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EXCLUSIVE-Putin growing concerned by Russia's economy, as Trump mulls more sanctions
President Vladimir Putin has grown progressively worried about distortions in Russia's. wartime economy, simply as Donald Trump pushes for an end to the. Ukraine conflict, five sources with knowledge of the circumstance. told Reuters. Russia's economy, driven by exports of oil, gas and. minerals, grew robustly over the previous two years in spite of numerous. rounds of Western sanctions enforced after its invasion of. Ukraine in 2022. However domestic activity has actually ended up being strained in recent months. by labour lacks and high interest rates introduced to tackle. inflation, which has accelerated under record military costs. That has actually added to the view within a section of the. Russian elite that a worked out settlement to the war is. preferable, according to 2 of the sources familiar with. believing in the Kremlin. Trump, who went back to office on Monday, has promised to. quickly fix the Ukraine conflict, Europe's biggest because. World War Two. This week he has actually said more sanctions, in addition to tariffs, on. Russia are likely unless Putin negotiates, adding that Russia. was heading for big trouble in the economy. A senior Kremlin. aide said on Tuesday that Russia had up until now gotten no specific. proposals for talks. Russia, naturally, is economically interested in. negotiating a diplomatic end to the dispute, Oleg Vyugin,. previous deputy chairman of the Reserve bank of Russia said in an. interview, pointing out the risk of growing economic distortions as. Russia turbo-charges military and defence costs. Vyugin was not one of the 5 sources, who all spoke on. condition of anonymity due to the level of sensitivity of the scenario. in Russia. The degree of Putin's concerns about the economy,. described by the sources, and the influence of that on views. within the Kremlin about the war, are documented here for the. very first time. Reuters has actually previously reported that Putin is prepared to. discuss ceasefire choices with Trump but that Russia's. territorial gains in Ukraine need to be accepted which Ukraine. must drop its quote to sign up with the U.S-led NATO military alliance. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the. Reuters reporting, acknowledged bothersome elements in the. economy, however stated it was developing at a high rate and was able. to satisfy all military requirements incrementally along with all. welfare and social requirements. There are issues, but regrettably, issues are now. the buddies of almost all nations of the world, he said. The scenario is evaluated as stable, and there is a margin of. safety. Trump is focused on ending this ruthless war, by. engaging a wide range of stakeholders, White Home National. Security Council representative Brian Hughes stated in action to. Reuters' questions. In current weeks, Trump's advisers have. walked back his boast that the three-year-old war could be. solved in a day. Simply days before Trump's inauguration, outbound U.S. president Joe Biden's administration imposed the broadest. bundle of sanctions to so far target Russia's oil and gas. earnings, a relocation that Biden's nationwide security adviser, Jake. Sullivan, said would provide Trump utilize in any talks by. applying economic pressure on Russia. Putin has said that Russia can battle on as long as it. takes and that Moscow will never bow before another power over. essential national interests. Russia's $2.2 trillion economy had actually till just recently shown. exceptional endurance throughout the war, and Putin has actually applauded top. financial authorities and business for circumventing one of the most. strict Western sanctions ever troubled a major economy. After contracting in 2022, Russia's GDP grew faster than the. European Union and the United States in 2023 and 2024. This. year, nevertheless, the central bank and the International Monetary. Fund forecast sub-1.5% growth, although the government tasks. a somewhat rosier outlook. Inflation has actually edged toward double digits regardless of the main. bank hiking the benchmark rates of interest to 21% in October. There are some issues here, particularly inflation, a specific. getting too hot of the economy, Putin said in an annual news. conference on Dec. 19. The government and the central bank are. already entrusted with bringing the pace down, he stated. ' WAR GOALS MET' In 2015, Russia made its most considerable territorial. gains considering that the early days of the war and it now controls nearly. a fifth of Ukraine. Putin thinks crucial war objectives have actually already been fulfilled,. consisting of control of land that links mainland Russia to. Crimea, and compromising Ukraine's military, stated among the. sources acquainted with thinking in the Kremlin. The Russian president also recognizes the strain the war is. putting on the economy, the source said, citing actually big. problems such as the effect of the high interest rate on. non-military businesses and market. Russia has treked defence spending to a post-Soviet high of 6.3%. of GDP this year, accounting for a 3rd of budget expenditure. The spending has actually been inflationary. Along with wartime