2025-05-04 18:00

May 4 (Reuters) - Japan has no plans to threaten to sell its $1 trillion-plus holdings of U.S. Treasuries in trade talks with Washington, its finance minister said on Sunday, clarifying earlier remarks that the bond holdings could be used as a bargaining chip. "My comments were made in response to a question whether Japan could, as a bargaining tool in trade negotiations, explicitly reassure Washington it wouldn't sell its Treasury holdings easily," Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said. Sign up here. "The comments weren't meant to suggest selling Treasury holdings," Kato told a press conference in Milan. In a television interview on Friday, Kato said Japan's U.S. Treasury holdings could be used as a card in trade negotiations, raising explicitly for the first time its leverage as a massive creditor to the United States. Kato in the interview added whether Japan actually uses that card is a different question. At the press conference on Sunday, Kato repeated that the primary purpose of Japan's U.S. Treasury holdings - the largest in the world - is to ensure it has sufficient liquidity to conduct yen intervention when necessary. "This has been our stance, and we don't plan to use sale of U.S. Treasury holdings as a bargaining tool in the negotiations," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/japan/japan-says-no-plan-threaten-treasuries-sale-us-trade-talks-2025-05-04/

2025-05-04 16:45

Trump's incentive program aims to shrink federal workforce 15% of USDA employees opted for financial incentive to leave, according to readout Number could rise as more contracts are signed WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - More than 15,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture employees have taken one of the Trump administration's two financial incentive offers to leave the agency, according to a readout from a USDA briefing with congressional staff seen by Reuters. The sum represents about 15% of the USDA's total workforce. Sign up here. President Donald Trump's administration has offered federal employees several months of pay and benefits if they opt to leave their jobs as part of his effort with billionaire ally Elon Musk to shrink the federal workforce. At the USDA, 3,877 staff signed contracts in the agency's first Deferred Resignation Program in February and 11,305 signed contracts in the second round in April, for a total of 15,182 resignations, according to the readout of the Friday morning briefing. The numbers could rise over the next month because employees over 40 were given more time to decide whether to leave, and some who opted to leave have not yet signed contracts, said the readout. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More than 260,000 people across the federal civilian workforce have been fired, taken early retirement, earmarked for termination or accepted buyouts since the start of Trump's second term in office. That represents about one tenth of the federal civilian workforce. Those leaving include 674 county employees of the Farm Service Agency who directly serve farmers in offices across the country, and 2,408 staff of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which provides technical assistance to farmers and manages working land conservation programs. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said frontline staff, like those at FSA, will not be affected by any forthcoming reductions by the agency. Also leaving are 555 employees of the Food Safety Inspection Service, which ensures the safety of the U.S. meat, poultry and egg supply. Some of the 1,377 staff departures from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will affect the agency's response to bird flu. Across federal agencies, more employees opted for the second incentive program, citing exhaustion and uncertainty about whether they would be fired. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/more-than-15000-usda-employees-have-taken-trump-financial-incentive-leave-2025-05-04/

2025-05-04 11:45

CAIRO, May 4 (Reuters) - Syria is set to sign a deal to import electricity from Turkey through a 400-kilovolt transmission line between the two countries "soon", the Syrian state news agency cited the country's energy minister as saying on Sunday. Syria is also working on establishing a natural gas pipeline connecting the Turkish border town of Kilis and Syria's northern city of Aleppo, minister Mohamed al-Bashir said. Sign up here. "The pipeline will allow the supply of 6 million cubic meters of gas per day to power plants in Syria which will contribute in improving the country's energy situation," he added. Syria has suffered from severe power shortages. On separate occasions, the country said it was working with partners including Gulf states, in the energy and electricity sectors. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/syria-sign-deal-import-electricity-turkey-minister-says-2025-05-04/

