2025-12-01 05:27
NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (Reuters) - India is assessing the viability of importing coking coal from Mongolia despite transport bottlenecks, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, as New Delhi seeks to diversify supplies of the key steelmaking ingredient. India, the world's second-biggest crude steel producer, relies on imports for about 85% of its coking coal needs, with more than half sourced from Australia. Demand is expected to climb in coming years, prompting the government and steelmakers to look at tapping new suppliers, the source said. Sign up here. Landlocked Mongolia has two trade corridors for exports - a longer route via Russia and another through China. India does not expect the China route to be viable in the long term given Mongolia's strategic importance to Beijing as a coal supplier and the potential for Beijing to block access, the source said, declining to be identified as the information was not public. India's Ministry of Steel did not respond to an email seeking comment. New Delhi and Beijing are cautiously rebuilding economic ties after a deadly clash along their contested border in 2020 triggered a prolonged military standoff. Mongolian coking coal has been cited by industry officials as a potential source of high-grade coal at relatively lower prices. But logistics remain the biggest hurdle, the source said. India has yet to receive trial shipments of Mongolian coal that were planned earlier this year. State-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) (SAIL.NS) , opens new tab had sought 1 metric ton of Mongolian coal, Reuters reported in May. "SAIL is in continuous engagement with Mongolian coking coal suppliers for ascertaining technical and logistical feasibility for sourcing from Mongolia," the steelmaker said in an emailed statement. The Mongolian Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry did not respond to a request for comment. Separately, Russia and the United States each account for roughly 15% of India's coking coal imports, the source said. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/india-weighs-mongolian-coking-coal-imports-despite-transport-hurdles-source-says-2025-12-01/
2025-12-01 05:01
BERLIN, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Germany should give priority to consumers over wind and solar farms for future grid connections, the chief of Europe's largest energy network operator E.ON (EONGn.DE) , opens new tab said in an interview with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, published on Sunday. “The renewables have won — they already deliver more than 60% of our electricity,” E.ON CEO Leonhard Birnbaum said in the interview. “At this stage it no longer makes sense to massively subsidize new capacity, especially when another wind turbine adds costs but hardly any benefit.” Sign up here. Giving preference to renewable energy facilities at the expense of businesses is no longer appropriate, Birnbaum said, urging the German government to change its policies. "First priority for grid connection should go to whoever creates jobs," Birnbaum said. Birnbaum also urged the government to eliminate what he considers unnecessary subsidies for solar installations. "The costs for the fixed feed-in tariff for new solar power may look harmless per year," Birnbaum said. "But the subsidy often runs for 20 years, and that adds up to billions." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eon-chief-urges-germany-deprioritize-wind-solar-grid-connections-2025-12-01/
2025-12-01 04:39
MUMBAI, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee slid to a record low on Monday, pressured by maturing non-deliverable forward positions alongside a persistent bearish pall on the currency as India remains the among the few major economies without a trade deal with U.S. The rupee hit a low of 89.7575 during the session before closing at 89.5475, down 0.1% on the day. Sign up here. Weakness in trade and investment flows has kept the rupee under pressure this year despite India's status as the fastest growing major economy in the world, which has helped local stock indexes rise to record highs in recent sessions. Traders said that maturity of large positions in the NDF market hurt the rupee on Monday. However, dollar-selling intervention by the central bank helped the currency hold above the psychologically important 90 level, they added. Data released post market hours on Friday had shown that the Reserve Bank of India's short forward dollar positions grew to $63.6 billion in October, underlining its heightened efforts to counter pressure on the rupee. "Goods export growth is already slowing, and if high tariffs remain, risk to India's growth, current account, and balance of payments will worsen, likely warranting a further weakening of the rupee," ANZ said in a note. The firm expects the local currency to weaken to 91.30 by the end of 2026, assuming a status quo on the up to 50% tariffs levied on Indian exports. A trade deal that lowers tariffs to 15-20%, meanwhile, could spark a rally to 88-88.50 but the RBI may counter the strength to replenish FX reserves, the note said. India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) , opens new tab stood at $688.1 billion as of November 21, per central bank data. Weakness in the rupee on Monday also pushed it to an all-time low of 12.69 against the offshore Chinese yuan . The dollar index was down slightly while Asian currencies were mixed. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/massive-economic-growth-beat-hands-struggling-indian-rupee-rare-lift-2025-12-01/
2025-12-01 04:31
