2025-05-28 09:29

Shein aims to file prospectus for Hong Kong IPO in coming weeks Company plans to go public in Hong Kong within this year Shein plans to change venue in absence of Chinese regulatory nod HONG KONG/DUBAI/LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Shein is working towards a listing in Hong Kong after the online fast-fashion retailer's proposed initial public offering (IPO) in London failed to secure the green light from Chinese regulators, said three sources with knowledge of the matter. The China-founded company aims to file a draft prospectus with Hong Kong's stock exchange in the coming weeks, one of the sources said. Shein plans to go public in the Asian financial hub within the year, two of the sources said. Sign up here. Shein plans to change the listing venue as it had not yet received approval for its London IPO from Chinese regulators, notably the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the two sources said. The company, which sells products including $5 bike shorts and $18 sundresses, in March secured approval from Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for its IPO in London, and soon informed the CSRC, one of the sources said. The company initially expected the green light from Chinese regulators to follow swiftly after the FCA but has since experienced an unexpected delay and limited communication from the CSRC, said the source. Details about Shein's Hong Kong listing plan have not been reported previously. All the sources spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. Shein and CSRC did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. A spokesperson for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX) (0388.HK) , opens new tab declined to comment on individual companies. Before its attempt to list in London, Shein had pursued a listing in New York, as part of its efforts to gain legitimacy as a global, rather than a Chinese company, and access to a wide pool of large Western investors. A listing in Hong Kong would go against that strategy and could hurt its global credentials. Allegations that Shein's products contain cotton from China's Xinjiang region and a planned legal challenge to the London IPO by a non-governmental organisation campaigning against forced labour in China have complicated the London listing and risk embarrassment for the Chinese government, a separate source with direct knowledge of the matter said. Tensions with the U.S. over trade only exacerbate the wariness of Beijing and the CSRC, the source said. The United States and NGOs accuse China of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where they say Uyghur people are forced to work producing cotton and other goods. Beijing has denied any abuses. Shein, founded by China-born entrepreneur Sky Xu, says it has a zero tolerance policy over forced labour and child labour in its supply chain. The company moved its headquarters from Nanjing, China, to Singapore in 2022. As it awaited a response from the CSRC, Shein earlier this month dropped the communications firms Brunswick and FGS it had hired to help with public relations ahead of the London listing. IPO VALUATION Reuters could not determine if Shein had sought or received a nod from the CSRC for the Hong Kong listing. The company had sought Chinese regulatory approval for going ahead with processes to list in New York and later in London. Shein's filings with the CSRC make it subject to Beijing's listing rules for Chinese firms going public offshore, two sources have said. The rules are applied on "a substance over form" basis, giving the CSRC discretion on when and how to implement them, the sources added. Shein does not own or operate any factories, and instead sources its products from 7,000 third-party suppliers in China as well as some factories in other countries like Brazil and Turkey. Shein's aim was to go public in London in the first half of this year. But its business model of sending products straight from factories to shoppers around the world has been disrupted by the Trump administration ending duty-free access and slapping steep tariffs on e-commerce packages from China. The "de minimis" exemption allowed e-commerce packages from China worth less than $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free and helped Shein, Temu, and Amazon Haul sell clothes, gadgets and accessories extremely cheaply. Now, those parcels are subject to a minimum tariff of 30%. Regardless of where Shein lists, its eventual IPO valuation will hinge on the impact of the removal of the de minimis exemption, the sources have said. The U.S. exemption is still in place for goods that are not from China or Hong Kong. The European Union has also proposed changes to its duty exemption on parcels under 150 euros, adding to pressure on the business model. Reuters reported in February that Shein was set to cut its valuation in a potential London listing to around $50 billion, nearly a quarter less than the $66 billion valuation it had achieved in a $2 billion private fundraising in 2023. A revival in Hong Kong's capital market, with sizable recent listings including Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL's $5.3 billion float, the world's largest listing this year, augurs well for a potential Shein IPO in the city. Companies have raised $9.7 billion in Hong Kong through IPOs and second listings so far in 2025, compared to $1.05 billion at the same time last year, according to LSEG data. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/shein-working-towards-hong-kong-listing-after-london-ipo-stalls-say-sources-2025-05-28/

