2025-04-03 12:23
April 3 (Reuters) - India has tightened steel procurement rules to favour domestic manufacturing, at a time when mills are struggling with lower prices of iron and steel due to a sharp influx of cheaper imports, a government notification showed. India's finished steel imports from China, South Korea and Japan hit a record high in the first 10 months of the previous financial year which ended on March 31, government data showed. Sign up here. The new rules under the "Domestically Manufactured Iron And Steel Products Policy 2025" mandates all ministries, departments and agencies under the Indian government to prioritise locally manufactured iron and steel products. The policy is valid for five years and may be extended at the discretion of the Ministry of Steel, a gazette notification issued on April 1 showed. "Specifying foreign certifications or unreasonable technical specifications in bid document is a restrictive and discriminatory practise against local suppliers," the notification said. As per the policy, foreign governments and entities which do not allow Indian mills to participate in their tenders, will not be allowed to participate in Indian government tenders, except for some items specified by the steel ministry. The policy, however, excludes steel grades not manufactured in the country, or if domestic mills cannot meet the quantity required for a project. The move comes a few weeks after the Directorate General of Trade Remedies, which functions under the trade ministry, recommended a temporary 12% tax for 200 days on certain steel imports to curb "serious injury" to the domestic industry. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-tightens-steel-procurement-favour-domestic-mills-2025-04-03/
2025-04-03 12:17
ZURICH, April 3 (Reuters) - A Swiss National Bank policymaker said on Thursday the central bank does not engage in currency manipulation, rejecting the suggestion that Switzerland could be targeted for the practice as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's new trade policies. When asked whether Switzerland could be in Washington's sights, SNB governing board member Petra Tschudin said that the central bank has only intervened in foreign exchange markets to achieve its inflation goal, not to boost exports. Sign up here. "We really only intervened to fulfil our mandate of price stability," Tschudin said at an event in Zurich, noting that the SNB went into the market to defend its goal of keeping inflation between 0-2%. On Wednesday, the United States hit Switzerland with higher import tariffs than those imposed on the European Union, surprising Swiss policymakers and alarming businesses. Trump says he wants to cut the U.S. trade deficit, arguing his country has been ripped off by its trading partners. The U.S. government has sought to justify its tariff rates on the basis of various factors including barriers to U.S. goods, differences in consumption tax rates, compliance hurdles and costs, plus currency manipulation and undervaluation. Tschudin said she was surprised by how high the U.S. import tariffs slapped on Switzerland were. She said the central bank has previously had exchanges with the U.S. Treasury to explain that its interventions are not to stimulate trade, but a defensive measure in periods where investors bought the Swiss franc as a safe haven currency. Earlier, the SNB said it would continue its dialogue with the U.S. administration as it analysed the tariffs' impact. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/snb-board-member-says-negative-rates-still-an-option-if-needed-2025-04-03/
2025-04-03 12:05
DUBLIN, April 3 (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Thursday it was still too early to consider supporting businesses hit by President Donald Trump's import tariffs of 20% but that he expected talks with the U.S. on the impact of the levies. "It's somewhat early yet to be talking in terms of supports (for businesses)," Martin told a press conference. "I think this is not the end of the story... I anticipate negotiations, I believe there will be negotiations." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/irish-pm-says-too-early-consider-supporting-businesses-hit-by-tariffs-2025-04-03/
2025-04-03 12:04
Miners look at creating value and strength through scale M&A discussions typically take place at top or bottom of cycle Copper makes selling consolidation to boards easier LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Joint ventures and asset sales are expected to accelerate in the mining industry, which is ripe for consolidation due to the slowdown in manufacturing and demand growth for industrial metals, particularly in top consumer China. However, full-scale mergers and acquisitions activity among diversified miners could be hampered for now by prohibitive high costs and significant chances of eventual rejection, investors say. Sign up here. Reluctance to engage at a company level is seen in LSEG data showing M&A in mining sector fell 27% in value terms to $15 billion in the first quarter compared to the same 2024 period. Since the start of 2024, BHP's (BHP.AX) , opens new tab shares have slumped 26% and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) , opens new tab has dropped 23% while Glencore (GLEN.L) , opens new tab's shares have collapsed 42%. Companies such as BHP and Rio Tinto have robust balance sheets and are delivering handsome returns to shareholders, but they are approaching a period of stalled earnings growth. With no other country able to pick up the slack left by China and trade wars triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's import tariffs, miners are thinking more about creating value and strength through scale. "We are seeing more discussions about partnering, joint ventures and asset sales," said George Cheveley, Portfolio Manager at Investment Manager Ninety One. "We're more likely to see smaller deals rather than wholesale takeovers. They are easier regulation wise and an easier way of improving your asset base and derisking your portfolio." Australia-listed BHP also recently formed a joint venture - Vicuña - with Lundin Mining. Vicuña now owns the Filo copper project in Argentina and the Josemaria project in Chile. Struggling with declining ore grades BHP is planning to invest $10.8 billion over a period of 10 years in Chile starting with the Escondida