2024-12-11 13:47
LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab chief executive Tim Cook on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the company's ongoing investment in the country, the prime minister's spokesperson said. Starmer and Cook are expected to discuss Apple's investment in Britain, where the company has pumped in 18 billion pounds ($23 billion) over the last five years, the spokesperson told reporters. "They are obviously a big investor," the spokesperson said. "Boosting investment into technology is a key priority for the prime minister." Cook is due to meet Britain's King Charles on Thursday when the pair will tour the company's UK headquarters in Battersea, south London. Apple said in a release that its engineering teams in Britain have doubled over the past five years and the company supports about 550,000 jobs. It said its investments in the UK include Apple TV+ production, support for key technologies in Apple Intelligence and Private Cloud Compute. ($1 = 0.7847 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/uk-pm-starmer-meet-apple-ceo-discuss-investment-2024-12-11/
2024-12-11 12:54
BEIJING, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The foundation for a "basically stable" yuan exchange rate remains "solid," according to an article published by Financial News, the People's Bank of China's publication, on Wednesday. The foreign exchange market is operating steadily, and the yuan is likely to stabilise and strengthen towards the end of this year, the article said. China's top leaders and policymakers are considering allowing the yuan to weaken in 2025 as they brace for higher U.S. trade tariffs as Donald Trump returns to the White House, Reuters reported earlier on Wednesday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-yuan-likely-stabilise-strengthen-central-bank-says-2024-12-11/
2024-12-11 12:49
COPENHAGEN, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Denmark's Vestas (VWS.CO) , opens new tab said on Wednesday it will restructure its factory on Britain's Isle of Wight to manufacture onshore wind turbine blades instead of blades for offshore wind power, and that it would cut the number of jobs at the plant. Through an agreement with the British government to transition to new activities, Vestas will sustain around 300 jobs at the plant, down from some 600 currently, the company said. "In addition, Vestas will offer a significant number of opportunities in other parts of our business," it said in a statement. The group's technology activities which employ about 140 people on the island were not impacted, it added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/vestas-cut-jobs-british-plant-2024-12-11/
2024-12-11 12:35
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Jubilant Bhartia Group said on Wednesday it will buy a 40% stake in Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in India. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/jubilant-bhartia-group-buys-40-stake-coca-colas-indian-bottler-2024-12-11/
2024-12-11 12:33
TORONTO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Canadian rare earth and metals recycler Cyclic Materials Inc. will supply at least 10 thousand metric tones of recycled copper to Glencore (GLEN.L) , opens new tab as the Swiss miner looks to secure copper that is expected to soar in demand in the coming years, Cyclic Materials' CEO said. As part of a multi-year agreement, Cyclic Materials will sell copper scrap to Glencore, which will process and refine the metal at its Horne smelter and Copper Refinery in Quebec to turn it into copper cathodes. The Horne smelter is North America's largest recycler of copper and precious metals, according to Glencore. Ahmad Ghahreman, co-founder and CEO of Cyclic Materials told Reuters that reducing the carbon footprint of copper and reusing metals are an important conversation among mining companies. The call for copper is poised to surge in coming years due to its role in electric vehicles, renewable energy and data centers for artificial intelligence. Demand is expected to outstrip supply by 1.7% in 2035, and copper prices have scaled to record highs this year. It takes at least 10 years and as much as $5 billion to build a copper mine from scratch. Even if companies do build mines there are other challenges with social capital as seen with opposition to mining by local communities from Panama to Serbia. Cyclic Materials, which recycles rare earths and copper from end-of-life electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines, and data center electronic scrap, is expected to start delivery by the end of 2025. Though the financial deals of the agreement are still confidential, Ghahreman said they have benchmarked to the price of high grade scrap copper which is at a small discount to the LME copper price. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange is currently trading just above $9,200 per metric ton. Kunal Sinha, Global Head of Recycling at Glencore, said in a statement this partnership broadens the scope for the company's recycling activities in this field as it will receive copper materials from additional sources. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/glencore-ties-up-with-cyclic-materials-copper-recycling-push-2024-12-11/
2024-12-11 12:30
NAPERVILLE, Illinois, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Phenomenal export sales for U.S. corn and soybean oil as of late forced the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday to crank up its 2024-25 export outlooks. The result? Record-low stocks-to-use for U.S. soybean oil and, against all prior narratives, smaller U.S. corn ending stocks than in the previous marketing year. There is a chance soyoil exports must increase further despite the historically tight supplies, though the jury is still out on corn. SOYOIL SURGE U.S. soybean oil sold for export in 2024-25 totaled 416,356 metric tons as of Nov. 28, an eight-year high for the date. The marketing year began Oct. 1. At least another 30,000 tons were sold last week, rendering USDA’s November peg of 2024-25 exports far too low at just 272,000 tons. That forecast surged a whopping 83% in Tuesday’s update to 499,000 tons (1.1 billion pounds), a three-year high though well below the decade average. The known sales already account for at least 90% of this target. Between 2014 and 2021, an average of 40% of the annual export volume was sold by the start of December. While it may seem USDA took an overly conservative approach to the U.S. soyoil export boost, it could also imply that the agency expects the rare price discount of soybean oil versus rival palm oil to be relatively short-lived. The palm oil production squeeze and subsequent price rally has been seen as a boon to soyoil exporters, but tight inventories could limit further upside to U.S. soyoil shipments. USDA’s latest figures put 2024-25 U.S. soybean oil stocks-to-use, a measure of supply versus demand, at 5.2%. That is the smallest share in 61 years of records and down from 5.4% last year. Outright stocks of 683,000 tons are up slightly from the 2023-24 levels, which marked a 10-year low. The United States a few years ago was the No. 3 exporter of soybean oil and accounted for 10% of global exports, though it is set for a 4% share in 2024-25. CORN CONTRACTION Back in February, preliminary USDA estimates showed 2024-25 U.S. corn ending stocks surging 17% on the year to a multi-decade high of 2.532 billion bushels. Fast forward to Tuesday, U.S. corn ending stocks for 2024-25 are projected at 1.738 billion bushels, down 1% from 2023-24. Most of that legwork came from a 19% dive in 2023-24 ending stocks since February. But the supply shrinkages in both 2023-24 and 2024-25 owe to better-than-expected demand rates as corn prices dipped to four-year lows this year. USDA’s 2024-25 corn carryout on Tuesday landed well below all analyst estimates and was driven by a 6% surge in exports to 2.475 billion bushels. That would be the second largest volume on record behind 2020-21, a year significantly boosted by Chinese purchases. China has not bought any U.S. corn for 2024-25, which began Sept. 1. However, some market watchers worry trade with top corn buyer Mexico could be at risk from potential tariffs once U.S. president-elect Donald Trump takes office. USDA appears to have left some upside room in the corn export estimate given that total sales as of late November covered an above-average share of its new forecast. U.S. corn used for ethanol also contributed to the supply slide on Tuesday, rising 1% to what would be a seven-year high after several weekly ethanol output records were notched last month. The big declines in 2024-25 U.S. corn ending stock estimates come despite a huge record yield of 183.1 bushels per acre. But that number will come under scrutiny next month, potentially causing yet another shift in the corn balance sheet. Karen Braun is a market analyst for Reuters. Views expressed above are her own. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-corn-soyoil-exports-blow-past-previous-forecasts-2024-12-11/