labour. shortages, it has actually driven incomes higher. On top of that, the government has actually looked for higher tax. revenues to reduce the financial deficit. Vyugin, the former deputy guv, said continual high. rates would put pressure on the balance sheets of organizations and. banks. Russian coal and steel manufacturer Mechel, owned by. entrepreneur Igor Zyuzin and his household, on Tuesday said it had. restructured its debt, under pressure from low coal prices and. high interest rates. PUTIN ISSUE Putin's aggravation appeared at a Kremlin conference with. magnate the evening of Dec. 16, where he scolded top. financial officials, according to two of the sources, who have. understanding of conversations about the economy in the Kremlin and. government. One of the sources, who was briefed after the conference, was. informed Putin was visibly displeased after hearing private. financial investment was being cut because of the cost of credit. The Kremlin released Putin's initial remarks praising. company however did not determine any of business individuals. at the mainly closed-door meeting. Reuters verified with one. source that Reserve bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina was not. present. On Wednesday, Putin stated in televised remarks to ministers. that he had actually just recently gone over with business leaders the dangers. of a decrease in credit activity for long-lasting growth, in an. apparent referral to the December conference. A few of Russia's most powerful business people, including. Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov, aluminium. magnate Oleg Deripaska and Alexei Mordashov, the largest. investor in steel-maker Severstal, have actually openly criticised. the high rates of interest. Nabiullina has actually dealt with pressure not to raise rates even more. from 2 of Russia's most effective bankers - her former boss,. Sberbank CEO German Gref, and VTB CEO Andrei Kostin - who feared. that Russia was heading towards stagflation, one source with. understanding of discussions about the economy stated. In his Dec. 19 comments, Putin required a well balanced rate. choice. The next day, at its last financial policy meeting of. the year, the reserve bank held the rate at 21% in spite of market. expectations that it would hike by 200 basis points. In a speech after the decision, Nabiullina rejected caving in to. pressure. She said criticism of central bank policy increased. when rates were high. Nabiullina, Gref and Kostin did not instantly respond to. requests for remark for this story. NABIULLINA Nabiullina, a former financial aide to Putin who likewise served. as his economy minister, is one of Russia's most effective females:. she has functioned as central bank governor because June 2013 and. three of the sources stated that Putin trusts her. Simply a couple of weeks after sending out soldiers into Ukraine in 2022,. Putin proposed Nabiullina take a third term as reserve bank. chief. Her term ends in 2027. Her fans say critics miss the underlying reason for the. inflation - the huge spending on the war - and say that without. her, financial stability would have be threatened. Some lawmakers have actually required her to be replaced, an. not likely outcome, according to 2 of the sources. No one in such a circumstance will alter the guv of the. reserve bank, stated one of the sources, who is acquainted with. conversations about the economy. Nabiullina's authority is. indisputable, the president trusts her.
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Shell downstream boss Vigeveno steps down
Shell's head of downstream and renewables Huibert Vigeveno will step down after Thirty years with the energy major and be changed by expert Machteld de Haan, the company said on Thursday. De Haan, who signed up with Shell in 1998 and has been executive vice president of Shell's chemicals and products organization considering that 2023, will take on the function on April 1. Shell likewise stated that head of trading Andrew Smith, who formerly reported straight to Vigeveno, will be designated director and join the executive committee together with de Haan, in a sign of the growing significance of oil, gas and power trading under CEO Wael Sawan. Shell is the world's largest energy trader. Sawan aims to make trading a crucial engine of the business's energy shift method as he draws back from lower-return renewables possessions. Trading is, nevertheless, an unpredictable service that can provide big revenues and losses, depending upon a business's positions and market conditions. Vigeveno had actually headed the refining and marketing department given that 2020. In 2023 Shell added its renewable operations to the division. He was seen as a prospect to succeed CEO Ben van Beurden, who left in 2020. Shell has greatly downsized its refining operations from a. peak of around 50 plants at the start of the millennium to nine. today due to damaging profit margins, high carbon emissions and. growing competitors from brand-new plants. It aims to further decrease. its interests in refining to 5 sites. Last year it sold its refining and chemicals center in. Singapore, among the world's largest. It is also trying to sell. a stake in a German refinery and plans to close down another. plant in Wesseling, Germany.
