2025-02-21 12:20
UK government wants to speed up green energy build-out Proposes changes to flagship support scheme Plans include extending contract length, relaxing criteria OSLO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The British government on Friday presented plans for reforms of its flagship Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme to remove planning barriers and bring green energy projects, especially offshore wind farms, online faster. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said it is proposing to relax the eligibility criteria on planning consent for fixed-bottom offshore wind and to increase the CfD contract term beyond the current 15 years. CfDs are government-backed price guarantees for developers for the electricity produced. It also wants to change the way budgets for offshore wind are set and published, including allowing the government to view bid information in anonymised form. The UK last year awarded CfD contracts to a record number of projects totalling 9.6 gigawatts (GW), most of it for offshore wind. A new, seventh round (AR7) is planned for later this year, while the government has also introduced a scheme to support the domestic renewable energy industry. "Our bold new reforms will give developers the certainty they need to build clean energy in the UK, supporting our mission to become a clean energy superpower and bring down bills for good," Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said. The UK already has 30.7 GW of offshore wind either installed or committed, with a further 7.2 GW of capacity consented, compared with a targeted capacity of 43-50 GW to meet its clean power by 2030, the ministry said. The latest plans also propose enabling CfD support for onshore wind projects looking to increase capacity, so-called repowering. The government, as a temporary measure, also wants to remove the ability of generators with existing CfDs to enter surrendered capacity from previous allocations rounds into AR7. Stakeholders are invited to consult on the reforms to the CfD until March 21, with a government response expected ahead of the AR7 round, the DESNZ said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/uk-presents-plans-subsidy-reform-speed-up-green-energy-projects-2025-02-21/
2025-02-21 12:07
Company sees little impact from US tariffs Sees reshoring trend continuing Full year profit beats forecasts, shares gain ZURICH, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Swiss construction chemicals maker Sika (SIKA.S) , opens new tab expects strong growth in the United States, its biggest market, this year as Donald Trump's policies encourage companies to bring back manufacturing, it said after beating annual profit expectations on Friday. Sika's shares gained 2.4% after its 2024 results, although the company also forecast global sales in local currencies would increase by 3-6% this year, slower than 7.4% growth last year. The company, whose products are used to waterproof and strengthen walls, ceilings and floors, sees the reshoring of manufacturing to the United States under President Trump accelerating, while tariffs flagged by Trump would only have a limited impact. "Manufacturing in general is a high priority for the government to bring back, so I think it will actually accelerate," CEO Thomas Hasler told Reuters in an interview. "Infrastructure spending that started under the Biden administration will continue. I think gas and oil will become again a priority and maybe a little bit less wind and solar." Sika expects the U.S. to be one of its best performing markets this year, with local currency sales increasing toward the upper end of its mid single digit percentage range for the Americas overall, he said. The United States generated 21% of Sika's sales in 2024. Hasler said Sika was insulated against any tariffs because it produced locally nearly 100% of the products it sells in the United States while is also sourced nearly all its ingredients locally, Hasler said. "There may be an impact from tariffs for some, but for us, it's rather limited," Hasler said. "We are self-sufficient in the U.S., and therefore I would say we are rather relaxed." Labour could also become more expensive because of tariffs, although Sika was seeing this yet, the executive said. Its current U.S. projects include working on the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor in Canada, and Sika said it also sees potential in data centres which are being built across the United States to support the growth of artificial intelligence. Hasler was speaking after Sika reported an 11% rise in full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to 2.27 billion Swiss francs ($2.53 billion). That beat analysts' forecasts for 2.25 billion francs in a Vara consensus. Sika's results give an insight into the health of the broader construction industry and Zuercher Kantonalbank described them as good despite challenging markets. Net profit in 2024 rose to 1.25 billion francs, beating forecasts for 1.21 billion francs, Sika said. ($1 = 0.8980 Swiss francs) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/sika-reports-better-than-expected-full-year-profit-2025-02-21/
2025-02-21 11:57
YENAGOA, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Nigerian state oil company NNPC has said a fire on a crude storage barge at its Cawthorne Channel facility in the coastal Rivers state had been contained with no casualties. NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye said in a statement late on Thursday the blaze started at about 1310 GMT on Wednesday and spread to other barges before being contained. The incident had not affected operations at the flow station, Soneye said. In a separate incident, the recovery of excess oil at a Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab spill, reported on February 17, is due to begin on Friday, Nigeria's oil spill agency said. The cause of the spill, at Kolo Creek in nearby Bayelsa state, remains unknown, as the suspected leak point is submerged, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) said, after a joint investigation visit to the site. NOSDRA spokesperson Chukwuemeka Woke said Shell had constructed a watertight enclosure, known as a coffer dam, to allow access to the pipeline, and that the spill site had been contained. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerias-nnpc-says-blaze-oil-facility-contained-without-casualties-2025-02-21/
