2024-12-27 11:42

Inflation hits staples such as butter, potatoes, chicken Real wages rise but lag inflation over 9% High borrowing costs cool real estate, boost rental market YEKATERINBURG, Russia, Dec 27 (Reuters) - This holiday season, many Russians are tightening their belts. Stubborn inflation has driven up prices of staples such as butter, potatoes and chicken in recent months, hitting Russia's poorest and causing some to cut back this festive season. Reuters spoke to Russians in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg in the Urals and Omsk in Siberia to understand how people are managing their finances. "Prices have noticeably increased," said Natalia Moreva, 58, listing flour, bread, chocolates, fruit, vegetables and meat as all having gone up in price. "Incomes are sufficient, but when you go to the shop you used to be able to buy more," said Moreva, who works for the Omsk regional government. "The holiday is turning out to be a modest one." Russians traditionally increase their spending in the final few weeks of each year, gearing up for New Year celebrations and nationwide holidays in the first weeks of January. This year, they have had to spend a lot more. "Way more expensive, it is heavy on the pocket. In past New Years, expenses more or less met the budget. Now, the costs are much higher, maybe three or four times more than before," said Dinara, a student from Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city. SOARING COSTS Real wages have risen across Russia, largely due to rising salaries in the defence and technology sectors. But for many, wages have not kept pace with inflation, which is running at more than 9%, despite the central bank maintaining interest rates at 21%, their highest in more than 20 years. Vyacheslav, 73, a pensioner in Omsk, said he was noticing prices rising from one day to the next. "It is, of course, not very nice or convenient for people at the moment. We understand that the country is in a difficult situation at the moment, but nevertheless I would like for grocery prices not to grow so quickly. The price of his favourite cheese has risen by 15% to 20% since September, he said, to around 850 roubles. Inflation could end the year at as high as 9.8%, Andrei Gangan, director of the central bank's monetary policy department, told Interfax on Tuesday, and will peak in April 2025 before starting to come down. The central bank defied expectations for a rate hike last week and opted to keep the current cost of borrowing, but soaring borrowing costs are cooling demand in Russia's real estate market, with mortgage rates of up to 30% putting off potential buyers and fuelling a rental market boom. "Communal services are getting more expensive, (so are) taxes, and it is very noticeable," said Moscow student Veronica Arefieva. "When you go to the shop, a loaf of bread that once cost 20 roubles, now costs 50 roubles." Another Moscow student, Sergei Shoreshorin, said the price of chocolates was "scary". Even the cost of fir trees was high, buyers in St. Petersburg agreed. "There are people who need a tree who don't even ask the price, they just buy one," said Ramiz, who was selling trees in the city. "And there are people who, even when we offer a discount, say they can't afford it. "I wish everyone season's greetings, all the best and that next year everyone will be able to afford it!" Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/high-food-prices-dampen-festive-spirits-russia-2024-12-27/

2024-12-27 11:25

MUMBAI, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee fell to an all-time low on Friday, as maturing non-deliverable forwards and currency futures boosted dollar demand, while the sharp fall led to panic dollar buying by importers. The rupee weakened to an all-time low of 85.8075 against the U.S. dollar, before intervention by the central bank helped it trim steep losses, according to traders. The currency settled at 85.5325, down 0.3% on the day, its worst single-day fall since June 4, when the surprise outcome of India's general elections hit markets. The rupee fell nearly 0.3% on the week, its eight consecutive weekly fall. Concerns about India's slowing growth and widened trade deficit have hurt the rupee alongside broad-based dollar strength amid a hawkish shift in the Federal Reserve's policy outlook and expectations surrounding U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's policies. The rupee has hit record lows for eight consecutive sessions. On the day, dollar bids related to the expiry of the December currency futures contract and maturing positions in the non-deliverable forwards market hurt the rupee, traders said. The central bank's absence earlier in the session in the face of strong dollar bids drove the rupee down sharply, traders said, prompting panic dollar buying from importers. However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) "stepped in strongly" towards the close of session, which helped the rupee recover, a trader at a private bank said. The RBI "seems to be keen to let the rupee adjust and let the overvaluation correct against peers", Abhishek Goenka, chief executive at FX advisory firm IFA Global said. The rupee's 40-currency real effective exchange rate, a measure of its competitiveness against peers, rose to a multi-year high of 108.14 in November, according to central bank data, suggesting an overvaluation of about 8%. The dollar index was little changed at 108.1 while Asian currencies were mostly weaker between 0.1% and 0.4%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-slumps-record-low-logs-worst-day-nearly-7-months-dollar-bids-spike-2024-12-27/

2024-12-27 10:58

BEIJING, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Mongolia said on Friday it had reached a preliminary agreement with France's Orano Mining Group to develop a long-expected uranium mining project worth $1.6 billion. A draft agreement for the deal was submitted to the Mongolian parliament for preliminary discussion, the Mongolian government said. The project, with an initial investment of $500 million and a total investment of $1.6 billion, will start its preparatory phase from 2024 to 2027, with first production expected in 2028, the government said. Peak production will hit 2,600 metric tons in 2044, it added. "This agreement is a significant step forward in boosting inward investment and employment opportunities for the Mongolian people," the statement cited Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai as saying. An earlier press release saying that the government had reached a final agreement with Orano had been issued in error. A corrected press release later clarified that a preliminary deal had been agreed. Orano, a major uranium producer with mines in Canada, Kazakhstan and Niger, has been in Mongolia for more than 25 years carrying out exploration activities, it said on its website. (This story has been officially corrected to clarify that an earlier press release saying the government had reached a final agreement with Orano had been issued in error, in paragraph 6; and to fix the peak production figures to 2,600 metric tons, not 2.6 million metric tons, in paragraph 4) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/mongolia-retracts-announcement-uranium-project-deal-with-frances-orano-2024-12-27/

