2025-03-13 22:27
March 13 (Reuters) - The board of the U.S. Export-Import Bank approved a nearly $5 billion loan for a long-delayed LNG project in Mozambique, clearing a key hurdle to restarting the project under development by French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab. The Export-Import Bank had previously agreed a $4.7 billion loan for the $20 billion project under President Donald Trump's first administration, but it needed to be re-approved after construction on the project was frozen in 2021 due to violent unrest in the nearby northern Cabo Delgado region — before any disbursements were made. Sign up here. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said last month that he expected financing from the United States to be approved in coming weeks, with other credit agencies to follow in the months after. The company had been waiting for loan re-approvals from the United States, UK and Dutch export credit agencies before lifting a force majeure on the project that has been in place since 2021. Estevao Pale, Mozambique's minister for energy, told the FT that he also expects the UK and Netherlands to reconfirm their support. Mozambique LNG, in which TotalEnergies holds a 26.5% operating stake, was slated to make the southern African nation a major LNG producer, but the project ground to a halt when an insurgency led by Islamic State-linked militants swept the region. Security there has since improved, with partner company Mitsui saying in December that final preparations were underway to resume construction after renegotiation with contractors. Environmental groups said the security risks tied to the project should have been enough to deny support for the project. “The human rights violations, armed conflict, environmental impacts and risky economic projections of the Mozambique LNG project should have kept most sensible investors away," said Daniel Ribiero, technical coordinator of Friends of the Earth Mozambique. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-frees-up-almost-47-billion-loan-totalenergies-mozambique-gas-project-ft-2025-03-13/
2025-03-13 22:19
Donald Trump threatens to slap 200% tariff on European wine U.S. importers say they would have to foot the bill Retailers fear consumers would not accept higher prices LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. importers, distributors and retailers selling French champagne and Italian wines told Reuters that U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 200% tariff on European alcoholic drinks would hit them hard. Trump said the tariffs would be "great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S." However, wine importers and distributors, retailers and bar owners that Reuters spoke to said that they would pay the price. Sign up here. Mary Taylor, owner of European wine importer Mary Taylor Wine, told Reuters that she has 16 shipping containers of wine in transit - an amount that would wipe out her "entire net worth" if 200% tariffs were applied. "If I have to pay... I'm done," she said, adding she was looking to see if she could cancel some of the shipments and had written to contacts close to the president to argue against the tariffs. Under U.S. law, alcohol producers cannot sell directly to consumers, bars or restaurants. Instead, producers must sell to importers or distributors, who sell products on to bars and restaurants. This means European wines are mostly imported by some 4,000 small American importers and distributors, said Ben Aneff, President of the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance, which advocates against tariffs on wine. It is these U.S. businesses that have to pay the levies, said Aneff, also managing partner of Tribeca Wine Merchants, a wine store in New York, adding American retailers and restaurants would also suffer if suppliers hike prices to cover the costs. "A 200% tariff on imported wine would... destroy U.S. businesses," he said, adding many thousands would likely be forced to close. "It would do significantly more economic damage here in the U.S. than it would in Europe." Gab Bowler, president of New York-based wine importer and distributor Bowler Wine, said European wines represent 70% of his company's sales. He would first try to increase prices, he said, but this will impact sales. "What consumer wants to pay $45 for a bottle of wine that was $15 a week ago?" "If this were to go on a long time, we would have to lay off about 50% of our employees and borrow a bunch of money from the bank, putting us in a lot of debt," he said. A GREAT THING FOR US WINE? For every dollar U.S. companies pay European producers for their wine, American importers, distributors, retailers and restaurants further along the supply chain make $4.52 in mark up, Aneff pointed out. Bowler, as well as two retailers or bar owners, said U.S.-made wines, which tend to have far higher prices and a different taste, could replace very little of their European wine sales. Ed Buffington, co-owner of The Community Tap, a wine and beer bar and store with three locations in South Carolina, said the price of American wine means it could not substitute the European wines in his portfolio. His business makes 50% of its sales from wine, with half of that from European wines. "I would watch a huge part of my business vaporise overnight" if the tariffs were imposed, he said, adding this would mean layoffs. Chris Beckett, analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said some U.S.-made wines could benefit from the tariffs, however. Patrick Cappiello, winemaker and proprietor at Monte Rio Cellars, which makes relatively inexpensive Californian wine, said brands like his could see some benefit, but tariffs risked harming the distributors he relies on for sales and the sector as a whole. "I'm torn," he said, adding that tariffs would deal another blow to the entire industry at a time when sales are falling and supply outpaces demand. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/us-importers-retailers-eu-wine-warn-closures-layoffs-tariffs-2025-03-13/
2025-03-13 22:15
