2025-05-29 12:11
May 29 - Hormel Foods (HRL.N) , opens new tab tightened its annual profit forecast towards the lower end on Thursday, as the Skippy peanut butter maker struggles with supply chain issues and weak demand that may counter the benefits of its price hikes. Like peer Tyson Foods (TSN.N) , opens new tab, Hormel took consecutive price hikes in the past to protect its margins from persistently high commodity prices, as well as supply chain disruptions caused by bird flu. Sign up here. However, the higher prices come at a time when consumers are reining in budgets as they brace for a possible economic recession triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Earlier this month, Tyson Foods saw weaker demand for its products including beef, despite beating profit estimates during its latest earnings. Meanwhile, Hormel has also been facing constraints at its retail and food-service segments due to reduced shipments of raw materials such as beef and nuts, and lower production by third-party manufacturers. The factors led to a 7% decline in second-quarter sales volumes in both retail and food service segments. Hormel, which sells snacking and packaged meat products, posted quarterly sales of $2.90 billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $2.91 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG. The company expects annual organic net sales to grow in the range of 2% to 3%, compared with prior forecast of 1% to 3% growth. But it narrowed its annual adjusted profit to a range of $1.58 to $1.68 per share, with the midpoint lower than that of its previous forecast of $1.58 to $1.72 per share. On an adjusted basis, it earned quarterly profit of 35 cents per share, compared with analysts' estimates of 34 cents per share. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/hormel-foods-tightens-annual-profit-forecast-amid-weak-retail-demand-2025-05-29/
2025-05-29 11:46
LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - Britain's Less Common Metals, one of the few firms outside China involved in a key step of rare earths processing, plans to build a plant in France, teaming up with a recycling firm there, LCM's majority owner and chairman said. The move would mark another step to diversify Western supplies of rare earths - critical for making magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and electronic components. Sign up here. China accounts for about 90% of the world's processed rare earth production. LCM aims to launch production of rare earth metals and alloys in France by 2027, using raw materials from a plant being built by Carester, Grant Smith told Reuters. France, aiming to become a European hub for the rare earths sector, is also home to a rare earths plant owned by chemicals group Solvay (SOLB.BR) , opens new tab, which launched an expansion in April. A final decision is due soon on LCM's 110 million euro ($124 million) project that would be built in Lacq, southwestern France, adjacent to Carester's plant, which will take old permanent magnets and recycle them, Smith added. "To put the finishing touches on our project, we need two things: get the funding in place and finalise the offtake to make sure the project's going to be viable," Smith said in an interview. Carester has received 216 million euros in funding from Japanese sources and the French government for its processing unit Caremag, which is expected to produce 1,400 metric tons of rare earth oxides a year, mainly from recycled magnets. LCM aims to apply for funds from both the European Union and France and also plans to raise equity or debt funding, Smith said. LCM would take the rare earth oxides from Caremag and process them into rare earth metals and alloys, which would be sold to permanent magnet producers. Rare earths go through a lengthy and complex process to be transformed from mined ore to finished permanent magnets and only a handful of companies outside of China are involved in the metals and alloying segment. Since 1992, LCM has produced a range of rare earth metals and alloys at its plant at Ellesmere Port in northwest England and it will continue that production as it expands abroad, Smith said. In the longer term, LCM is also considering establishing operations in North America and Asia, he added. ($1 = 0.8862 euros) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/uk-rare-earths-company-build-plant-france-2025-05-29/
2025-05-29 11:34
BEIJING, May 29 (Reuters) - China's Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing on Thursday urged authorities to learn from recent incidents and remain vigilant about production safety, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Special attention must be paid to key industries including firefighting, hazardous chemicals, gas, mining, transportation and construction, Zhang said. Sign up here. The vice premier made the remarks at a production safety event after a chemical plant explosion in China's eastern province of Shandong on Tuesday killed at least five people and six remain missing. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-vice-premier-stresses-production-safety-after-deadly-chemical-plant-blast-2025-05-29/
2025-05-29 11:26