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Australia's APA Group (APA.AX) , opens new tab agreed to build state-owned CS Energy's proposed 400-megawatt Brigalow peaking power station in Queensland, it said on Monday. This represents the first major GPG (gas-powered generation) investment by APA for some time, according to an RBC Capital Markets research note. Sign up here. The plant, slated to start operations in 2028 next to CS Energy’s Kogan Creek facility, is designed to provide firming supply during periods of high demand and intermittent renewable output. APA will provide early funding and is ultimately expected to acquire 80% of the project by mid-2026, while CS Energy will retain a 20% stake and operate the plant. RBC Capital Markets analyst Gordon Ramsay called the ownership split "somewhat unusual" given APA’s majority interest and expects project delivery risk to be low. APA CEO and Managing Director Adam Watson said, "This project builds on APA’s existing capabilities and assets in Queensland, driving momentum in our GPG growth strategy and complementing our separate agreement with CS Energy to deliver the project’s lateral pipeline." Gross project cost is expected at around A$1 billion ($654.40 million), with APA’s net share at roughly A$800 million, RBC Capital Markets estimated. The company intends to fund the investment from existing balance sheet capacity, forming part of its A$2.1 billion organic growth pipeline. APA did not give out a capital expenditure estimate. Final capital expenditure will be subject to detailed engineering design, which is expected to be completed in the first half of calendar year 2026, the company said. ($1 = 1.5281 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-apa-partners-with-queensland-build-brigalow-power-station-2025-12-01/
2025-12-01 03:34
JAKARTA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The governor of Indonesia's central bank said on Monday that Bank Indonesia would next year bring the rupiah to trade at 16,500 per U.S. dollar, or even 16,400, adding he is committed to maintaining stability in the currency. Governor Perry Warjiyo gave the rare rupiah guidance at an economic forum on Monday and said that BI is committed to support economic growth while maintaining stability. Sign up here. The rupiah was trading at 16,660 per U.S. dollar at 0310 GMT and is currently emerging Asia's second-worst performing currency, having lost around 3.4% so far this year. BI kept its policy rates unchanged in November to shift its short term focus on keeping the rupiah stable. Warjiyo on Monday reiterated that there is still room for further policy rate easing. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bank-indonesia-will-bring-rupiah-trade-16500-per-dollar-next-year-governor-says-2025-12-01/
2025-12-01 00:01
Reuters Open Interest (ROI) is your essential source for global financial commentary. LAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 1 (Reuters) - At first glance the decision by OPEC+ to leave oil output levels unchanged for the first quarter of next year could be viewed as confirmation the exporter group is concerned about a looming crude supply glut. It was widely expected that the eight members of OPEC+ undertaking voluntary oil output cuts would stick to their plan of leaving production levels unchanged for the first three months of next year. Sign up here. It was also no surprise that the group reiterated their commitment to market stability amid a "steady global economic outlook and current healthy oil market fundamentals as reflected in low inventories." The language used in the brief statement after the meeting on Sunday was familiar, but so are the issues around OPEC+'s view that the oil market is in a good place. The market consensus is that the global oil market is facing a series of issues, some of which are pulling prices in different directions. An example of this is the conundrum of how to view the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the moves to reach a peace agreement, which in theory will allow for a full return to the market of Russian crude and refined products. There is the reality that Western sanctions are starting to tighten parts of the global crude and product markets. Much of the expected glut of crude is from sanctioned exporters Russia, Iran and Venezuela. It's also likely that much of this oil is currently being stored on vessels at sea, with data from commodity analysts Kpler showing a surge in what is termed oil on water to just under 250 million barrels, up some 215 million barrels since September. This means that while the crude oil may be physically present, it's not necessarily available to be purchased and refined. CHINA HOPES There is some hope that China's release of additional crude import quotas last week will allow for some Iranian and Russian cargoes to go to the world's biggest oil importer. But even if this does happen, it does little to relieve tight product markets unless Chinese refiners also substantially increase their exports of refined fuels, and buyers are prepared to take these products amid concerns they may have been produced from sanctioned crude. There are expectations among product traders in Asia that China will lift fuel exports in December as many of the refiners have unused product quotas, but it still remains to be seen how many additional shipments of fuels such as diesel and gasoline will be offered to the market. Another question is whether there will be enough extra fuel exported from China and also from other North Asian refiners, such as Japan and South Korea, to meaningfully lower the profit margins on diesel and gasoline, which reached two-year highs in November. The market is also having to balance the reality of tightness of unsanctioned oil and products with the hope that this will be alleviated by some sort of peace deal in Ukraine. There are encouraging words coming from the ongoing series of meetings involving the United States, Ukraine and Russia, but even if some sort of agreement is reached it is likely to take a while before Russian energy exports are able to be freely traded. There is also the question as to whether previous buyers of Russian crude and products, especially those in Europe, would be willing to go back to buying from Moscow. Amid all the uncertainty surrounding the outlook for the crude oil market, the only sensible course of action for OPEC+ was to sit tight. The group still has some 3.24 million barrels per day (bpd) of production cuts in place even after raising output quotas by some 2.9 million bpd since April. The market consensus is that OPEC+ won't need to increase output in 2026 and may even need to cut back if it wants to keep the price of global benchmark Brent crude around the $63.20 a barrel it ended at on November 28. But much will depend on the interplay between sanctioned crude and products and unsanctioned oil, a factor currently complicating the true state of global supply, demand and inventories. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X , opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/opec-sticks-its-all-is-fine-oil-mantra-uncertainty-rises-2025-12-01/