2025-05-28 08:42

May 28 (Reuters) - Chile's SQM (SQMA.SN) , opens new tab, the world's second-largest lithium producer, on Wednesday missed quarterly profit estimates and warned of lower realized prices in the next quarter due to oversupply of lithium, a critical component of electric vehicle batteries. The company posted first-quarter net profit of $137.5 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with analysts' estimates of $171.20 million, or 63 cents a share, according to LSEG data. Sign up here. The miner said its revenue for the January to March period came in at $1.04 billion, in line with analysts' estimate of $1.045 billion, according to LSEG data. Miners worldwide have been hit by a nearly 90% drop in lithium prices since their peak in late 2022 due to weaker-than-expected demand for electric vehicles and excess supply. After posting a drop in net profit in the fourth quarter last year due to weak prices, SQM had said it expected lithium prices to dip further at the start of 2025. SQM, one of only two companies producing lithium in Chile, also makes fertilizers and industrial chemicals. SQM is awaiting final regulatory approvals to close a partnership with Chilean state-run copper miner Codelco in the Atacama salt flat, the world's most lithium-rich brine deposit. It expects to secure approval from Chinese regulators in the second half of the year. Asked about recent critiques of the deal from presidential hopefuls on both the right and the left, CEO Ricardo Ramos said Chile's political environment ahead of the November election was stirring up debate without fundamentals. "In the end it's just noise," he said. Ramos said that SQM's low operational costs and efforts to reduce them further during this year and next would help the company hold out for better lithium prices. "I don't have a crystal ball, but my view is positive for next year – I think prices will go back to a reasonable price environment," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-sqm-misses-profit-estimates-lithium-prices-remain-under-pressure-2025-05-28/

2025-05-28 08:31

STOCKHOLM, May 28 (Reuters) - Risks to financial stability in Sweden have increased as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and the administration's foreign policy agenda, the central bank said on Wednesday. "The sharp shifts in U.S. trade and security policy have caused substantial market movements during the spring and entail greater uncertainty than usual," the Riksbank said in a statement accompanying its bi-annual financial stability report. Sign up here. "The risk of financial instability has increased," it said. The Riksbank said Sweden's starting point for dealing with increased uncertainty was good, with a robust policy framework, strong public finances and profitable banks that had strong capital and liquidity buffers. But it also pointed to vulnerabilities related to the interlinked banking system and heavily indebted property companies and households. Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs have already hit Sweden's economy, which stalled in the first quarter, according to flash figures. Final GDP figures are due on Friday. The government recently cut its full-year growth forecast to 1.8% from 2.3%, and Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson said risks were that the outcome could be worse. The central bank has said it could cut the policy rate in the months ahead if growth slows and price pressures continue to ease. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/risks-financial-stability-sweden-have-increased-riksbank-says-2025-05-28/

2025-05-28 07:57

GENEVA, May 28 (Reuters) - The world is expected to experience more record temperatures over the next five years, with Arctic warming predicted at more than three times the global average, a new report by the U.N. weather agency said on Wednesday. There is an 80% chance that at least one of the next five years will see record heat, with a high likelihood that average warming will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, according to the report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Sign up here. Last year, the hottest year on record, saw the first breach of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which committed countries to avoid global warming of more than 1.5 C. From this year until the end of 2029, the mean near-surface temperature globally is forecast to be between 1.2 C and 1.9 C higher than pre-industrial levels of the years 1850-1900, the WMO said, adding that this would fuel more extreme weather. "Every additional fraction of a degree of warming drives more harmful heatwaves, extreme rainfall events, intense droughts, melting of ice sheets, sea ice, and glaciers, heating of the ocean, and rising sea levels," it said in a statement. In the Arctic, the above-average projected warming will accelerate ice melt in the Arctic and northwest Pacific Ocean. The report said Arctic warming was predicted to be more than three-and-a-half times the global average, at 2.4 C above the average temperature during the most recent 30-year baseline period over the next five winters. Overall global temperatures will remain at or near record levels until the end of the decade, the WMO report said. Above-average rainfall is forecast in parts of the world including the Sahel, northern Europe, Alaska and northern Siberia, for the months between May and September between 2025 and 2029, while drier-than-average conditions are foreseen this season over the Amazon, according to the weather agency. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/arctic-warming-seen-three-times-global-average-years-ahead-un-weather-agency-2025-05-28/