operation Instead of investing for growth, some have typically opted to boost shareholder returns with dividends and share buybacks. "Our analysis suggests that valuation multiples are not responding to higher payout ratios and buybacks are no longer delivering strong returns making the pivot to growth more appealing," said James Whiteside, head of corporate for metals and mining at Wood Mackenzie. "Diversified companies seeking relevance through big payouts aren't being rewarded, but the read across from copper miners is, investing in production growth pays." HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS "Historically, merger discussions often occur either at the very top of the cycle, because mining companies have a lot of money, or at the very bottom of the cycle, because there's a need to find ways to create value," said Christel Bories, Chairman of French mining group Eramet (ERMT.PA) , opens new tab. The ball started rolling in April 2023 when London-listed Glencore (GLEN.L) , opens new tab attempt to buy Teck Resources (TECKb.TO) , opens new tab for $23 billion was rejected. Glencore instead bought Teck's metallurgical coal portfolio for $7 billion. But it was when the world's biggest miner BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab went hostile with a $49 billion bid for Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab, the mining world understood a restructuring of the industry was on the horizon. "It's important in the mining world for BHP to kick off the M&A cycle because it makes it easier for other CEOs to sell the idea to their boards," said Liberum analyst Tom Price. What has made selling the idea of M&A to company boards easier this time are forecasts of rocketing copper demand partly due to power grid replacement and upgrades and e-mobility which includes electric vehicles, scooters and bikes. Information provider Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI)expects copper demand from these two end-use segments will total 4 million metric tons in 2030 or 13% of global refined demand from 2.6 million tons or 9.5% this year respectively. Overall, miners need to invest $200 billion to increase their copper production by 9.6 million tons, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie. China with its massive manufacturing sector accounts for roughly 55% and 50% of global consumption of copper and aluminium used in transport, packaging and construction. "While stimulus is probably required, China's various strategies over recent years have only stabilised activity in its commodity-intensive property/infrastructure sectors. They remain quite weak," said Liberum's Price. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/mining-consolidation-speed-up-chinese-demand-growth-slows-2025-04-03/
2025-04-03 12:01
Kollsnes gas processing plant shut due to power outage Unclear how long disruption will last Electricity supply to Troll A gas platform down OSLO, April 3 (Reuters) - Equinor (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab said on Thursday it had shut down Norway's Kollsnes gas processing plant due to a power outage, with the offshore Troll A platform also losing its electricity supply, reducing natural gas exports to Europe. The Kollsnes plant is one of Norway's biggest energy export facilities with a daily capacity to process 158 million cubic metres of natural gas, according to the plant's owner Gassco. Sign up here. The incident at Kollsnes is so far expected to curb Thursday's gas processing capacity by 39 million cubic metres, Gassco's transparency website showed, although volume estimates may change. "We have had a power outage at Kollsnes which has resulted in a controlled shutdown of the facility. We are evacuating the facility for personnel," Equinor said in a statement. Gassco confirmed that Kollsnes had suffered a power cut, and said its procedures mandated an evacuation of the plant. "The duration of the outage is uncertain," a Gassco spokesperson said. It was not immediately clear what had caused the outage. Separately, Gassco posted a message via power exchange Nord Pool that electricity supply to the Troll A gas platform, which is powered via a cable from land, was also down. Norway became Europe's largest supplier of natural gas following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, providing about 30% of all gas imports to the European Union. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/equinor-shuts-norways-kollsnes-gas-processing-plant-due-power-outage-2025-04-03/
2025-04-03 12:01
STOCKHOLM, April 3 (Reuters) - The tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump were "somewhat worse" than expected but Sweden had strong finances and the central bank was ready to act if necessary, Riksbank Governor Erik Thedeen said on Thursday. Trump announced sweeping new reciprocal tariffs on global trading partners on Wednesday, upending decades of rules-based trade, risking cost increases and possible retaliation from all sides. Sign up here. Thedeen, on the sidelines of a conference, said the levies were worse than anticipated, especially for some Asian countries. "It's bad for us too, but let's not exaggerate," he said. "We are in a pretty good position in Sweden to handle this type of turbulence. We have inflation broadly in line with the target and we have strong government finances." Exports account for more than half of Sweden's gross domestic product, and the United States is the second biggest market for Swedish goods and services, after Germany. The tariffs could have significant impact on individual companies but it was too early to predict their effect on monetary policy, Thedeen said. Recent strengthening of the Swedish crown was welcome and would help the central bank keep inflation closer to its 2% target. "There is a risk of a stagflation and it is clear that the risk decreases when the crown moves in this direction," he said, referring to a combination of high inflation, stagnant growth and elevated unemployment. Sweden's central bank held its key policy rate at 2.25% at its March 20 meeting and forecast policy would remain unchanged for the foreseeable future, though uncertainty, not least linked to U.S. policy moves and global trade, was unusually great. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/us-tariffs-worse-than-expected-sweden-can-cope-riksbank-chief-says-2025-04-03/
