2025-08-28 06:55
BEIJING, Aug 28 (Reuters) - China has placed curbs on coal production following an unexpected supply increase in the first half of the year that weighed on prices, according to an official of a major mining firm and analysts. China's output in July dipped to the lowest level in over a year. It had risen more than 5% year-on-year in the first half, sending prices in some parts of the country down nearly 30% year-on-year by the end of June. Sign up here. Analysts said the country ramped up inspections in July to ensure plants kept to approved production capacity. "The increase (in supply) has exceeded expectations and that has led to prices falling," an official from China Coal Energy , China's third-largest coal miner, told analysts on Monday. "So we have seen regulations regarding production and limitations on production imposed." Shanghai-based commodities consultancy, Mysteel, said on Wednesday that among 153 coking coal mines surveyed in Shanxi, 54 mines with total production capacity of 61.1 million metric tons per year have suspended, or are cutting back, production. Shanxi is China's top-coal producing province. Mysteel cited China's "anti-involution" campaign and inspections across multiple provinces. "Involution" describes supposedly unsustainable competition among Chinese firms. "Anti-involution" has become a slogan for reducing industrial overcapacity. When prices fall below cost level, mines cut back on investments and upgrades, leading to safety concerns, Galaxy Futures analysts said on Thursday. State planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the energy regulator did not immediately respond to questions. More recently, regulators are restricting production out of concerns that an accident would look bad ahead of a September 3 military parade marking the end of World War Two, analysts say. On Wednesday, the 5 million ton per year Wanbolin mine in Shanxi's Taiyuan was closed for safety reasons, Mysteel said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/china-is-capping-coal-production-support-prices-top-miner-analysts-say-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 06:48
Brent, WTI fall after 1% gain in previous session US demand to ease at the end of summer driving Indian buying pattern of Russian oil in focus Aug 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday after rising in the previous session as investors weighed expectations for lower U.S. fuel demand with the end of the summer demand season nearing and awaited India's response to punitive U.S. tariffs. Brent crude futures dropped 50 cents, or 0.73%, to $67.55 at 0643 GMT, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 51 cents, or 0.80%, to $63.64. Sign up here. Both contracts climbed in the prior session after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude inventories fell by 2.4 million barrels in the week ended August 22, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9-million-barrel draw. "Oil prices are pulling back this morning as traders reassess yesterday’s rally driven by the EIA report," said Priyanka Sachdeva, a senior market analyst at Phillip Nova. "While U.S. crude inventories did post another drawdown, the pace of declines slowed compared with last week’s sharper drop, tempering bullish momentum," she added. The drop signaled strong demand ahead of the upcoming U.S. Labor Day long weekend. However, this typically marks the unofficial end of the summer driving season and the onset of lower U.S. demand, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said. Traders are watching out for how New Delhi responds to pressure from Washington to stop buying Russian oil, after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on imports from India to as much as 50% on Wednesday. "India is expected to continue purchasing crude oil from Russia at least in the short term, which should limit the impact of the new tariffs on global supply," said Sycamore. Also weighing on the market is the increasing supply coming to the market as major producers have removed some voluntary cuts, which offset some of the supporting factors, including that Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on each other's energy infrastructure. Russia launched a massive drone attack on energy and gas transport infrastructure across six Ukrainian regions overnight, leaving more than 100,000 people without power, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday. The prospect of a near-term interest rate cut in the U.S. has also supported the oil market, as that would potentially boost economic activity and oil demand. New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said on Wednesday rates will likely fall at some point, but policymakers will need to see upcoming economic data before deciding whether it is appropriate to make a cut at the Fed's September 16-17 meeting. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-falls-market-weighs-end-us-summer-demand-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 06:45
Aug 28 (Reuters) - Drax Group (DRX.L) , opens new tab said on Thursday that Britain's financial watchdog is investigating its biomass sourcing statements from January 2022 to March 2024, following a similar probe by the country's energy regulator last year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also looking into the compliance of Drax's 2021–2023 annual reports with financial disclosure rules. Sign up here. The FCA's probe intensifies scrutiny of Drax, which was penalised 25 million pounds ($33.77 million) by British energy regulator Ofgem in 2024 over misreporting biomass data, particularly concerning sourcing from Canadian forests. The energy company, which supplies about 5% of Britain's electricity via biomass-converted coal plants, said it is cooperating with the FCA, but provided no further details. Drax reported a half-year profit drop in July due to weak UK wholesale power prices, but saw strong wood pellet production, a key fuel for renewable electricity generation. ($1 = 0.7402 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/uk-financial-watchdog-probes-drax-over-past-biomass-disclosures-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 06:37