2025-05-28 07:52

Trump says he is not yet prepared to order new sanctions Kremlin proposes June 2 direct talks with Ukraine Zelenskiy says Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near Sumy Germany and Ukraine to jointly produce long-range missiles WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump again expressed frustration on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the intensifying Ukraine conflict, a day after warning that Putin was "playing with fire" by resisting ceasefire talks while escalating drone and missile attacks. But Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office that he was not yet prepared to impose new sanctions on Russia because he did not want the penalties to scuttle a potential peace deal. Sign up here. Russia has proposed holding the next round of direct talks with Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. There was no immediate response from Kyiv. The public squabble between the U.S. and Russia unfolded as the three-year-old war heats up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front. Delegates from Russia and Ukraine met earlier this month in Istanbul under pressure from Trump to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two, but the talks failed to yield the ceasefire that Kyiv and its Western allies have pushed for. Moscow said certain conditions needed to be met before a ceasefire agreement. Asked whether the Russian leader might be intentionally delaying negotiations, Trump said, "We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not, and if he is, we'll respond a little differently." After speaking to Trump on May 19, Putin said he had agreed to work with Ukraine on a memorandum which would set out the contours of a peace accord including the timing of a ceasefire. Ukraine has not yet officially agreed to Russia's proposed meeting on June 2. Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said on Wednesday that Kyiv had already submitted its memorandum on a potential settlement and called on Russia to produce its version immediately, rather than waiting until next week. "We are not opposed to further meetings with the Russians and are awaiting their 'memorandum', so that the meeting won’t be empty and can truly move us closer to ending the war," Umerov said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday about Moscow's preparation of "concrete proposals" for upcoming talks in Istanbul but gave no details. Putin's demands for ending the war include a written pledge from Western leaders that NATO will not expand eastward to former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia and the lifting of some sanctions on Russia, according to Russian sources with knowledge of the negotiations. In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump had warned Putin that he was "playing with fire" and that "really bad" things would have happened to Russia already if not for Trump himself. Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told a state TV reporter that Trump's remark suggested he is not well-briefed on the realities of the war. WAR HEATING UP Russia said on Wednesday it had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, while Ukraine's military said it had struck several Russian weapon production sites. Ukraine said Russia had launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles. After Russia said in late April it had ejected Ukrainian forces from the western Kursk region, Moscow's forces have pushed over the border into the neighbouring Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine and taken several villages there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near the northern Sumy region, but added that Kyiv had taken steps to prevent Moscow from conducting a large-scale offensive there. Speaking in Berlin during a visit by Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany and Ukraine will develop the joint production of long-range missiles, a move the Kremlin said was irresponsible and amounted to stoking the war. Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said that the U.S.-led NATO military alliance was using the Ukrainian crisis to build up its presence across eastern Europe and the Baltic but that Russia was advancing along the entire front in Ukraine. Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. Russia currently controls just under one fifth of Ukraine. Though Russian advances have accelerated over the past year, the war is costing both Russia and Ukraine dearly in terms of casualties and military spending. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-scolds-russia-stoking-ww3-fears-after-trumps-playing-with-fire-remark-2025-05-28/

