2025-09-12 20:29
US corn supplies expected to swell 59% to 7-year high US corn exports also seen reaching record levels Farmers brace for low corn prices even as costs surge CHICAGO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - U.S. farmers will reap a record corn crop this autumn, eclipsing the previous record set two years ago by nearly 1.5 billion bushels after harvesting their largest acreage in 92 years, the Department of Agriculture said on Friday. The massive crop is due to swell U.S. supplies of the grain by 59% to a seven-year high even as exports are projected to reach record levels, the USDA said in a monthly supply-and-demand report. Sign up here. The grain glut is likely to weigh on the farm economy. U.S. growers have already been struggling with low crop prices and rising costs for inputs such as fertilizer and seeds. Cash crop receipts adjusted for inflation are forecast at the lowest level since 2007. Heftier supplies, however, would benefit livestock producers that use the crop for feed, along with ethanol producers. The USDA lowered its corn yield forecast on Friday but total production rose as it increased its estimate for how many acres will be harvested. In August it surprised grain traders with a large acreage increase. "It didn't matter that USDA reduced the corn yield, because of the amount of corn acreage they found," said Susan Stroud, founder and analyst at No Bull Agriculture. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures shrugged off the harvest outlook as traders anticipated that the USDA could trim its forecasts in upcoming reports. The USDA raised its 2025 U.S. corn production estimate to a record 16.814 billion bushels. It projected a record average yield of 186.7 bushels per acre, down from 188.8 bushels per acre in August. Both figures were above analysts' expectations. Favorable crop weather for much of the summer growing season boosted yield prospects until pockets of disease and dry late-season weather clipped potential, analysts said. End-of-season U.S. corn stocks for the 2025/26 marketing year were projected at 2.11 billion bushels, down slightly from the USDA's forecast a month earlier but still the largest since the 2018/19 season. For soybeans, the USDA projected U.S. yield at a slightly higher-than-expected 53.5 bushels per acre, compared with 53.6 bushels in August. It pegged production at 4.301 billion bushels, up from 4.292 billion bushels a month earlier as the agency increased harvested acres. The agency raised its U.S. soybean ending stocks forecast by 10 million bushels after cutting its export projection to the lowest since a U.S. trade war with top-importer China during President Donald Trump's first term. Export sales have slumped again due to a renewed trade dispute with Beijing, which has not yet booked any new-crop purchases from the U.S. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/usda-projects-record-us-corn-crop-most-harvested-acres-since-1933-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:21
Sept 12 (Reuters) - Agriculture company Corteva (CTVA.N) , opens new tab is exploring a breakup that would separate its seed and pesticide businesses into two separate companies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company, with a market capitalization of nearly $50 billion as of last close, is expected to reveal plans soon, the report said. Sign up here. Shares of Corteva, which did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, closed up 1%. Corteva is among the largest crop-protection product makers in the United States, competing with the likes of Syngenta and German firms BASF (BASFn.DE) , opens new tab and Bayer (BAYGn.DE) , opens new tab in the agricultural chemicals sector. https://www.reuters.com/business/corteva-explores-breaking-up-into-two-separate-companies-wsj-reports-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:04
WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed on Friday a rule to end a mandatory program requiring 8,000 facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions - an effort the agency said was burdensome to business, but which leaves the public without transparency around the environmental impact of those sources. The agency said mandatory collection of GHG emissions data was unnecessary because it is "not directly related to a potential regulation and has no material impact on improving human health and the environment." Sign up here. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The rule responds to a day-one executive order issued by President Donald Trump aimed at removing barriers to unleashing more U.S. energy, particularly fossil fuels. It is the latest in a series of major regulatory rollbacks undoing previous U.S. efforts to combat climate change. Earlier this summer, the EPA announced plans to repeal the "endangerment finding" that enabled the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and stationary sources. If finalized, the proposal would remove reporting obligations for most large facilities, all fuel and industrial gas suppliers, and CO2 injection sites. The Trump administration has also said it would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, which requires countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and report their progress. KEY QUOTE "The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality," said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. KEY CONTEXT The Trump administration has also taken steps to end the collection of key environmental databases at the EPA, as well as other federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and end greenhouse gas-monitoring satellites operated by NASA. DETAILS The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program requires 47 source categories covering 8,000 facilities and suppliers, including power plants, refineries, chemical plants, and fossil fuel/industrial gas suppliers, to calculate and submit their greenhouse gas emissions annually. The program also covers CO2 injection sites. The agency will still require submission of methane emissions data for large oil and gas operations for companies subject to a waste emissions charge. REACTION The carbon capture and storage industry, which is supported by the Trump administration, said the proposal will undermine an emerging technology backed by industry. “This announcement from EPA will not advance carbon storage - something Administrator Zeldin has publicly supported," said Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition. "This proposed rule endangers millions of dollars in investments from American businesses in these technologies.” https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-epa-proposes-end-mandatory-greenhouse-gas-reporting-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:04
MOSCOW, Sept 12 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone attacked one of the buildings of the Smolensk nuclear power station in western Russia overnight, but it was downed and no damage or casualties were reported, a subsidiary of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Friday. Separately, Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-appointed governor of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, said a Ukrainian drone detonated in the air, adding that such incidents occurred regularly. Staff at the Zaporizhzhia plant have reported two attacks in the past week on a training centre near the plant's reactors. Sign up here. Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia plant in the early weeks of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and each side has since regularly accused the other of staging attacks. Ukrainian officials made no comment on either incident reported by Russian officials. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has repeatedly asked both sides to refrain from provocative actions. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-ukrainian-drone-attacked-nuclear-power-station-no-damage-caused-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:01