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EU prepares to extend gas storage targets, sources say
The European Union is preparing to extend its targets to fill gas storage ahead of winter season for at least another year after their set up expiration in December 2025, EU diplomats told Reuters. Given that the 2022 energy crisis when previous top gas provider Russia cut fuel deliveries, Brussels has imposed binding storage filling targets on EU member states to produce a buffer of kept gas in case of more supply shocks. The main objective is for EU underground storage caverns to be 90% full by November, with intermediate targets for February, May, July and September. The system is because of expire at the end of this year, however the European Commission plans to propose an extension for at least another year, diplomats knowledgeable about the plans said. A Commission spokesperson decreased to confirm if this was the case. We are checking out various choices to ensure sufficient gas storage once the existing policy pertains to an end, the spokesperson said. Some EU nations - which must approve the extension - have said they want changes to the targets before they are prolonged, the diplomats stated. Federal governments' issues include that setting repaired deadlines to fill storage could trigger cost rises by signalling to the market that Europe needs to buy more gas by a particular date. Another worry is how nations can recoup the potentially high expenses of filling storage ahead of winter season. Germany's gas trading center stated on Tuesday it remains in talks with the federal government about possible aids for contractors to refill storage. European gas rates for the summertime are currently more costly than contracts covering next winter, developing a. disincentive in the market to buy more gas to refill storage. over summer. Germany had actually introduced a tariff on gas sales to neighbouring. countries to cover the high expenses of filling its storage with. non-Russian gas in 2022, but later scrapped the step after. criticism from these nations. While the worst of Europe's energy crisis has passed,. lengthening the storage commitments would work as a backstop. versus possible future shocks. Gas storage is emptying fast this winter season amidst cold weather. and lower Russian supplies. EU gas storage caverns are currently 59% complete, data from Gas. Infrastructure Europe showed. That is far lower than at the very same. time in 2024 and 2023, however comfortably above the 44% full EU. storage at this time in 2022.
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Italy's plan for go back to nuclear power ready by end-2027, minister states
Italy aims to settle by the end of 2027 a plan enabling the usage of nuclear power again after it was prohibited almost 40 years ago, Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said in an interview published on Thursday by Italian everyday Il Sole 24 Ore. . Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's conservative federal government has said little modular reactors and advanced modular reactors could assistance decarbonise Italy's most polluting markets, consisting of steel, glass and tilemaking. Nuclear-fired power plants are forbidden in Italy following referendums in 1987 and 2011 but the federal government is now drafting rules to lift the ban through making use of new nuclear-power technologies. Italy is ready to go back to nuclear power, a crucial choice that will not change renewables but will match them, making sure a well balanced and sustainable energy mix, Pichetto Fratin said, including that a first draft law would be submitted for cabinet approval within the next two weeks. In September in 2015, Pichetto Fratin stated that Italy wanted to draft guidelines enabling new nuclear power innovations by early 2025 at the latest and hoped that parliament would be able to approve the draft legislation this year. Italy approximates it would conserve 17 billion euros ($ 17.7. billion) on the cost of decarbonising the economy by 2050 if. nuclear power comprised a minimum of 11% of its energy mix. Pichetto Fratin stated the Italian energy and climate plan. ( PNIEC) approximated that portion at up to 22%. Italy has actually maintained crucial competence in the nuclear sector. State-controlled energy Enel operates nuclear power. stations in Spain and energy significant Eni is buying. a task to develop a nuclear blend reactor in the United. States. Last year Pichetto Fratin said that Italy was in talks with. several companies consisting of U.S. energy group Westinghouse and. France's EDF as potential partners for a state-backed company. that will develop sophisticated nuclear reactors in the nation and. that Enel, Ansaldo and defence business Leonardo were. dealing with establishing a state-backed company to develop nuclear. reactors in Italy. In November in 2015, Enel said it would join forces with. other groups to set up a new business to study the use of. advanced nuclear innovation, but no arrangement has actually yet been. signed.
