2024-12-05 03:52
MELBOURNE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab is not fixated on whether copper growth comes from building out its own business or through acquisitions, the miner's president of Australia, Geraldine Slattery, said on Thursday. "Growth is certainly a theme ... we are certainly not fixated on internal or external growth," Slattery responded to a question on whether BHP would like to make a renewed offer for London peer Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab, after its failed bid in May. BHP, the world's biggest miner, walked away from a $49 billion bid to acquire Anglo after it was rebuffed three times. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/bhp-not-fixated-copper-growth-organically-or-through-acquisitions-exec-says-2024-12-05/
2024-12-05 03:12
SINGAPORE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Australia's Woodside Energy Group (WDS.AX) , opens new tab said on Thursday it has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with U.S. engineering firm Bechtel to develop the Louisiana liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The EPC contract will cover the foundation development for the project's three production trains, with a capacity of 16.5 million tons per annum. The oil and gas producer also stated that it aims to make the final investment decision (FID) by the first quarter of 2025. "Total Louisiana LNG expenditure from December to the end of the first quarter of 2025 is forecast to be up to $1.3 billion, which is included in the overall estimated cost for the foundation development," Woodside said in a statement. The estimated cost for the project's foundation development is $900-$960 per ton of LNG, unchanged from the range at the time of its acquisition. Woodside fully owns the Louisiana LNG project after its $1.2 billion acquisition of developer Tellurian Inc in October. It is seeking to sell a 50% stake in the project. The project has a total permitted capacity of 27.6 million tons per annum. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-woodside-signs-deal-with-bechtel-develop-louisiana-lng-project-2024-12-05/
2024-12-04 23:35
SAO PAULO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva officially recognized three more Indigenous territories on Wednesday, pushing to 13 the number of lands to which he has granted legal protection since his latest term began in early 2023. Lula signed the state recognition of the Potiguara de Monte-Mor land, in the northeastern Paraiba state, as well as the Morro dos Cavalos and Toldo Imbu lands, both in the southern state of Santa Catarina, a government statement said. The recognition grants the territories legal protection as reservations to be defended against encroachment by illegal loggers, gold miners and cattle ranchers. Lula had signed off on giving two other territories legal protection in April, while postponing recognition for four more as they still needed to be cleared by people currently occupying them. At the event on Wednesday in Brasilia, Lula said one territory in the northeastern state of Alagoas was still expected to be recognized, but that it did not happen at the moment due to some issues, without providing further details. He said officials from the federal and state governments will meet next week to discuss the subject, adding he hopes the recognition could still happen this year. The leftist leader, in his third non-consecutive term, has pledged to legalize as many reservations as possible. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-lula-recognizes-three-more-indigenous-territories-2024-12-04/
2024-12-04 23:32
NAPERVILLE, Illinois, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Ample rains last month appeared to put Argentina on track for its first bountiful crops in several years, but there is one potential problem: La Nina. The weather phenomenon does not typically lend to fruitful yields. And there is yet another twist: the forecasts are not completely settled on La Nina’s likely course over the next several months. La Nina, the cold phase of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, frequently brings dry weather to Argentina’s grain belt during the height of its summer growing season. Argentina is the top exporter of soybean products and is also a key supplier of corn, but both soybean and corn yields have been below average for at least the last four years, owing heavily to a string of La Ninas. Argentine farmers are roughly halfway finished with planting corn and soybeans, but those efforts started somewhat slowly due to widespread dry conditions lingering from winter. That trend reversed in November with rainfall 30% above the month’s average. There are slightly better odds that rainfall during the critical February-March timeframe will be sufficient whenever November rains had been strong, though there are no guarantees during La Nina. CLASHING FORECASTS Last month, human forecasters saw a 72% chance of La Nina conditions persisting between December and February, but computer models placed those odds at 50%. Either way, a weak or borderline La Nina is likely in store for the coming months. That may seem like a small nuance, but history suggests the crop yield implications could vastly vary depending on which situation unfolds. Within the last two decades, there were nine instances where