DUBAI, May 29 (Reuters) - Dubai's real estate market prices are likely to face a double-double-digit fall in the second half of the year and in 2026, ratings agency Fitch said in a report on Thursday, marking a sharp turn after years of a post-pandemic boom. A spike in deliveries in 2025 and 2026 to a planned 210,000 units, doubling from the previous three years, is likely to cause a record increase in supply and push prices down by no more than 15%, the agency said. Sign up here. The possible drop would follow a rise of around 60% in residential units prices between 2022 and the first quarter of this year in Dubai, where massive infrastructure spending, generous income tax policies and relaxed social and visa rules lured thousands of foreigners after the COVID-19 pandemic, including Russians amid war in Ukraine. Real estate plays a vital role for the economy of the emirate, the Gulf's hub for business and tourism, with sector transactions worth 761 billion dirhams ($207.22 billion) last year, rising 36% in volume, according to Dubai government data. In the past, Dubai suffered painful corrections akin to the property crash in 2009 which required a $20 billion Abu Dhabi-led bailout. The government has since taken measures to deleverage and strengthen the sector, and consolidated major state-owned real estate developers. It has also pursued an economic reboot anchored in what it hopes is sustainable growth, including a 10-year plan known as D33, to double output and become one of the world's top four financial centres. Fitch said on Thursday that banks and homebuilders can tolerate a decrease in prices. It noted that while real estate remains the largest component in UAE banks' lending books, banking sector exposure to firms operating in real estate had dropped to 14% of total gross loans at end of last year from 20% three years earlier. The attractiveness of properties in prime locations, which include palm tree-shaped artificial island Palm Jumeirah, together with delays in project completion would also help mitigate pricing pressure. ($1 = 3.6724 UAE dirham) https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dubai-real-estate-prices-likely-face-double-digit-fall-after-years-boom-fitch-2025-05-29/
2025-05-29 11:16
SAO PAULO, May 29 (Reuters) - The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) has recognized Brazil as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination, Brazilian beef lobby Abrafrigo said in a statement on Thursday. Brazil is the world's top beef exporter and the certificate could contribute to opening new markets. Sign up here. This is the first time that the country has achieved this level of excellence in its sanitary controls, according to Abrafrigo. The lobby, which represents some of the largest Brazilian meatpackers such as Marfrig (MRFG3.SA) , opens new tab, said the recognition was a "historic moment for the beef agro-industrial chain." "The new status also brings new challenges and responsibilities for all actors involved, with the aim of maintaining the herd in adequate sanitary conditions and increasingly strengthening the country's role as a major producer and supplier of animal-origin food for Brazil and the world," it added. The Brazilian Agriculture Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/brazil-declared-free-foot-and-mouth-disease-without-vaccination-says-abrafrigo-2025-05-29/
2025-05-29 10:56
Markets show little reaction to appeal ruling US stocks up but off earlier highs Euro STOXX 600 index reverses rally, closes modestly lower NEW YORK, May 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court reinstated President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on Thursday, leaving Wall Street with no clear direction a day after most of the tariffs were blocked by a trade court, a move that had given markets a brief boost. Chaotic U.S. trade policy has sent global markets on a roller coaster in recent months. Equity markets were rattled by Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcements, which have since been repeatedly delayed and adjusted. Sign up here. Following a market revolt after the April 2 tariff shock, Trump paused most import duties for 90 days and vowed to hammer out bilateral deals with trade partners. Markets have swung wildly through Trump's on-and-off tariff changes. The S&P 500 index (.SPX) , opens new tab is up 4.1% since duties were announced while European stocks (.STOXX) , opens new tab have gained 2.0%. Gold is up 5.9% from April 2, and the U.S. dollar index is down 4.4%. Ten-year Treasury yields have climbed 23 basis points to around 4.4%. But U.S. stocks showed little reaction to the appeals court decision, having already pulled back from the rally sparked by Wednesday's trade court ruling. Markets have grown accustomed to the president announcing steep tariffs only to postpone them soon afterward, giving rise to the acronym TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out), coined by the Financial Times. Asked on Wednesday by a reporter for his response to the term TACO, Trump said the question was "nasty" and in his defense of tariff changes, said: "It's called negotiation." "Trump has already rolled back most of these tariffs anyway, so these court rulings are just headlines," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments in New York. "As far as I'm concerned, as long as the market doesn't tank on the news, it's just a secondary byproduct," Sarhan added. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 117.03 points, or 0.28%, to 42,215.73, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 23.62 points, or 0.40%, to 5,912.17, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 74.93 points, or 0.40%, to 19,175.87. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-courts-tariff-ruling-gives-markets-short-term-pop-long-term-angst-2025-05-29/
