2024-11-26 12:36
WARSAW, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Poland opposes the EU-Mercosur free trade deal with South American countries in its current form, the prime minister said on Tuesday, joining France in standing against an agreement European farmers say will expose them to unfair competition. Brazil has been pushing to have the EU-Mercosur agreement signed by the end of the month while it holds the presidency of the G20. Advocates of the deal, including the EU's biggest economy Germany, say it will open up more markets for their exports. Farmers say the agreement with the Mercosur bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay will create unfair competition for EU farmers and food makers as it will allow large imports of products that are not bound by the same strict regulation they face in the EU. "Poland does not accept, and we are not alone, we will not accept in this form the agreement with the countries of South America, that is the Mercosur group, on free trade," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said before the start of a government meeting. Polish farmers blocked the Medyka border crossing with Ukraine in protest against the deal on Saturday. This followed large protests in France and in Brussels. French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his opposition to a deal with Mercosur as proposed during a visit to Argentina this month. France, the EU's largest agriculture producer, has been trying to convince other EU members to form a minority bloc against the deal. The EU-Mercosur deal would allow the entry of an additional 99,000 tons of beef, 190,000 tons of sugar, 180,000 tons of poultry meat, 1 million tons of maize, producers have said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-opposes-eu-mercosur-trade-deal-current-form-says-pm-2024-11-26/
2024-11-26 12:30
LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Britain will launch a consultation on changing its zero-emission vehicle mandate but will stick to a 2030 deadline for phasing out new petrol and diesel car sales, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesperson said on Tuesday. "We will bring forward a consultation on our proposals in this space in due course, on how we implement the 2030 transition deadline and ensure that voices and insights from the industry are heard at every step of the way," Starmer's spokesperson said. Asked if the deadline was being moved back, the spokesperson said: "No, the government is committed to the 2030 phase out date, which will provide certainty for the industry, but we do recognise the challenge that the industry faces." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/britain-launch-consultation-electric-vehicle-transition-2024-11-26/
2024-11-26 12:25
Suspension of deal likely to be announced soon, source says Would be first such move by an Indian state since US indictment Adani has said charges in US indictment baseless Clauses in power agreements allow Indian state to revoke deals NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - India's Andhra Pradesh state is likely to suspend a power purchase deal linked to Adani Group due to the U.S. indictment of the group's billionaire founder Gautam Adani over an alleged bribery scheme, two state government sources said. The southern state will ask the federal government and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which awards power supply contracts to companies like Adani, to investigate the charges, the sources said. The suspension, likely to be announced soon, would be the first such action by an Indian state government after U.S. prosecutors charged Gautam Adani and seven others with agreeing to pay bribes of $265 million to unidentified Indian government officials to obtain solar power-supply contracts. Most of the alleged bribes - $228 million - were paid to a government official to get Andhra Pradesh's state electricity distribution companies to agree to purchase power, the U.S. indictment said. Adani has said the allegations are baseless Andhra Pradesh is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's key ally Chandrababu Naidu, whose party has the second highest number of parliamentary seats in the coalition government formed after the main Bharatiya Janata Party failed to get a majority in national elections concluded in June. Modi's federal government has so far not commented on the U.S. indictment of Adani. The power supply to Andhra Pradesh under the SECI agreement was scheduled to start from next year, according to one of the sources. "The decision will be taken very soon," the second source said about the planned suspension. Clauses in the power supply agreements provide for Indian states to terminate contracts and also bar the companies involved from any future bidding if the bidder has committed a serious transgression. Adani Group and the Andhra Pradesh government did not immediately reply to Reuters requests for comment. Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday that Andhra Pradesh was exploring the possibility of cancelling a power supply contract linked to Adani Group. Andhra Pradesh's previous ruling party - YSR Congress Party - under whose administration the alleged misconduct took place, last week denied any wrongdoing. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-andhra-pradesh-state-likely-suspend-adani-power-deal-sources-say-2024-11-26/
2024-11-26 11:59
Romania yet to unveil 2025 budget draft Parliamentary election due on Sunday EU membership and funds play key role in stability Anti-incumbent backlash could complicate deficit cuts BUDAPEST, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Financial markets might run out of patience with Romania's high fiscal deficit, the country's fiscal watchdog warned on Tuesday, saying Bucharest's seven-year plan to narrow the gap risked being too slow for some investors. The prospect of presidential and parliamentary elections in central Europe's second-largest economy in November and December has triggered a spending surge that is expected to push Romania's 2024 budget deficit to 8% of gross domestic product. Romania submitted a plan to Brussels in late October to cut its deficit below the EU's 3% of GDP ceiling within seven years, with ratings agencies and analysts expecting tax hikes. "It is not mission impossible, but it is going to be very hard," the chairman of Romania's Fiscal Council, Daniel Daianu, told a conference in Budapest about Romania's fiscal plans. "Seven years seems to be reasonable, but I don't know about the patience of markets," he later told a panel discussion. "We are being pushed by financial markets unless we are prudent. If we make big mistakes we are going to get punished." Romania has