the December-February period featured official La Nina conditions. Only two of the nine seasons, 2005-06 and 2007-08, coincided with above-average soybean yields in Argentina, though there were zero cases for corn. A stronger La Nina does not imply worse crop potential. December-February La Nina conditions in 2022-23 were the mildest of the nine instances, but soybean and corn yields were catastrophic that year, falling around 40% from normal levels. When ocean anomalies fall slightly short of the La Nina threshold, Argentina’s crops had better chances. That includes above-average corn and soybean yields in the 2016-17 near-La Nina season, and this is the scenario Argentine farmers should root for this year. BOOM OR BUST? Argentina has not had a truly great soybean or corn harvest in six years. But with soybean plantings expected to reach eight-year highs in 2024-25, even average yields could significantly boost soy output and enhance global market competition. Despite last year’s normally favorable El Nino, soybean yields were relatively disappointing. However, Argentine soybean processors have been churning out very strong volumes as of late, on par with or better than years when soy output was larger. This could keep pressure on soybean meal prices, which have been hovering at multi-year lows as U.S. soy crushers are also running at record rates. U.S. exporters are hoping to ship a record volume of soybean meal in 2024-25, though Argentina could cut into those efforts when its new soy crop starts arriving to market in April. The United States is expected to remain top corn exporter in 2024-25, but Argentina's shipments are projected to hit multi-year highs despite a big drop in corn plantings following last year's pest outbreak. That outlook incorporates relatively modest yield assumptions, meaning if Argentina catches a lucky break with the weather early next year and yields are strong, the country's global trade footprint could expand even further. Karen Braun is a market analyst for Reuters. Views expressed above are her own. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/la-nina-could-thwart-argentinas-run-bumper-crops-2024-12-04/
2024-12-04 23:15
SEOUL, Dec 5 (Reuters) - South Korea's Finance Ministry said on Thursday that the government will activate 40 trillion won ($28.35 billion) worth of market stabilization fund, after President Yoon Suk Yeol's lifting of a martial law declaration affected financial markets. The Bank of Korea may purchase government bonds and expand repo operations if needed, and the government is closely monitoring markets and will deploy measures according to contingency plans if needed, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. ($1 = 1,411.1300 won) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/south-korea-government-activate-market-stabilization-fund-after-martial-law-2024-12-04/
2024-12-04 23:07
Democrats urged recusal due to ties with businessman Case involves proposed Utah railway project WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch will not participate in an environmental case to be argued next week involving a proposed railway in Utah, the court said on Wednesday, a move that followed a call by some Democratic lawmakers for him to recuse over a possible conflict of interest. The one-paragraph announcement made public by a court official came in a letter addressed to lawyers in the case due to be argued next Tuesday. The other eight justices will hear and decide the case. Gorsuch decided to withdraw from participating in the case consistent with the code of conduct adopted by the court last year, the statement said, but provided no further explanation. U.S. congressman Hank Johnson and 12 other Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Gorsuch on Nov. 21 urging his withdrawal because businessman Philip Anschutz, a former legal client of the justice, has "a direct financial interest in the outcome" of the case. The lawmakers said that the Anschutz Exploration Corporation and other companies tied to the businessman could be affected by the case. Johnson, who has called for stiffer ethics requirements at the Supreme Court, applauded Gorsuch on Wednesday for his recusal decision, calling it "the right and honorable thing." "It is important that the court show the public that it is not in the pocket of billionaire benefactors," Johnson added. "That said, I believe we need a system that does not just rely on individual justices to do the right thing in every case." The court last year announced its first code of conduct for the justices amid revelations related to undisclosed luxury trips and other financial ties to wealthy benefactors, though it lacked any enforcement mechanism. The case from which Gorsuch withdrew involves a bid by a group of counties in Utah to build a railway line to connect the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah to an existing freight rail network that would be primarily used to transport waxy crude oil. The case tests the scope of environmental impact studies that federal agencies must conduct under a 1970 federal law called the National Environmental Policy Act, which is aimed at preventing environmental harms that might result from major projects. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-courts-gorsuch-steps-away-case-after-recusal-request-2024-12-04/