Cracks appearing in labor market give green light to Fed University of Michigan consumer sentiment falls for 2nd month Euro awaits Fitch verdict on French finances NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar drifted higher on Friday, a day after falling on a surge in U.S. jobless claims and a modest inflation uptick, ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting next week that is likely to cut interest rates after a roughly nine-month hiatus. The greenback rose 0.2% to 147.53 yen , rising for three straight weeks. The dollar firmed earlier on Friday after a U.S.-Japanese joint statement affirmed exchange rates should be "market determined" and that excess volatility and disorderly moves in exchange rates were undesirable. Sign up here. The dollar index was little changed at 97.59, but stayed on track to post a weekly fall of 0.1% for its second consecutive weekly decline. John Velis, Americas macro strategist at BNY in New York, said Friday's gains were more about position-squaring ahead of the weekend. "The broader picture is still quite negative for the dollar on a variety of measures," Velis said. "One, of course, is the Fed now beginning to cut rates. The other is, we still see hedging behavior taking place, so foreign investors buying U.S. assets and selling the dollar to hedge it, which is going to keep pressure on the dollar." Data showing U.S. consumer sentiment falling for a second straight month in September weighed slightly on the greenback. The University of Michigan said on Friday its consumer sentiment index fell to 55.4 this month, the lowest since May, from a final reading of 58.2 in August. Economists polled by Reuters had been expecting a reading of 58.0, little changed from the month before. "If the Fed delivers the rate cut that is widely expected next week, and they signal that more rate cuts are coming, businesses may find optimism that they have an opportunity to recapture margin lost to tariffs, and consequently they can increase their capacity to increase headcount," wrote Tom Simons, chief U.S. economist at Jefferies, in a email after the data. On Thursday, data showed the biggest weekly increase in four years in the number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits. That overshadowed U.S. consumer inflation data for August, which showed prices rising at the fastest pace in seven months but with increases still modest and broadly in line with expectations. While the mixed data might add some wrinkles to the Fed's policy deliberations next week, investors are mostly focused on rate cut prospects. Pricing of Fed fund futures indicates that the market believes the Fed is certain to cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) on September 17. However, traders have reined in bets on a larger 50 bps rate cut next month, with pricing implying a shallower path of easing before the end of the year than anticipated earlier, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield rose 4.9 bps to 4.06%. On Thursday, the yield fell below 4% for the first time since April. The euro was flat versus the dollar at $1.1736 , a day after rising, as traders curbed their bets on another European Central Bank rate cut this cycle to bet on another move at less than 50%. The ECB kept its key interest rate on hold at 2% for a second straight meeting on Thursday, with President Christine Lagarde saying that the euro zone remains in a "good place" and that risks to the economy had become more balanced than before. Fitch Ratings, meanwhile, is expected to give its verdict on French public finances after Friday's markets close following the confidence motion on September 8. "Going explicitly against the direction of its (Fitch) model and 'manually' downgrading the rating would require the agency to come to the conclusion that the balance of power between stakeholders of public funds has tilted further away from financial creditors since the last rating decision in spring," Citi analysts wrote in a research report. Among other currencies, sterling was little changed at $1.3564 , after data showed the British economy stagnated in July, while the Australian dollar was a touch softer at US$0.6651 , not far from a 10-month high. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-dollar-edges-up-positioning-moves-outlook-stays-negative-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 19:49
Traders continue to worry over bearish US economic data Ukrainian drones strike Russia's largest oil terminal Prices supported by Chinese buying and war risks Brent and WTI benchmarks fell sharply in previous session Sept 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack suspended loadings from the largest port in western Russia, but gains were capped by concerns about U.S. demand. Brent crude futures settled at $66.99 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 0.93%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $62.69, a gain of 32 cents, or 0.51%. Sign up here. Early in the day, crude reacted to the drone attack on Russia's northwestern port of Primorsk, which led to a suspension of oil loading operations overnight, an official from Ukraine's SBU security service said. "Those attacks on Russian energy infrastructure have room to drag down Russian crude and refined product exports," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. But later in the day, gains shrank as traders continued to focus on a revised U.S. jobs report issued earlier in the week along with higher inflation figures. "The economic data is not supportive of a rally," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital. "The overall weight is down and the trend is bearish." The U.S. economy likely created 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March than previously estimated, the U.S. Labor Department said on Tuesday. The department said on Thursday the consumer price index rose 0.4% in August, the biggest gain since January, after increasing 0.2% in July. The markets are also watching for sanctions or tariffs from the Trump administration aimed at reducing use of Russian crude by India and China. "Any potential for the tariffs to India and China to harm exports, then we would see Russian barrels off the market," Kilduff said. The Brent and WTI benchmarks fell by 1.7% and 2% respectively on Thursday. The International Energy Agency said on Thursday global oil supply would rise more rapidly than expected this year because of planned output increases by the OPEC+ group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, according to an agency report. However, OPEC's own report later in the day made no change to its relatively high forecasts for oil demand growth this year and next, saying the global economy was maintaining a solid growth trend. On the supply side, India's largest private port operator, Adani Group, has banned tankers sanctioned by Western countries from entering all of its ports, three sources told Reuters and documents show, potentially curbing Russian oil supplies. India is the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne oil, mostly shipped on tankers that are under sanctions by the European Union, the United States and Britain. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-gains-weighed-down-by-us-demand-worries-2025-09-12/
