2025-06-23 12:29
DAKAR, June 23 (Reuters) - Malian tax officials have reopened Barrick Mining's (ABX.TO) , opens new tab office in the capital Bamako under new interim administration after it was shut in mid-April over alleged non-payment of taxes amid a dispute over mining revenues, two people close to the matter said. Spokespeople for Barrick and for Mali's mines ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/barrick-mining-office-malis-capital-bamako-reopens-under-new-provisional-2025-06-23/
2025-06-23 12:00
LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 23 (Reuters) - Thermal coal may end up as a major beneficiary of escalating hostilities in the Middle East, as the fuel used to generate electricity becomes cheaper than one of its main competitors liquefied natural gas (LNG). Much of the focus of the potential fallout from the conflict between Israel, and now the United States, and Iran is the threat to crude oil and refined fuels shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Sign up here. But all of Qatar's LNG also goes through the narrow waterway separating the gulfs of Persia and Oman, and this amounts to almost 20% of the global seaborne supply of the super-chilled fuel. While there has yet to be any disruption of Qatar's LNG, the mere threat that Iran may attempt to block the strait or attack shipping has seen spot LNG prices rise in Asia, the biggest market. LNG for delivery to North Asia rose to $14 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week to June 20, a four-month high and up from $12.6 the prior week. The weekly price assessment also came before the United States joined Israel's bombing campaign against Iran, with President Donald Trump claiming on June 21 that the strikes had "completely and totally obliterated" three nuclear facilities. The involvement of the United States makes it more likely that LNG prices will continue to rise to reflect the increased risk premium. But even at the current level, LNG is no longer competitive against thermal coal in the two major markets where fuel-switching can occur, Japan and South Korea. ADVANTAGE COAL The price of Australian thermal coal with an energy content of 6,000 kilocalories per kilogram at Newcastle Port rose to a four-month high of $109.41 a metric ton in the week to June 20, according to data from globalCOAL. This is the grade of thermal coal most used by Japan and South Korea, as well as Taiwan. Using LSEG data to convert the price of coal into million British thermal units shows that Australia's Newcastle benchmark is currently around $12.18 per mmBtu, or a 13% discount to the spot LNG price. The most recent low for spot LNG was in early May when the price dipped to $11 per mmBtu, at which point it was cheaper than Newcastle coal, which was $11.47. But spot LNG prices have rallied harder than those for coal in recent weeks, a trend that is likely to continue for as long as tensions remain high in the Middle East. Since it has only been 10 days since Israel started its bombing campaign against Iran it's still too early to see a sustained trend in the volumes of coal being purchased by Japan and South Korea. However, there are some signs that coal imports are starting to increase, with commodity analysts Kpler tracking Japan's arrivals at 6.57 million tons in June, up from 6.39 million in May. More interestingly, Kpler is already estimating that Japan's thermal coal imports will jump to 7.23 million tons, which would be the most since March. It's likely that the July number will be revised higher as more cargoes are assessed. There is also an element of seasonality to Japan's thermal coal imports, which tend to rise in both the winter and summer peak demand periods. This means it will be important to look at the year-on-year changes to see if Asia's third-biggest coal buyer is indeed buying more of the fuel. Japan imported 10.05 million tons of thermal coal in July last year, and given that the volume already assessed for this coming July is more than 70% of that total, it's likely that imports next month will show an increase from July 2024. It's also worth noting that Asia's two biggest coal importers, China and India, don't have much ability to swap LNG for coal given their limited use of natural gas for power generation. But on a longer-term note, both countries are likely to view the current unrest in the Middle East as another compelling reason to reduce dependency on imported crude oil and LNG as rapidly as possible. If that means using their vast domestic reserves of coal, supplemented by imports, to electrify transportation at a faster pace, it's likely that this is a path they will pursue irrespective of climate change concerns. 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/iran-tensions-make-thermal-coal-winner-against-pricier-lng-2025-06-23/
2025-06-23 11:39