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Sandvik signals stabilising orders as Q4 intake beats quotes
Swedish metalcutting and mining devices maker Sandvik on Thursday signalled stabilising orders for early 2025 and little instant danger from U.S. tariffs, after it beat market expectations for fourthquarter order intake. Sandvik, one of the very first Nordic industrial companies to report quarterly outcomes, is thought about a trustworthy sign of need given its broad customer base. Its quarterly order intake was 31.56 billion Swedish crowns ($ 2.86 billion), up 5% from a year previously and above experts' consensus according to Jefferies and Kepler Cheuvreux. Demand was solid in the Mining and Rock Solutions division, especially in the aftermarket organization that saw double-digit portion growth in brand-new orders in the quarter, Sandvik stated. While equipment orders were steady year on year, our equipment divisions saw a more favorable demand photo, CEO Stefan Widing stated in a declaration. Its Manufacturing and Mining Solutions system continued to suffer from weak need in Europe and in the vehicle sector, which Widing said was not unexpected as macro-economic instability shakes its essential client markets. However, Sandvik stated order consumption for the unit had actually been steady in the very first 2 weeks of January, which Jefferies analysts stated might result in a minor consensus upgrade. Mining and Rock Solutions comprise around a half of Sandvik's. sales, while Production and Mining Solutions produce almost. 40%. Sandvik's shares rose 5.3% by 0943 GMT. Looming U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China are raising. concerns for numerous companies operating globally, but Widing informed. Reuters that Sandvik, that makes a quarter of its sales in. The United States and Canada, had really little exposure to the nations on top. of President Donald Trump's agenda. We have been preparing in the sense of understanding our. flows and what actions we can take, whether it belongs to. rates, changing logistics streams or even moving assembly or. production, he included about the approaching U.S. policy changes. Sandvik's adjusted operating profit was steady at 5.74. billion crowns, though it just missed analysts' expectations. according to LSEG's IBES information.
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Russia says it sees nothing much brand-new in Trump's risk of sanctions and tariffs
The Kremlin stated on Thursday it saw absolutely nothing particularly new in a hazard by U.S. President Donald Trump to hit Russia with brand-new sanctions and tariffs if it did not agree to end the war in Ukraine. Referring to Russia and the war, Trump said on Wednesday: If we don't make a 'deal,' and quickly, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and numerous other taking part nations. Trump said he would be doing a huge favour to Russia and Putin by getting them to bring an end to what he called this ludicrous war. Inquired about Trump's remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump had often applied sanctions against Russia in his very first term as president. We do not see any particularly brand-new elements here, Peskov informed press reporters. He likes these techniques, a minimum of he liked them throughout his very first presidency. Moscow was carefully keeping an eye on all Trump's statements, stated Peskov. We carefully record all the subtleties. We remain ready for discussion, President Putin has consistently spoken about this - for equivalent discussion, for equally considerate discussion. Trump, who earlier today stated the Ukraine conflict was ruining Russia, has actually stated he prepares to talk to Putin quickly. Peskov stated Moscow was still awaiting signals from the U.S. side.