yet to unveil a 2025 budget and analysts say the formation of a new government and policy could be complicated by the shock outcome of last Sunday's presidential election. That put a hard-right critic of NATO who has praised Russia against a centre-right opposition leader in a Dec. 8 run-off vote, with the leaders of the two ruling parties eliminated. Analysts say the far-right could now win at least a third of seats in parliamentary elections next Sunday. The shock result sent 10-year Romanian bond yields to their highest level in 19 months on Monday. Daianu, however, said that Romania's public debt of 50% of gross domestic product was still "manageable," while EU membership and cohesion funds provided to poorer members of the bloc played an important role in economic stability. Given that Romania has one of Europe's lowest tax takes, there was scope to raise revenue to shore up the budget, Daianu said, without elaborating on whether this meant higher tax rates or improved tax collection. Earlier this month the European Commission forecast Romania's budget deficit would run close to 8% of GDP over the next two years under unchanged policies, driven in part by the cost of a pension reform and higher interest payments. The Commission said it could not take potential deficit-reducing measures proposed in October by Romania into account as they were not sufficiently detailed. "However, they have the potential to significantly lower the government deficit relative to this forecast, if properly designed and implemented in the context of the budget for 2025," it said. Economists at Goldman Sachs said the backlash against mainstream parties in Romania's presidential election could complicate efforts to rein in the deficit. "In our view, the primary political risk for Romania is not the uncertainty over the composition of the government – which polls suggest will continue to be made up of 'mainstream' parties – but whether the new administration will address the rising fiscal challenges," they said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/seven-year-budget-adjustment-may-be-too-long-romania-watchdog-says-2024-11-26/
2024-11-26 11:58
MOSCOW, Nov 26 (Reuters) - High interest rates in Russia are making export contracts unprofitable, Sergei Chemezov, the head of Russian state industrial conglomerate Rostec, said on Tuesday, warning of production slowdowns and bankruptcy risks. Rostec, which is making almost 80% of the weapons and equipment for Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, is set to generate revenue of more than 3 trillion roubles this year, Chemezov said last month. Rostec is one of many Russian industrial companies and lobby groups to complain of prohibitively high interest rates in recent months. The central bank's key rate, currently at 21%, may be raised further in an effort to curb persistent inflation. "With such a key rate, of course, it is just madness, any (export) contract becomes unprofitable for us," Chemezov said at a business forum. Chemezov said that exports for products with a long production period in areas like aviation, air defence and shipbuilding may have to be stopped. "Taking loans at such an interest rate means we will go bankrupt in a short period of time and will again come to the government with an outstretched hand and say, give us money to save our production," Chemezov said. Chemezov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, acknowledged that the government is supporting industry with preferential loans and interest rate subsidies, but said these primarily apply to state defence contracts. The central bank blames companies' slowing investment growth on labour shortages, not borrowing costs. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov responded to Chemezov on Tuesday, pointing out that the rouble, at a 32-month low against the dollar, should benefit exporters. "I am not saying whether the exchange rate is good or bad," Siluanov said. "I am just saying that today the exchange rate is very, very favourable for exporters." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russias-high-interest-rates-make-export-contracts-unprofitable-says-rostec-head-2024-11-26/
2024-11-26 11:46
RIYADH, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Tuesday agreed nine investment deals in metals and mining worth more than 35 billion riyals ($9.32 billion) with companies including India's Vedanta (VDAN.NS) , opens new tab and China's Zijin Group (601899.SS) , opens new tab. The deals were announced during the World Investment Conference in Riyadh by the Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, a government programme under the Saudi government's National Investment Strategy. The kingdom's growing mining industry is part of the Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy and cut reliance on fossil fuels. The government hopes to attract $100 billion a year in foreign investment under the plan by 2030, achieving just over a quarter of that last year. Oil to metals conglomerate Vedanta will build copper facilities with a capital expenditure of 7.5 billion riyals at Ras Al-Khair, a conference presentation showed, including a smelter and refinery with capacity of 400,000 metric tons per annum (tpa) and a 300,000 tpa copper rod plant. The project will ensure domestic self-sufficiency in copper production and contribute an estimated 70 billion riyals to economic growth, according to the presentation. Zijin will invest 5 billion to 6 billion riyals, with a first phase focused on building a zinc smelter with capacity for 100,000 tpa of zinc ingots and 200,000 tpa of sulphuric acid. A second phase will see the construction of a lithium carbonate extraction facility to produce 60,000 tpa of battery-grade lithium carbonate, and in a final phase a copper refinery will be built with output of 200,000 tpa of copper cathodes and about 50,000 tpa of electrolytic copper foil. Australia's Hastings Technology Metals (HAS.AX) , opens new tab will build processing facilities for rare earth elements in several phases for a total investment of 5.6 billion to 7.2 billion riyals. The phases include a hydrometallurgical processing plant, a solvent extraction separation facility, a rare earth elements downstream processing facility and sourcing rare earth elements from mines in Saudi Arabia. Vancouver-based Platinum Group Metals (PTM.TO) , opens new tab is conducting studies with local firm Ajlan & Bros Mining to build a 1.9 billion riyal platinum group metals smelter and base metals refinery. Feedstock will come from South Africa's Waterberg mine, which the Canadian group is developing. ($1 = 3.7560 riyals) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-agrees-metals-deals-worth-over-9-billion-2024-11-26/