2025-05-04 11:08

OPEC+ may unwind 2.2 mln bpd voluntary cut by Nov - sources Speedy hikes likely in July, Aug, Sept, Oct - sources Saudi Arabia warns against non-compliance - source Oil fell to 4-year low in April below $60/b Trump to visit Saudi Arabia in May LONDON/MOSCOW, May 4 (Reuters) - OPEC+ will accelerate oil output hikes and could bring back to the market as much as 2.2 million barrels per day by November, five OPEC+ sources said as the group's leader Saudi Arabia seeks to punish some fellow members for producing above quotas. OPEC+ shocked oil markets in April by agreeing a bigger-than-expected output hike for May despite weak prices and slowing demand. Sign up here. OPEC's de facto leader Saudi Arabia designed the move to punish Iraq and Kazakhstan for poor compliance with production quotas as Riyadh signalled it was unwilling to prop up the market any longer, sources have said. The developments take place days before U.S. President Donald Trump is due to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss an arms package and a nuclear agreement. Trump has repeatedly asked OPEC+ to pump more oil to help ease gasoline prices as he faces inflation pressures at home, including from his tariff wars. The shift in Saudi policy suggests the kingdom wants to expand its market share, a major change after five years spent balancing the market through deep output cuts. OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, is cutting output by almost 5 million bpd or 5% of global demand. The cuts were agreed in various stages since 2022 to support the market and many cuts are due to remain in place until the end of 2026. In December, OPEC+ agreed to gradually phase out the 2.2 million bpd voluntary part of total cuts by the end of September 2026 but decided in April to accelerate this process from May. The group agreed another big output hike for June on Saturday, taking the total it plans to release in April, May and June to nearly 1 million bpd. OPEC+ will maintain the trend and will likely agree in June to release another 411,000 bpd in July, the five OPEC+ sources briefed on the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Saudi Arabia repeated its warnings against poor compliance on Saturday, one of the sources said. OPEC, the Saudi government's communications office, and the office of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The group will likely approve accelerated hikes for August, September and October as well if Iraq, Kazakhstan and other laggards do not improve compliance and fail to deliver compensation cuts, the sources said. If compliance does not improve, the voluntary cuts will be unwound by November, one of the sources said, referring to the 2.2 million bpd portion of cuts by eight members. Kazakhstan defied OPEC+ last month when its energy minister said he will prioritise national interests over those of the OPEC+ group when deciding on oil production levels. Kazakhstan's April oil output exceeded its OPEC+ quota despite a 3% fall. Oil prices fell to a four-year low in April below $60 per barrel on accelerated OPEC+ hikes and as Trump's tariffs raised concerns about a global slowdown. News of accelerating hikes will weigh on oil prices until compliance improves, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-further-speed-up-oil-output-hikes-three-sources-say-2025-05-04/

2025-05-04 10:54

May 4 (Reuters) - Saudi chemicals giant SABIC (2010.SE) , opens new tab on Sunday reported a first-quarter net loss of 1.21 billion Saudi riyals ($323 million), citing a rise in operating costs and high feedstock costs. That compared to a profit of 0.25 billion riyals in the same period last year. Sign up here. The chemicals industry has been grappling with weak demand and high input costs, leading to lower prices and squeezed margins. SABIC in February said it planned to cut costs and find new investment opportunities, after reporting worse than expected fourth-quarter results. CEO Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh on Sunday pointed to ongoing challenges in the global economy including the slowdown in global GDP. "The oversupply in production capacity of petrochemicals still causes a challenge," he said at a press conference. Results were impacted by an increase in operating expenses driven by a non-recurring cost of 1.7 billion Saudi riyal ($453.22 million) related to a strategic restructuring initiative, said SABIC in a statement. "Restructuring is ongoing, but this last one was on a bigger scale for a bigger impact," al-Fageeh said, adding that he expected the restructuring would be complete this year. Losses were also impacted by a 1.05 billion riyals decline in gross profit driven by higher feedstock prices, SABIC said. The company reported sales of 34.59 billion riyals in the first quarter, a 5.8% increase from 32.69 billion riyals a year earlier. Click here , opens new tab for source text. Further company coverage: (2010.SE) , opens new tab ($1 = 3.7509 riyals) https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-chemicals-group-sabic-reports-q1-net-loss-323-million-2025-05-04/

2025-05-04 04:04

KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Prime Minister said on Sunday he was confident that a dispute between energy company Petronas, owned by the federal government, and Petros, owned by the state of Sarawak, will be resolved through discussions with the Sarawak premier. The two companies' long-running dispute over gas distribution rights escalated last week, with Petronas saying on Friday its Petronas Carigali subsidiary had received notices from the Sarawak state government about its activities there. Sign up here. Petronas gave no further details but local media said Sarawak authorities told the company's Miri Crude Oil Terminal that it lacked a proper operating licence. Sarawak has given Petronas Carigali 21 days to obtain the required licence or face financial penalties under local state law, according to the reports. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he spoke to Sarawak state premier Abang Johari Openg regarding Petronas and Petros issues, based on principles that were previously agreed upon. "When the premier returns from his official visit to London, we will immediately conduct further discussions to finalise it. "I am highly confident that this issue will be resolved prudently by standing on the path of healthy and meaningful discourse," he said on his Facebook page. Anwar also urged all parties to refrain from taking any actions or issuing any statements in the meantime. Negotiations between Petronas and Petros stalled last year, heightening uncertainty over operations and investments in Sarawak's oil sector. The impasse has raised concerns about the potential impact on Petronas revenues, which are a major source of income for the federal government. Sarawak holds more than 60% of Malaysia's gas reserves. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/malaysia-prime-minister-confident-resolving-petronas-petros-dispute-2025-05-04/