earlier in the session, making greenback-priced products less expensive for holders of other currencies. The dollar index was last at 108.3, below the 26-month high of 110.17 touched last week. We are taking a wait and see position nowadays as we are not sure what type of policies Trump might impose, a trader stated. LME aluminium eased 0.5% to $2,620, tin lost 0.7% to $30,050, nickel fell 0.5% to $15,645, lead shed 0.3% to $1,961 and zinc dipped 1.3% to $ 2,863. SHFE aluminium fell 0.5% to 20,220 yuan a load, nickel dipped 2.5% to 124,340 yuan, zinc slid 1.8% to 23,715 yuan, lead lost 0.2% to 16,665 yuan and tin reduced 0.7% to 248,150 yuan. For the top stories in metals and other news, click or
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Asia shares assisted by China uplift, Trump's tariff strategies await the air
Asia shares rose on Thursday, helped by a dive in their Chinese counterparts on Beijing's newest measures to shore up its falling apart stock market, while elsewhere, financiers continued to have their eyes on U.S. President Donald Trump's policy strategies. China on Thursday announced a plan to assist hundreds of billions of yuan of brand-new capital from state-owned insurers into stocks each year, in an indication of Beijing's concern about sagging Chinese stocks, which surged on the back of the announcements. The CSI300 blue-chip index advanced 1.47% quickly after the open, while the Shanghai Composite Index leapt 1.62%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index similarly got more than 1%. The persistent underperformance of China equities is a. barometer of the country's essential economic problems,. in addition to falling bond yields, stated Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX. method at RBC Capital Markets. They indicate the domestic difficulties. And U.S. tariffs. will worsen the problem especially with China growing more. reliant on net exports to power growth. Trump on Tuesday said his administration was talking about a. 10% punitive duty on Chinese imports due to the fact that fentanyl is being. sent out from China to the U.S. through Mexico and Canada. The big relocations in Chinese stocks helped raise MSCI's broadest. index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up. 0.11%, reversing its losses from earlier in the sesion. Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei ticked up 0.47%. In the wider market, global shares quit a few of the. interest from Trump's massive spending plans for artificial. intelligence infrastructure that had actually turbocharged a rally in. innovation stocks. Late on Tuesday, he announced a $500 billion private-sector. AI infrastructure investment strategy from a venture involving. Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank, although there. was no clarity on financing. The Information reported on Wednesday that OpenAI and. Japanese corporation SoftBank will each commit $19 billion to. fund the joint endeavor. Shares of SoftBank last traded more than 5% higher. However U.S. and Europe stock futures edged lower, with Nasdaq. futures losing 0.24% while S&P 500 futures dipped. 0.11%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures likewise decreased 0.15%. TARIFF DANGERS Relocations in currencies have been fairly unstable considering that. Trump's reutrn to the White House, owing to his strategies around. tariffs. Contributing to his dangers on Chinese imports, Trump likewise said. Mexico and Canada might face levies of around 25% by Feb. 1. Similarly, he guaranteed tasks on European imports, without. elaborating even more. Economic truths recommend that these tariffs invite. retaliation, said Brian Arcese, portfolio supervisor at Foord. Property Management. Mutual tariffs from trading partners. might slow international development and drive up consumer expenses all over,. not least in the U.S. Still, investors cheered that tariffs had actually not been imposed. right away, which left the dollar broadly on the back foot. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency. versus six others, dipped 0.03% to 108.25, after having fallen. to its most affordable level considering that Jan. 6 at 107.75 in the previous. session. The euro ticked up 0.03% to $1.0412, while. sterling hovered near a two-week high and last purchased. $ 1.2317. China's yuan last stood at 7.2779 in the onshore. market. The threat of tariffs continues to hang over markets, however. the quickly decreasing half life of headings reveals you the. market is currently numb to the shenanigans, stated Brent Donnelly,. president at Spectra Markets. The dollar fell 0.13% to 156.29 yen, languishing. near a one-month low hit earlier in the week. The Japanese currency has strengthened against the dollar in. the past few sessions, supported by growing expectations the. Bank of Japan will raise interest rates at the conclusion of its. policy conference on Friday. In commodities, oil rates relieved, pressured in part by. issues on how Trump's proposed tariffs could impact worldwide. financial growth and need for energy. Brent crude fell 0.16% to $78.87 a barrel, while. U.S. unrefined slipped 0.15% to $75.32 per barrel. Spot gold was consistent at $2,754.26 an ounce.