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Stocks ease as AI ecstasy wanes; dollar wilts without tariff bump
International stocks relieved on Thursday, stopping a rally stimulated by U.S. President Donald Trump's mammoth spending plans for artificial intelligence infrastructure as a few of that enjoyment died, though Chinese shares fared much better on Beijing's assistance. In Europe, the STOXX 600, which hit a record high on Wednesday, was down 0.1%, under pressure from a drop in technology shares, which had actually soared the previous day after Trump announced a $500 billion private-sector AI facilities financial investment strategy. The joint endeavor, which involves Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank at first turbo-charged a rally in worldwide stock markets, which drew further support from upbeat revenues. With no more information on Trump's prepare for tariffs, the momentum faded and the dollar hovered around two-week lows, while stocks on Wall Street struck a record high the previous day . Plainly, the path of least resistance continues to cause the upside in the equity area, with participants competently shrugging off tariff-related uncertainties in the meantime, stated Michael Brown, senior research study strategist at Pepperstone. That stated, next week brings a chunky slate of occasion danger, including the first FOMC decision of the year, along with revenues from megacaps ... It wouldn't be too unexpected to see some equity longs trimmed into that bonanza. U.S. stock index futures were down 0.2-0.5%. On Asian markets overnight, Chinese stocks rallied by more than 1% at one point in the session, after the federal government revealed strategies to funnel hundreds of billions of yuan of investment from state-owned insurance providers into shares, simply after Trump stated he was proposing to slap a 10% punitive duty on Chinese imports. The CSI300 blue-chip index quit a few of those gains to end the day up 0.18%. The consistent underperformance of China equities is a. barometer of the country's fundamental economic troubles,. along with falling bond yields, said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX. strategy at RBC Capital Markets. They point to the domestic troubles. And U.S. tariffs. will get worse the issue especially with China growing more. reliant on net exports to power growth. Somewhere else, Japan's Nikkei gained 0.8%. Shares in. SoftBank jumped 5%, with the company having come under. the spotlight due to the Stargate AI joint venture. The Info reported on Wednesday that OpenAI and. Japanese corporation SoftBank will each devote $19 billion to. fund the job. TARIFF THREATS Action in the currency markets was mainly subdued on. Thursday after an unpredictable couple of sessions since Trump's return to. the White House, owing to his plans around tariffs. Adding to his dangers on Chinese imports, Trump also stated. Mexico and Canada might face levies of around 25% by Feb. 1. Likewise, he assured responsibilities on European imports, without. elaborating even more. However in the absence of any additional details, the dollar. struggled to push higher. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency. versus 6 others, suffered near a two-week low of 108.26. The euro was little bit altered at $1.0408, while. sterling last traded down 0.2% at $1.2306. China's yuan deteriorated by 0.14% to 7.2931 in the. offshore market. The danger of tariffs continues to hang over markets, but. the rapidly decreasing half life of headings shows you the. market is currently numb to the shenanigans, said Brent Donnelly,. president at Spectra Markets. Ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy choice on Friday, the. dollar increased to a one-week high against the yen at. 156.76. Markets have actually currently completely priced in a 25-basis-point. rate hike at the conclusion of the conference. Norges Bank held interest rates on Thursday however signified it. plans to cut rates at its next meeting in March. The crown, the weakest carrying out G10 currency. versus the dollar in the in 2015, with a loss of 7.5%, was. 0.1% down on the day at 11.29 to the dollar. In commodities, oil prices edged into positive territory,. but remained below $80 a barrel, under pressure from issue. over how Trump's proposed tariffs might impact worldwide economic. growth and need for energy. Brent crude futures were last up 0.15% on the day at. $ 79.11 a barrel, having fallen earlier by as much as 0.5%, while. copper prices fell 0.6% to $9,173 a metric load.
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Fearing price relocations, Italy to act rapidly to build gas stockpiles
Italy plans to make an early start on filling tactical gas stockpiles in 2025, the nation's. energy minister stated on Thursday, as Rome anticipates gas wholesale. prices to increase higher in the summer. Gas is normally bought and kept in between April and October. when demand and costs are lower, to be offered later in winter season. when rates rise. But Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said in parliament. Rome would start filling treatments as early as February to. play it safe of getting caught out by unusual price movements. Due to continuous geopolitical stress and possible. speculation, there is a threat for 2025 that wholesale gas rates. next summer will be higher than next winter, as held true. throughout the energy crisis of 2022, he included. Germany is acting in a comparable method as it is studying the. possibility of contractors receiving aids to fill up gas. storage sites. Fears of an energy shock have increased after Ukraine refused to. renew a gas transit contract with Russia, marking the end of. years of Moscow's dominance on Europe's energy markets. The benchmark front-month agreement at the Dutch TTF hub. was little changed at 49.67 euros per megawatt hour. ( MWh), hovering near the highest levels for over a year,. according to LSEG data on Thursday. Pichetto likewise renewed calls for the European Union to extend. an emergency cap on gas prices and avoid a possible energy. cost shock. Brussels introduced a price limit of 180 euros per megawatt. hour (eur/MWh) in December 2022, after months of cripplingly. high energy prices brought on by Russia slashing gas supplies. following its intrusion of Ukraine. The scheme has actually never ever started and the European Union. intends to let it expire as arranged at the end of this month. We are campaigning for structural mechanisms to be put in. place to avoid speculation from increasing gas prices on the. TTF, Pichetto said.
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.”