Companies instructing vessels to limit time in strait Shiptracking data shows at least five tankers turning away The strait is on vital Gulf oil shipping route SINGAPORE/LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - At least two supertankers made U-turns near the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. military strikes on Iran, shiptracking data shows, as more than a week of violence in the region prompts vessels to speed, pause, or alter their journeys. Washington's decision to join Israel's attacks on Iran has stoked fears that Iran could retaliate by closing the strait between Iran and Oman through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows. Sign up here. That has spurred forecasts of oil surging to $100 a barrel. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude hit fresh five-month highs on Monday in choppy trade as investors weighed the potential risks to supply. Shipping rates for supertankers, which can carry 2 million barrels of oil, have also soared, more than doubling in a week to over $60,000 a day, freight data shows. The Coswisdom Lake, a very large crude carrier supertanker, reached the strait on Sunday before making a U-turn and heading south, Kpler and LSEG data showed. On Monday it turned back again, resuming its journey towards the port of Zirku in the United Arab Emirates. The South Loyalty, also a VLCC, made a similar U-turn and remained outside the strait on Monday, LSEG data showed. It was scheduled to load crude from Iraq's Basra terminal, according to Kpler data and two shipping sources. The Coswisdom Lake was scheduled to load crude at Zirku for delivery to China. It was chartered by Unipec, a trading arm of China's state-run Sinopec (600028.SS) , opens new tab, LSEG and Kpler data showed. Sinopec did not respond to a request for immediate comment. Singapore-based Sentosa Shipbrokers said that over the past week, empty tankers entering the Gulf are down 32% while loaded tanker departures are down 27% from early May levels. CHANGING COURSE, PAUSING There have also been changes to how tankers are navigating the area, with a cluster of them sailing closer to Oman, while mainly Iranian-flagged vessels use Iran's local waters, shiptracking data on the MarineTraffic platform showed on Monday. The chemical tanker Kohzan Maru was sailing towards the strait before changing course to remain in the Gulf of Oman. The oil tanker Red Ruby and chemical carrier Marie C were also sailing towards the strait before opting to drop anchor off the UAE port of Fujairah, the data showed. All three en route for loadings. Shipowners are trying to minimise time that vessels spend inside the Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict, KY Lin, spokesperson at Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp, said on Monday. "Vessels will only enter the region when it is nearer to their loading time," he said. Japanese shipping firms Nippon Yusen (9101.T) , opens new tab and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (9104.T) , opens new tab said on Monday they continue to transit the strait but have instructed their vessels to minimise time spent in the Gulf. Several oil traders and analysts told Reuters that they had been warned to expect possible shipping delays as vessels wait for their turn outside the area. "Diversifying sources of supply and shipping routes and learning from past disruptions like the Red Sea are critical," said Leon Alexander, partner at global law firm Clyde & Co. Iran's parliament on Sunday approved a measure to close the strait, Iran's Press TV reported, but any such move would require approval from the Supreme National Security Council. Iran has threatened to close the strait in the past but has never done so. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/tankers-u-turn-zig-zag-pause-around-strait-hormuz-2025-06-23/
2025-06-23 11:28
LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - The pound fell against the dollar on Monday with the greenback benefiting from safe-haven demand as investors assessed the risk of an Iranian response to U.S. attacks on its nuclear sites. By 1054 GMT the pound was down 0.5% versus the dollar at $1.33795 , its lowest level since May 20. Sign up here. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, his office said. Starmer also urged Iran to return to the negotiating table. Market focus is firmly on the price of oil, which earlier spiked as much as 5.7% and was last up 0.5%. "Ultimately the pound is exposed...Pro-cyclical currencies have a negative sensitivity to oil prices," said Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING. Elsewhere, UK flash PMIs hit screens showing business activity expanded modestly in June, but the data barely moved the needle on the pound. The S&P Global UK Composite Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.7 from 50.3 in May - edging further above the 50.0 growth threshold. "Overall, the PMIs suggest that the biggest hit to the economy was in April and things are now starting to recover. That said, the subdued level of the PMIs is still pointing to near stagnation," Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, wrote in a note. The Bank of England held interest rates at 4.25% last Thursday as expected but flagged a weaker labour market and the risk of higher energy prices as conflict in the Middle East escalated. Despite the hold, market watchers took a doveish hint from the 6-3 vote split in favour of keeping rates on hold, with three MPC members in favour of a cut, a factor that is still playing a role according to ING's Pesole. "Markets are still tending towards the doveish side for the pound curve," he said. As of Monday, 58% of traders were betting on a 25-bps rate cut at the BoE's next session in August, with 42% betting on no change. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/sterling-five-week-low-against-dollar-markets-mull-middle-east-risk-2025-06-23/
