2026-01-19 23:29
BHP looks to 'optimise' where it sells its iron ore Miner in contract talks with top China buyer for 2026 supply BHP says cost of Canada potash project rises 20% MELBOURNE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - BHP Group (BHP.AX) , opens new tab has accepted lower prices for some iron ore during annual contract negotiations with China, it said on Tuesday, as it reported record first-half production of the key steelmaking ingredient. The Melbourne-headquartered miner also flagged a 20% jump in costs for its Jansen potash project in Canada. Sign up here. BHP is currently negotiating annual contract terms with state iron ore buyer China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG). It flagged it is looking to sell more of its products in other markets. "During negotiations, we continue to optimise product placement distribution channels and take actions within our operations to preserve operational flexibility and productivity," BHP said in a statement. "This has seen some impact to realised price." The statement is a rare acknowledgement from the world's biggest listed miner about the impact of its protracted negotiations with CMRG, which has been trying to extract better terms for Chinese steelmakers, in an unfolding scenario that will be closely watched by its peers. While BHP has been raising its production of copper, iron ore is still its biggest profit generator. Since September, China's state-owned iron ore buyer has ordered steel mills and traders to stop purchasing multiple types of BHP iron ore, sources have told Reuters. RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker said CMRG's restrictions on purchases by Chinese steelmakers were likely to tighten spot market availability and support the headline index price, offsetting the higher discounts BHP was facing. BHP shares were up 0.1% in early trading on Tuesday. POTASH INVESTMENT COSTS RISE AGAIN BHP separately said the total investment estimate for its Jansen stage 1 project would increase to $8.4 billion from a previously estimated range of $7 billion to $7.4 billion reported in July 2025. It said the cost increase reflected construction hours and quantities of materials that were not included in previous estimates. When the project was approved in August 2021, the initial investment cost for Jansen stage 1 was $5.7 billion. BHP said iron ore production from its Western Australia operations on a 100% basis was a record-high 146.6 million metric tons in the six months ended December 31, a 1% increase from the same period last year. For the December quarter, iron ore production on a 100% basis was 76.3 million metric tons, up from 70.2 million tons in the September quarter. The second-quarter iron ore production beat a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 74.3 million tons. The miner kept its full-year iron ore output forecast unchanged at 284 million to 296 million tons, noting the strong first-half production had put BHP in a solid position ahead of the typically wet third quarter. BHP raised the bottom end of its copper production forecast. It now expects to produce between 1.9 million and 2 million tons of copper in the financial year ending June 30, slightly higher than the previous forecast of between 1.8 million and 2 million tons. The miner said the outlook shift was driven by strong operational performance across its copper assets. BHP also kept annual coking coal forecast for the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance unchanged, but said output was likely to land in the lower end of the range due to ongoing geotechnical challenges at its Broadmeadow mine. BHP will report its half-year financial results on February 17. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/bhp-reports-record-hy-iron-ore-production-flags-price-concessions-2026-01-19/
2026-01-19 22:39
Jan 20 (Reuters) - Origin Energy (ORG.AX) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it will extend the operation of all four units of its coal-fired Eraring Power Station to April 2029, to support energy supply in New South Wales state. The 2,880 megawatt Eraring power plant had been scheduled to shut down in August 2027. However, a December report by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said Sydney could face blackouts in the second half of this decade if the plant retires as planned. Sign up here. Australia is targeting 82% of its electricity needs to be fulfilled via renewable energy by 2030. "Our decision to keep Eraring operating until April 2029 provides more time for renewables, storage and transmission projects to be delivered, and reflects uncertainty regarding the reliability of Australia’s aging coal and gas fleet," Origin CEO Frank Calabria said in a statement. The power producer said it does not intend to invest in any major maintenance overhauls ahead of the plant's retirement in 2029. Origin said the battery development