KYIV, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine struck Russia's Afipsky oil refinery in Krasnodar region and Kuybyshevskyi oil refinery in Samara region overnight, commander of Ukrainian drone forces said on Thursday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ukraine-says-it-attacked-two-russian-oil-refineries-overnight-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 06:36
BEIJING/SINGAPORE, Aug 28 - Grains traders globally are closely watching talks between the United States and China for signs of progress on agricultural tariffs, a key test for American farmers to regain a foothold in their top export market. Senior Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang is visiting Washington this week for talks with U.S. officials. Sign up here. WHY DOES AGRICULTURE MATTER FOR TIES? Farm products are the biggest U.S. export to China and a commitment by Beijing to increase purchases is likely to feature in a broad trade deal. President Donald Trump has already urged it to quadruple soybean purchases. But looming over the talks is the memory that parts of the 2020 "Phase 1" deal, struck during Trump's first term, went unfulfilled, in particular a commitment by Beijing to buy an additional $200 billion worth of U.S. goods over 2020 and 2021. China is the top market for U.S. farmers, taking $29.25 billion of their goods last year, and buying more is a powerful lever for Beijing to help close the huge trade deficit Trump frequently uses to justify tariffs. With China the world's largest soybean importer and the United States the second-largest grower, U.S. sales of the oilseed were worth $12.8 billion and China bought roughly half of all U.S. exports. Much of that trade is now frozen, thanks to Chinese tariffs on U.S. soybeans and other farm products. A deal could see China ramp up purchases beyond last year's levels. Agricultural imports have fallen by more than a quarter since peaking at just over $40 billion in 2022, roughly equal to the annual commitment in the Phase 1 deal. WHAT COULD HOLD UP A DEAL? However, reaching or exceeding those levels will require U.S. exporters to displace competitors, especially in Latin America, where China increasingly buys agricultural products. The U.S. share of China's agricultural imports slid to 12% in 2024 from 20% in 2016, while that of Brazil rose to 22% from 14%, Chinese customs data shows. A major shift back towards U.S. supply would reverse a years-long campaign to diversify away from Washington that began after Trump's first trade war. Part of that campaign is a push to cut reliance on overall food imports, which would complicate prospects for any ramp-up in buying. In April, China unveiled a plan to trim by 10% soymeal inclusion in animal feed by 2030 - a move that could slash annual soybean imports by about 10 million tons, or nearly half of U.S. soybean exports to China last year. WHAT ROLE WILL SOYBEANS HAVE? The size of the soybean trade is likely to make it a big part of any Chinese commitment to buy more U.S. agricultural products. But the window is rapidly closing for purchases of this year's U.S. crop. China normally imports U.S. soybeans between September and January, but it has not pre-booked any cargoes yet - a delay traders warn risks U.S. exporters missing out on billions if Chinese crushers keep opting for South American cargoes instead. Benchmark Chicago soybeans are trading close to their lowest since 2020, weighed down by a lack of Chinese buying and expectations of a bumper U.S. harvest. U.S. soybean farmers wrote to Trump this month pleading for a deal with Beijing and warning of dire economic consequences if China continues to shun American crops. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/what-role-do-farm-products-have-us-china-trade-deal-2025-08-28/
2025-08-28 06:34
HONG KONG, Aug 28 (Reuters) - American Bitcoin, the bitcoin miner backed by U.S. President Donald Trump's two sons, has locked in crypto and traditional investors to back an all-stock merger that will allow the firm to soon start trading on the Nasdaq, the company's largest investor said. The unlisted firm's merger with Gryphon Digital Mining (GRYP.O) , opens new tab is set to be finalised shortly, and the goal is to start trading in early September, according to Asher Genoot, the CEO of Hut 8 (HUT.O) , opens new tab, which holds 80% of American Bitcoin. Sign up here. Anchor shareholders in the listing have already been finalised, he added. The company's co-founder, Eric Trump, his brother Donald Trump Jr and Hut 8 (HUT.O) , opens new tab, will own a combined 98% of the newly formed entity, which will retain the name American Bitcoin and trade under the stock code ABTC. "Instead of going public directly via IPO, we thought that there was a lot more advantages to financing if we had an existing company that already had access to different financing too," Genoot told Reuters in an interview at the Crypto Asia conference in Hong Kong. Eric Trump is also in Hong Kong and will travel to Tokyo on the weekend for an event for Metaplanet, a Japanese bitcoin treasury firm, Genoot said. American Bitcoin is hunting for crypto assets to buy in Hong Kong and Japan to build out its global business, the Financial Times reported two weeks ago. Genoot said American Bitcoin could take stakes in companies outside of the U.S. to give people access to publicly listed bitcoin assets, as some investors were prevented from buying Nasdaq-listed stocks. "Right now it's very early. So we haven’t been committed to anything," he said. Hut 8 was also a crypto miner but has shifted its focus to energy infrastructure and data centers after launching American Bitcoin with Trump sons, he added. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/american-bitcoin-backed-by-trumps-sons-aims-start-trading-september-2025-08-28/