2025-05-28 07:14

India's state wheat purchases hit four-year high State reserves to reach around 44 million tons this year This year's wheat harvest about 4 million tons bigger than last India to boost wheat stocks, won't resume exports, official says INDORE, India, May 28 (Reuters) - A strong wheat harvest in India is rapidly replenishing stocks, meaning the country will be able to meet domestic demand without imports this year, contrary to market talk that it would need overseas supplies, and a potential drag on global prices. India banned exports of the staple in 2022 and extended the prohibition as extreme heat shrivelled crops again in 2023 and 2024, draining reserves, pushing prices to record highs and fuelling speculation it would need imports for the first time since 2017. Sign up here. But things are improving for the world's No.2 wheat producer, with early state inventory purchases signalling that this year's crop is about 4 million tons bigger than last year's, six industry and government officials said. "After barely scraping through without imports in recent years, the country finally seems to be out of the woods and free from the fear of having to import wheat," said Amit Takkar, chief of New Delhi-based farm consultancy Conifer Commodities. The Food Corporation of India, the state stockpiler, has bought 29.7 million metric tons of new-season wheat from domestic farmers - the most in four years - after missing procurement targets for three consecutive years. FCI's total wheat purchases could rise to 32 million-32.5 million tons this year, food minister Pralhad Joshi said earlier this month, adding to the 11.8 million tons in stock at the start of the marketing year on April 1. That stockpile of roughly 44 million tons would significantly exceed FCI's annual requirement of 18.4 million tons to run the world's largest food welfare programme, which provides free grain to nearly 800 million people. FCI's surging wheat stocks are sufficient to dispel the prospect of imports that has kept the global trading community guessing, the six industry and government officials said. With the world's second-largest wheat consumer not needing imports, global prices for the grain are likely to come under pressure, as output remains strong in top exporting countries such as Argentina, Australia and Canada, while import demand from top consumer China has weakened. Global wheat prices have more than halved from the record highs of 2022, sliding earlier this month to their lowest level in nearly five years. IMPORTS AVERTED Better weather, higher-yielding climate-resilient seeds, and adequate soil moisture from last year's plentiful monsoon rains helped improve this year's wheat output in India. A nearly 15% rise in wheat prices over the past year - driven by consecutive poor harvests - also encouraged farmers to switch to wheat. Farmers in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, known for premium wheat that goes into pizzas and pastas, said crop yields were higher this year thanks to a milder March. "The weather was better this year compared to last year," said farmer Sunil Dubey, as he steered his tractor trolley brimming with brown sacks of wheat into the dusty, bustling wholesale market of Indore. Dubey and many other farmers have sold their entire harvest to the FCI this year. FCI's robust stockbuilding means that it can release wheat onto the open market in the event of a domestic price spike. In the fiscal year to March 2024, the FCI released more than 10 million tons of wheat into the open market - a record - to tame rising prices. However, lower inventories prevented it from selling large quantities the following year, and Indian wheat prices jumped to an all-time high in early 2025. The government is now far more confident about domestic wheat supplies and prices. India has no plans to lower or remove the 40% wheat import tax, nor is it considering importing wheat through diplomatic channels, as it had discussed earlier, said a senior government official. "Because of good production and procurement, we have ample quantities in hand," said the official who declined to be named, citing government rules. "There will not be any imports." At the same time, India is not considering allowing exports, the official said, preferring instead to build stocks. The government has forecast this year's output at a record 115.4 million tons, although the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India has pegged production at 109.63 million tons. Both estimates were made before the April harvest. In 2024, India produced 105.85 million tons of wheat, according to the flour millers' body, below the government's 113.29 million tons figure. Trade and industry officials have in recent years said the farm ministry's wheat output estimates are overly optimistic and create market uncertainty. "Despite our conservative estimate, we know that production will be around 4 million tons higher than last year," said Navneet Chitlangia, president of the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/no-imports-needed-indias-wheat-harvest-defies-market-speculation-2025-05-28/