project at the Eraring plant started commenced commercial operation in late 2025, with the final stages expected to come online in the first quarter of 2027. The plant supplies around 25% of the state’s power and its government made an initial agreement with Origin in 2024 to underwrite Eraring until the initial closure date of August 2027, although the company has not opted to use government funds as yet. “My number one job is keeping the lights on and putting downward pressure on power prices,” NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said in a statement. “Since the election, we have increased the amount of renewable energy capacity in operation by almost 70%. That’s equivalent to Eraring’s capacity,” Sharpe said, referring to the New South Wales state election in 2023. Last week a separate coal plant in Queensland suffered an outage which Clean Energy Council CEO Jackie Trad said underlined the urgency of getting more renewables into the grid to replace Australia’s ageing coal fleet, which has an average age of 38 years. “Every renewable energy, storage and transmission project that reaches delivery reduces our reliance on ageing coal and moves the system closer to being cleaner, more affordable and more reliable,” she said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-origin-energy-extend-operations-nsw-coal-fired-power-plant-2029-2026-01-19/
2026-01-19 21:59
SAO PAULO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli has allowed a prosecutor's request for banks to freeze assets belonging to Brazilian entrepreneur Nelson Tanure due to an investigation into lender Banco Master, according to a document made public last Friday. The request was made by the country's Prosecutor General's Office. The mid-sized bank was liquidated by the central bank last November. Sign up here. Investigators allege that Tanure has been a "hidden partner" of Master, an accusation the businessman has disputed, saying he has owned a stake in the lender directly or through financial instruments. In a statement released on Monday, Tanure's lawyer Pablo Naves Testoni reaffirmed the investor's stance, saying he has never made a transaction that could back up such an allegation. Brazil's central bank ordered Master to be liquidated citing "severe liquidity crisis", a serious deterioration in its financial condition and violations of financial system rules. While Master holds less than 1% of banking assets in Latin America's largest economy, its collapse has led to scrutiny as the bank grew very fast by issuing high-yield debt marketed as covered by Brazil's private deposit guarantee fund, known as FGC. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/brazil-supreme-court-authorizes-freezing-investor-nelson-tanures-assets-2026-01-19/
2026-01-19 21:17
TSX ends up 0.2% at 33,090.96 CPI rises 2.4% year-over-year Materials group gains 2.2% as gold hits record high Technology ends 1.3% lower Jan 19 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose to another record high on Monday as metal mining shares benefited from safe-haven demand for gold and domestic inflation data supported expectations the Bank of Canada would remain on hold at an upcoming interest rate decision. The S&P/TSX Composite Index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended up 50.41 points, or 0.2%, at 33,090.96, eclipsing Friday's record closing high. Trading volumes were lighter than usual with U.S. markets closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Sign up here. Global stocks dropped and the U.S. dollar eased against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened additional tariffs on goods imported from European nations that oppose his planned takeover of Greenland. Canada is considering whether to send a small contingent of troops to Greenland to take part in NATO military exercises, a source directly familiar with the matter said. "With markets at near all-time highs, it's not surprising to see volatility from time to time when risks emerge," said Josh Sheluk, portfolio manager at Verecan Capital Management. Consumer prices in Canada rose a faster-than-expected 2.4% year-over-year in December, largely due to the base effect of the previous year's sales tax break, but closely watched core measures of inflation cooled for the third consecutive month. Investors expect the Bank of Canada to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a three-year low of 2.25% next week. The materials sector (.GSPTTMT) , opens new tab, which includes metal mining shares, rose 2.2%. The price of gold climbed to a record high, driven by a flight to safety. Energy (.SPTTEN) , opens new tab also posted gains, rising 0.5%, and consumer staples added 0.2%. Six of the 10 major sectors ended lower, including technology (.SPTTTK) , opens new tab. It was down 1.3% and heavily weighted financials (.SPTTFS) , opens new tab lost 0.5%. https://www.reuters.com/business/tsx-futures-fall-trumps-europe-tariff-threat-rattles-markets-2026-01-19/