Corporation for Public Broadcasting sues FEMA CPB calls withholding of funds 'arbitrary and capricious' Musk pledged to take aim at nonprofit's federal funding March 13 (Reuters) - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding to PBS and NPR stations, sued the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday to lift a freeze on funds meant to support the country's emergency alert system. According to a complaint filed in the Washington, D.C., federal court, FEMA put $38.3 million previously authorized for the alert service's Next Generation Warning System on hold without explanation last month. Sign up here. The CPB said FEMA's "arbitrary and capricious" hold prevents it from seeking expense reimbursements under a $40 million grant awarded in 2022. It said that leaves public stations around the country out of pocket for large sums, with more than $1.88 million needing to be reimbursed. The hold "undermines the emergency alert system relied upon throughout the nation by millions of people whose only access to emergency information is through publicly-issued alerts by public broadcasting stations," the CPB said. FEMA and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Emergency alerts can warn of bad weather such as flash floods and tornadoes, or provide alerts when children are abducted. Congress created the CPB in 1967 to support public broadcasting. It received $535 million from the government in the latest fiscal year and distributes more than 70% to more than 1,500 local public radio and TV stations. Some conservatives have long called to end its funding. In a November editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk, head of U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, said DOGE target expenses "unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended," including the $535 million CPB grant. The case is Corporation for Public Broadcasting v FEMA et al, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 25-00740. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-public-broadcasting-entity-sues-fema-over-emergency-alert-funding-freeze-2025-03-13/
2025-03-13 21:55
HOUSTON, March 13 (Reuters) - Southern California Edison will begin its first close-up physical inspections of certain power equipment under investigation for possible links to the start of the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles early this year, Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro told Reuters at the CERAWeek conference in Houston on Thursday. Several fires broke out across Los Angeles on Jan. 7, claiming dozens of lives and destroying thousands of homes in what is expected to be the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. Sign up here. While no official cause for the major fires has been released, multiple lawsuits have claimed SCE power lines and towers in the hills about the community of Altadena started one of the blazes -- the Eaton Fire. Among those suing SCE are Los Angeles County and the City of Pasadena. SCE, which delivers power to about 15 million people as the largest electric utility in Southern California, will send workers up the Altadena-area towers starting on Monday. Other inspections, including with drones, will also be deployed. Government investigators, attorneys for fire victims and SCE are separately, but in parallel, investigating the cause of the Eaton Fire. The official cause of the blaze, and whether negligence was involved, is expected to determine what - if any - financial consequences SCE will face. Edison International has said that a California-established Wildfire Fund will protect its balance sheet, which Pizarro reiterated on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ceraweek-next-round-inspections-eaton-fire-expected-next-week-edison-intl-ceo-2025-03-13/
2025-03-13 21:48
BRASILIA, March 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's trade chamber, known as Camex, has agreed to eliminate import taxes on certain products to curb food inflation, it said in a statement on Thursday. The decision was unanimous, Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, who also serves as trade, industry and development minister, told reporters in Brasilia. Sign up here. "These are emergency measures to reduce taxes, to reduce food costs and to help, at this exceptional time, to reduce inflation, especially food inflation," Alckmin said, after the government rolled out similar cuts last week. The measures will take effect on Friday and will continue for as long as necessary to reduce food prices, he said. Alckmin said the estimated cost of the exemptions, if they last for one year, is 650 million reais ($112.07 million), though he expects their duration to be shorter. The import tax exemptions apply to foodstuffs such as boneless beef products, roasted coffee, coffee beans, corn, olive oil, sugar, cookies, pasta and sardines. The trade chamber falls under Alckmin's ministry and handles the government's trade policies and guidelines. ($1 = 5.8001 reais) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-trade-chamber-oks-import-tax-cuts-more-food-products-2025-03-13/
2025-03-13 21:30
HOUSTON, March 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) , opens new tab and its Colombian counterpart Ecopetrol (ECO.CN) , opens new tab could have the licenses needed for moving forward a joint offshore gas project in Colombia by mid-2026, said Orlando Velandia, head of Colombia's hydrocarbons regulator. Some 6 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas reserves have been confirmed, making the project commercial. The partners plan to finish drilling a new well this year, while planning its development. An environmental license and a social license are needed before beginning the construction of infrastructure. Sign up here. The project and other areas on Colombia's side of the Caribbean Sea will be key for helping the Andean country reduce a gas deficit that has required imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and plans to optimize the use of natural gas by the country's largest consumers. "If we are able to optimize the prior consultations that we may finish this year and obtain the environmental license in the middle of next year, that gives us a final horizon to have everything for the gas line toward the end of 2028 or 2029, and begin production," Velandia said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston, referencing the Tayrona block, operated by Petrobras. Some 13 million cubic meters per day of gas output from the project will be supplied to Colombia via the pipeline, Petrobras' head of exploration and production, Sylvia dos Anjos, said at the same conference earlier this week. Despite the gas deficit, the country does not see the need to open a new bidding round for offshore areas, Velandia said, as many onshore and offshore blocks previously awarded are expected to move from exploration to production in coming years, securing supply. Meanwhile, Colombia is working to expand its capacity to receive LNG imports through floating regasification facilities, he added. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ceraweek-licenses-petrobras-ecopetrol-offshore-project-be-ready-by-mid-2026-2025-03-13/