2024-12-27 10:46

KYIV, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Ukraine, a global producer and exporter of grain and oilseeds, has sent its first batch of food aid to Syria, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday. Zelenskiy said that 500 metric tons of wheat flour were already on their way to Syria as part of Ukraine's humanitarian "Grain from Ukraine" initiative in cooperation with the United Nations World Food Programme. "The wheat flour is planned to be distributed to 33,250 families or 167,000 people, in the coming weeks," Zelenskiy said on X, adding: "Each package weighs 15 kilograms and can feed a family of five for one month." After the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally, Ukraine has said it wants to restore relations with Syria. Kyiv traditionally exports wheat and corn to countries in the Middle East, but not to Syria. During Assad's era, Syria imported food from Russia. But Russian wheat supplies to Syria have been suspended because of uncertainty, Russian and Syrian sources said earlier this month. Ukraine's exports were disrupted by Russia's February 2022 invasion, which severely reduced shipments via the Black Sea. Ukraine has since broken a de facto sea blockade and revived exports from its southern port of Odesa. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-sends-food-aid-syria-says-zelenskiy-2024-12-27/

2024-12-27 10:16

Any trade measures would hit Argentina, Australia, Brazil Products under investigation almost a third of domestic market, ministry says Price of beef in China has fallen to five-year low BEIJING, Dec 27 (Reuters) - China will launch an investigation into beef imports, the commerce ministry said on Friday, as the world's biggest meat importer and consumer grapples with an oversupplied market that has sent domestic prices to multi-year lows. Any trade measures to try to reduce beef imports would hit China's largest suppliers, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. China's total beef imports reached $14.2 billion in 2023, surging from $8.2 billion in 2019, customs data show. Brazil accounted for 42% of the total trade value, followed by Argentina at 15% and Australia at 12%. The inquiry will focus on fresh beef, cold beef, head of beef and frozen beef imported between Jan. 1, 2019 and June 30, 2024, the ministry said in a statement, adding that it followed an application by the China Animal Husbandry Association and other cattle and livestock groups. The applicants said a sharp increase in import volumes over the period had "seriously damaged" China's domestic industry, the ministry said. Beef imports in 2023 were almost 65% higher than in 2019, it said, with imports in the first half of 2024 more than double those in the first half of 2019. The ministry said imports of the products under investigation accounted for 30.9% of the Chinese market. Meat prices in China, including pork, beef, and poultry have declined as shoppers, grappling with a slowing economy, buy less. "Most beef cattle farms in China are in a loss-making situation," the China Animal Husbandry Association was reported saying in a state media report. "The impact of a large amount of imported beef is undoubtedly adding insult to injury." The price of beef has fallen to its lowest level in the last five years, and the price of live cattle has fallen to the lowest in the last 10 years, the association said. Average wholesale beef prices have declined 22% to 59.82 yuan ($8.20) a kilogram in late December from 77.18 yuan two years ago, agriculture ministry data showed. FARMERS ASKED TO LIMIT HERDS Beijing in June sought to contain prices by asking farmers to limit and optimise the size of their beef cattle herd, but prices remain in decline amid a surge in imports, particularly from Argentina. Beef imports from the South American producer during the first 11 months of 2024 rose 10% from the same period in 2023 to 533,005 metric tons. "The industry reflects that excessive beef imports have caused substantial damage to my country's beef cattle industry," China Animal Husbandry Association said in the report. "The industry strongly calls on the country to take control measures on imported beef to protect farmers' livelihoods and the industry's security," it said. China imported 2.6 million tons of the targeted beef products between January and November. In calendar year 2019, China imported just 1.66 million tons. The investigation is expected to conclude within eight months, although it could be extended in special circumstances. It is not targeted at specific countries or regions, does not distinguish the origin of products, and will not affect normal trade while under way, the commerce ministry said. China is also considering trade restrictions on imports of dairy and pork from the European Union, although in those cases, the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation are a tit-for-tat response against bloc's tariff plan for China-made electric vehicles, analysts have said. ($1 = 7.2992 Chinese yuan renminbi) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-investigates-beef-imports-oversupply-squeezes-prices-2024-12-27/

2024-12-27 10:11

BEIJING, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities on Friday called for increased financial support to stabilise key agricultural products, including grain, as part of broader efforts to ensure food security for China's 1.4 billion population. The government pledged to strengthen the use of monetary policy tools such as relending and rediscount facilities, and reserve requirement ratio, to support agriculture and small businesses, according to a joint statement from the central bank, the agriculture ministry and the financial regulator. The government also urged expanding credit and pledge loans for agricultural assets and livestock, enhancing farmers' income through guarantee and small loans, and reinforcing the agricultural insurance system, particularly for grain planting. In addition, the government pledged greater support for major agricultural research projects and leading firms. In recent years, China has increased investments in farm machinery and seed technology to enhance production efficiency as part of efforts to reduce reliance on imports and strengthen food security. The country's total grain production reached a record of more than 700 million metric tons in 2024, 1.6% higher than 2023's harvest of 695.41 million tons, the National Bureau of Statistics said earlier. Despite efforts to boost domestic production, China remains reliant on imports of key agricultural products, especially soybeans and corn. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-boosts-financial-support-agriculture-strengthen-food-security-2024-12-27/