2025-06-23 11:21
BUDAPEST, June 23 (Reuters) - Hungary and Slovakia have decided not to support the EU's plan for an 18th sanctions package against Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday in a press briefing broadcast on his Facebook page. Hungary and Slovakia decided to block the sanctions package in response to European Union plans to phase out Russian energy imports, the minister said. Sign up here. "We did this because the European Union ... wants to prohibit member states, including Hungary and Slovakia, from purchasing cheap Russian natural gas and cheap Russian oil as they have done previously," Szijjarto said. Hungary and Slovakia continue to rely on Russian gas and oil supplies and have maintained warm ties with Moscow. The Commission on June 10 proposed a new round of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, targeting Moscow's energy revenues, its banks and its military industry. In response, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Slovakia will not back the package of sanctions unless the European Commission provides a solution to the situation Slovakia faces if the bloc phases out Russian energy imports. Sanctions proposals require unanimity in the bloc for approval. Late on Sunday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged the EU to take a proposed ban on Russian energy off the agenda due to an expected rise in energy prices following the U.S. bombing of Iran. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/hungary-slovakia-block-russian-sanctions-package-budapest-says-2025-06-23/
2025-06-23 11:14
Iran's Araqchi in Moscow to meet Putin Araqchi brings a letter from supreme leader Iran wants Russia's support after U.S. strikes Russia, already at war in Ukraine, weighs war in Iran LIVE news on Israel-Iran: ISTANBUL/MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader sent his foreign minister to Moscow on Monday to ask President Vladimir Putin for more help from Russia after the biggest U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution over the weekend. U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel have publicly speculated about killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and about regime change, a step Russia fears could further destabilize the Middle East. Sign up here. While Putin has condemned the Israeli strikes, he has yet to comment on the U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites though he last week called for calm and offered Moscow's services as a mediator over the nuclear programme. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was due to deliver a letter from Khamenei to Putin, seeking the latter's backing, a senior source told Reuters. Iran has not been impressed with Russia's support so far, Iranian sources told Reuters, and the country wants Putin to do more to back it against Israel and the United States. The sources did not elaborate on what assistance Tehran wanted. The Kremlin said that Putin would receive Araqchi but did not say what would be discussed. Araqchi was quoted by the state TASS news agency as saying that Iran and Russia were coordinating their positions on the current escalation in the Middle East. Russia, a longstanding ally of Tehran, plays a role in Iran's nuclear negotiations with the West as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier nuclear deal Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. But Putin, whose army is fighting a major war of attrition in Ukraine for the fourth year, has shown little appetite for a confrontation with the U.S. over Iran just as Trump seeks to repair ties with Moscow. MEDIATION Putin has repeatedly offered to mediate between the U.S. and Iran, and has conveyed Moscow's ideas on resolving the conflict to them while ensuring Iran's access to civil nuclear energy. Putin said Israel had given Moscow assurance on the safety of Russian specialists helping to build two more reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran during air strikes. While Moscow has bought weapons from Iran for its war in Ukraine and signed a 20-year strategic partnership deal with Tehran earlier this year, their relationship - which spans centuries - has at times been troubled. The partnership deal does not contain a mutual defence clause. Inside Russia, there were calls for Russia to support Iran in the same way Washington has supported Ukraine - including air defence systems, missiles and satellite intelligence. At the U.N. Security Council on Sunday, Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East after U.S. strikes. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia recalled former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell making the case at the U.N. Security Council in 2003 that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein constituted an imminent danger to the world because of the country's stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. "Again we're being asked to believe the U.S.'s fairy tales, to once again inflict suffering on millions of people living in the Middle East. This cements our conviction that history has taught our U.S. colleagues nothing," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/irans-supreme-leader-asks-putin-do-more-after-us-strikes-2025-06-23/