North Korea states it attempted new fuel in satellite launch that ended in intense surge
North Korea's latest satellite launch blew up in a fireball before dropping into the Yellow Sea simply minutes after lifting off, however experts say the effort showcased new strides in the nucleararmed country's race for area.
North Korea said its latest effort to release a military reconnaissance satellite failed in flight on Monday during the rocket's first stage, which included a brand-new liquid oxygen and petroleum engine.
A preliminary analysis suggested that the cause of the failure included the freshly developed liquid-fuel rocket motor, however other possible causes were being investigated, a report brought by state media KCNA stated.
Although state media did not name the rocket or release images, experts stated it was more than likely various from the Chollima-1 rocket used in the successful satellite launch in November 2023. The Chollima-1, which also suffered a number of explosive test failures, utilizes hypergolic fuels, compounds that can be saved at room temperature however ignite on contact each other, requiring cautious handling.
U.S. officials and independent experts stated the Chollima-1 appeared to be based upon systems established for North Korea's nuclear-tipped global ballistic missiles, which generally do not use liquid oxygen due to the fact that of frigid temperature levels required for storage.
A petroleum fuel and liquid oxygen engine might suggest that Russia, which pledged last year to assist North Korea's. satellite program, might have supplied help, stated Lee. Choon-geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea's Science. and Technology Policy Institute.
Even if it stopped working, it is a substantial leap, he stated, noting. that a few of South Korea's space rockets were at first. established with Russia years ago and use comparable innovation. Russia is the strongest nation for liquid oxygen-kerosene. fuel, and our Naro and Nuri rockets have embraced it through. technical cooperation with Russia.
Liquid oxygen boils at -183 ° C(-- 297 ° F ), and requires. specialised fuel storage and other equipment, Lee stated. That may. represent why North Korea carried out several static rocket. tests late in 2015, he added.
It is quite difficult to fix combustion instability. problems of this fuel system and use products and parts that. can hold up against extremely low temperature levels, Lee said.
Some experts questioned why North Korea would change. engine types, but Lee stated it could permit Pyongyang to separate. its civilian space program from the ballistic missiles prohibited by. the United Nations Security Council.
Russian experts have gone to North Korea to help with. the satellite and space rocket program, Yonhap news company. reported, citing an unnamed South Korean senior defence. official.
Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have detailed what aid is. being supplied.
Shin Jong-woo, a senior scientist at the Korea Defense. and Security Online forum, stated that if Russia helped design the brand-new. rocket or satellite, North Korea would likewise more than likely requirement. Russian parts well into the future, deepening the. cooperation.
North Koreans can re-launch quickly if they get and. evaluate data correctly for that two-minute flight, Shin stated.
South Korea's military, however, stated it might take. North Korea a long time before it can try to introduce again.
South Korea released video footage on Tuesday that its. armed force said revealed the minute the launch ended in failure.
The one-minute black-and-white video offered by the South's. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) revealed what seemed an. explosion in the sky followed by flashes.
The video was recorded by an observation device on a South. Korean patrol vessel, the JCS stated.
Video launched on Monday by Japanese broadcaster NHK,. shot from the Chinese border city of Dandong, showed a similar. ball of flame that officials stated was most likely exploding fuel.
Nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan. had a call on Tuesday and highly condemned the launch as. a direct offense of the U.N. Security Council resolutions. prohibiting the North's use of ballistic missile technology, Seoul's. foreign ministry said.
The launch came hours after China, South Korea, and Japan. finished up a rare three-way summit in Seoul.
(source: Reuters)