2025-02-21 11:54
Feb 21 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) , opens new tab snapped a three-week gaining streak to drop to $635.72 billion as of February 14, coming off over one-month highs, data released by the central bank on Friday showed. The reserves fell by $2.54 billion in the reported week, the most in a month. The reserves had risen by a total of $14.3 billion in the prior three weeks. Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the central bank's intervention in the forex market as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves. The rupee has been under pressure amid India's sluggish economic growth, a recent interest rate cut, foreign outflows from local stocks and concerns of a global trade war following U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans. In the week for which the reserves data pertains, the rupee slipped to its all-time low of 87.95 against the dollar, but the fall was limited as the central bank intervened by selling dollars in the spot market, traders said. The intervention helped the rupee gain 0.7% during the reported week, the most since mid-July 2023. The domestic unit ended at 86.7125 against the dollar on Friday and was up 0.1% on week. Foreign exchange reserves include India's Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars) --------------------------------------------------------- Feb 14 Feb 07 2025 2025 --------------------------------------------------------- Foreign currency assets 539,591 544,106 Gold 74,150 72,208 SDRs 17,897 17,878 Reserve Tranche Position 4,083 4,069 ---------------------------------------------------------- Total 635,721 638,261 ---------------------------------------------------------- Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx , opens new tab) ((India Headline News Team; +91 80 6749 1310)) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-forex-reserves-snap-3-week-gaining-streak-2025-02-21/
2025-02-21 11:40
MUMBAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - India's central bank will need to inject at least another 1 trillion rupees ($11.54 billion) into the banking system by March-end as durable liquidity remains in a deficit despite a recent cash infusion, market participants said on Friday. "The need for durable liquidity infusion till March 2025 is estimated at around 1.2 trillion rupees to increase core liquidity from deficit zone to zero," Gaura Sen Gupta, an economist at IDFC First Bank, said. Since mid-January, the Reserve Bank of India has infused funds to counter a sharp decline in liquidity caused by its aggressive intervention in the foreign exchange market, among other factors. The RBI also cut its key interest rate for the first time in nearly five years earlier this month, but market participants say sufficient liquidity is a must to ensure effective policy transmission by lenders. India's banking system liquidity deficit was around 1.7 trillion rupees, as on February 20. The central bank could inject cash by opting for more open market bond purchases or boost non-resident Indian deposits, said Vivek Kumar, an economist at QuantEco Research. The RBI has so far bought bonds worth 1.39 trillion rupees through open market and secondary purchases and infused around 440 billion rupees through a $5 billion dollar/rupee swap. Despite regular fund infusions, the weighted average interbank call money rate has stayed comfortably above the RBI's policy repo rate. IDFC First Bank's Sen Gupta expects the central bank to conduct 800 billion rupees of bond purchases and another $5 billion swap before the end of March. The RBI has also infused 1.83 trillion rupees through long-term repos that will mature in early April. It could roll over these repos for another two months as liquidity comes back into the system once it pays a dividend to the government by end-May, said Ketan Parikh, head of fixed income at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. ($1 = 86.6190 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-rbi-must-infuse-1-trillion-rupees-by-march-end-ease-bank-liquidity-gap-2025-02-21/
2025-02-21 11:34
HANOI/BEIJING, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Vietnam will impose a temporary anti-dumping levy of up to 27.83% on some steel products from China, according to a trade ministry document seen by Reuters. The tariff on hot-rolled steel products is expected to take effect from March 7 and will be in place for 120 days, the document, dated February 21, said. A ministry official confirmed the content of the document. Among companies hit by the 27.83% duties are Baoshan Iron & Steel (600019.SS) , opens new tab and Maanshan Iron & Steel (600808.SS) , opens new tab. Guangxi Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group will face duties of 19.38%, the document said. It also said hot-rolled steel products from India would not face anti-dumping tariffs. Vietnam launched an anti-dumping investigation in July following complaints from Vietnamese producers. The government had said that in the January-September period last year Vietnam imported nearly 8.8 million tons of hot-rolled steel, 72% of which originated from China. The total value of steel and iron ore and steel and iron products imported from China last year was nearly $12 billion, Vietnam's customs data shows. China's ministries of commerce and foreign affairs did not immediately reply to faxed requests for comment after business hours. Hanoi's move comes after the U.S. administration announced 25% tariffs on all its steel imports earlier this month, which would take effect on March 4. The U.S. has already imposed anti-dumping duties on multiple Vietnamese steel exports and producers, in some cases even higher than 25%. It is not clear whether the latest U.S. duties would be applied to Vietnam's steel on top of existing anti-dumping measures. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/vietnam-says-impose-temporary-anti-dumping-tariff-hot-rolled-coil-steel-china-2025-02-21/