2026-01-19 20:08
Government plans to speed up and simplify anti-trust probes Says will work with regulator CMA on M&A regime reforms UK development bank sets out its biggest ever investment LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Britain aims to refine its competition regime, pledging to make it "faster, more predictable and more proportionate", launching a formal consultation in what could be a major overhaul of one of the world's toughest regulatory frameworks. The government said it planned to speed up and simplify anti-trust probes, "working closely with the CMA (competition regulator) while preserving its independence". Sign up here. The consultation proposes changes in the ways the CMA makes decisions in mergers and markets investigations, to ensure market remedies are regularly reviewed, and to provide greater certainty for businesses on whether deals will face merger control, it added. "These proposals, which will be taken forward in close collaboration with the CMA, will not alter the independence of CMA decision-making from Ministers," it added. The CMA said on Monday that it would review its historical interventions to check if they were still necessary to ease the burden of compliance, identifying 33 market remedies - 60% of all those in place - that may no longer be needed. The government also said the state-owned development bank will invest 25 million pounds ($34 million) in Kraken Technologies in its largest direct funding, backing the AI energy software firm ahead of a potential London listing. The investment in Kraken - valued at $8.45 billion after its spin-off from UK-based Octopus Energy last year - follows reforms to the British Business Bank's mandate allowing it to take bigger, higher-risk stakes in key scale-ups, the government said. "For too long, Britain's most promising companies have had to look abroad for the backing they need to grow," business minister Peter Kyle said. "We are placing big bets on the industries where Britain can win, backing our innovators with real firepower, and cutting the red tape that holds them back." The BBB, owned by the government's business department but operationally independent, will separately invest 50 million pounds each in venture capital firms Epidarex Capital and IQ Capital, the statement said. Kraken, which supplies energy software to utilities and energy groups - including EDF, National Grid U.S. (NG.L) , opens new tab and Tokyo Gas (9531.T) , opens new tab -, has 70 million global customers and "may list in London" following its demerger, the government added. ($1 = 0.7448 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/uk-plans-overhaul-its-antitrust-regime-drive-growth-2026-01-19/
2026-01-19 18:50
Serbia expects UAE partners to join planned transaction Negotiations to continue till March 24 deadline BELGRADE, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM) , opens new tab has reached a provisional agreement to sell its majority stake in Serbian oil refiner NIS (NIIS.BEL) , opens new tab to Hungary's MOL (MOLB.BU) , opens new tab, Serbia's Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Monday. She said the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which imposed sanctions on NIS over its Russian ownership, would need to approve the transaction, according to a statement to the Video Plus news service. Sign up here. MOL said in a statement that it had signed a binding agreement with Gazprom Neft to buy the Russian firm's 56.16% stake in NIS. NIS supplies about 80% of Serbia's fuel market and holds around half of the retail segment. Djedovic Handanovic said that partners from the United Arab Emirates were expected to be involved in the future sale agreement as talks continue towards a March 24 deadline. MOL said it was in talks with ADNOC about the UAE national oil company being a minority investor in NIS. In a statement later on Monday, Gazprom Neft confirmed it had signed an agreement of intent with MOL to sell a stake in NIS. It did not mention ADNOC as a potential buyer of its shares. MOL TO MAINTAIN OUTPUT AT SERBIA'S SOLE REFINERY Djedovic Handanovic said MOL would be obliged to keep Serbia's sole refinery at Pancevo, operated by NIS, running at previous output levels and to raise production if needed. OFAC imposed sanctions on NIS in October as part of wider measures targeting Russia's energy sector over the war in Ukraine, forcing the Pancevo refinery offline and raising domestic supply concerns. NIS was granted a sanctions reprieve by OFAC until January 23. Russia's Gazprom holds an 11.3% stake in NIS, while its sanctioned oil unit Gazprom Neft owns 44.9%. The Serbian government has 29.9%, with the remainder held by small shareholders and employees. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-gazprom-neft-reaches-provisional-agreement-sell-nis-stake-hungarys-mol-2026-01-19/
