2025-12-24 11:13

Ranchers shocked by Trump's beef price comments Cattle futures fell, impacting rancher profits Retail beef prices remain high for consumers CHICAGO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Gary Vetter was 10 years old when he started feeding cattle at his family's farm. Fifty-five years later, after surviving bouts of extreme weather, changing consumer tastes and global trade disruptions, the Westside, Iowa, farmer faces an unexpected risk from the man he backed for U.S. president: Donald Trump. Sign up here. Facing intense frustration from voters over rising everyday costs, Trump declared this fall that beef was too expensive and ranchers must lower cattle prices. The price of beef was “higher than we want it, but it’s going to be coming down soon,” Trump said. Much like the price of eggs during the Biden administration, the cost of beef has become an emblem of the affordability crisis in America. Beef prices hit record highs earlier this year as the cattle herd shrank and consumer demand remained strong. Trump’s comments shocked ranchers, who largely voted for the president. Then his administration announced plans to quadruple low-tariff U.S. imports of beef from Argentina, launched an investigation into meatpackers for price manipulation, and removed duties that Trump imposed over the summer on imports of Brazilian beef. The series of moves knocked down cattle markets but did not significantly lower the cost of beef at grocery stores, causing ranchers, typically straight shooters, to speak up. “It would have been nice if Trump hadn’t said anything,” Vetter said. “I’m still a Trump supporter. I’m just not a happy Trump supporter.” Reuters spoke with a total of eight ranchers who said they still backed Trump, though he hurt prices for their cattle. Feeder cattle futures dropped by an exchange-imposed maximum that limits how far prices can fall each day and sank by 21% over a little more than a month after reaching a high on October 16. On that day, Trump first said his administration was working to lower beef prices. CATTLE FARMERS FEEL HEAT The selloff sliced profits for ranchers, pushed livestock buyers from making purchases, and chased away speculative traders as cattle markets turned increasingly volatile, cattle producers and traders said. "It's affected the price that we as ranchers are getting; it's affected what feedlots are getting; but it hasn't done anything that I've seen or heard about yet to impact what the consumers are paying," said Marty Smith, 66, whose family has been ranching in Wacahoota, Florida, for 175 years. Cattle futures started rising in late November following their steep slide but remain below where they were before Trump’s comments. Economists said it would likely take months for retail beef prices to reflect the setback in cattle markets. Impacts on retail prices would also be less dramatic because meatpackers, wholesale distributors and retailers stand between ranchers and consumers and add to costs, they said. Many cattle ranchers also raise crops, and cattle had been a bright spot for their businesses as grain and soybean prices slumped due to large supplies and Trump’s trade policies. Trump unveiled a $12 billion aid package intended mostly for crop growers this month. Cattle prices had reached record highs throughout 2025 after years of drought dried up grazing lands and forced producers to slash the nation's herd to its smallest size in decades. As a result of the decline, the U.S. for the first time in 2025 lost its spot as the world's biggest beef producer to Brazil, according to U.S. government estimates. Cattle supplies tightened further after the Trump administration halted U.S. imports of Mexican livestock to keep out a flesh-eating parasite. As tight supplies raised costs for meat processors, Tyson Foods (TSN.N) , opens new tab said in November it would permanently shut a major U.S. beef plant, removing a market for cattle. The U.S. Department of Agriculture this month lowered its estimates for cattle prices through 2026 in part because of the impending closure. Trump has accused meatpackers such as Tyson of driving up beef prices through manipulation and collusion, and ordered the Justice Department to investigate. Meatpackers said their industry is heavily regulated, and transactions are transparent. STICKER SHOCK IN THE GROCERY AISLE The retail cost of ground beef in November climbed to $6.54 per pound from $5.63 per pound a year earlier, up 16%, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For boneless stew meat, retail prices jumped 23% to $9.17 per pound from $7.43 per pound. Since Trump’s comments in mid-October, wholesale prices for select cuts of beef shipped to buyers in large boxes were up 0.5% as of Monday, while wholesale prices for choice boxed beef eased 1%, according to U.S. data. , opens new tab High prices for a range of goods, including beef, coffee and electricity, have upset consumers and frustrated Trump. A recent Commerce Department report showed annual inflation rose at its fastest pace in nearly 1-1/2 years in September. Democrats exploited voters' angst about the economy in recent state and local election victories, campaigning in 2024 on a pledge to lower consumer prices. “The Trump administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to lowering beef prices, with multiple agencies slashing regulations, supporting small processing facilities, and taking other actions to support both ranchers and consumers," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said. WHO WILL REBUILD THE HERD? Ranchers felt beef was targeted unfairly because costs were high for a number of goods. “It’s a sock in the gut for all of us,” said Dean Meyer, 62, a Rock Rapids, Iowa-based cattle feeder who temporarily paused buying cattle last month due to increased uncertainty and falling prices. Eight ranchers in rural America said that they still supported Trump because of his stances on immigration and other issues, after voting for him in the last presidential race. But for some of them, Trump’s interference in the beef market shook their confidence in him. "He's waged war against a group of producers that literally have no real effect on the price of beef in the store," said Todd Hertzog, owner and operator of beef processor Hertzog Meat Company in Butler, Missouri. A fledgling effort to rebuild the nation's cattle herd , which economists say would eventually help reduce beef prices, is at risk after Trump injected uncertainty into the market over imports, ranchers and economists said. Falling cattle prices did not help. Vetter, who buys young cattle to fatten for sale to meatpacker Cargill, said he paid about $2,500 per head for 450 steers weighing about 500 pounds each around the end of October. By the end of November, the price had dropped by about $300. At the same time, meatpackers were willing to pay less to buy cattle that Vetter feeds to weigh about 1,650 pounds. Reached just before Thanksgiving, Vetter said that he was facing potential losses of $250,000 on his recent cattle purchases after prices tumbled. "The president can do whatever he wants but it's going to be hard to build the cow herd if we don't have some stability," Vetter said. "I'm going to push a pencil really hard before I buy that next set of calves." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/not-happy-trump-supporter-cattle-ranchers-hit-by-push-lower-beef-prices-2025-12-24/

2025-12-24 09:58

BP sells majority stake in Castrol Commodity-linked stocks shine as resource prices rise Many markets closed for Christmas Eve holiday Dec 24 (Reuters) - European shares were little changed on Wednesday as investors paused after the broader index closed at a record high and holiday-shortened trading curbed activity. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab was up 0.1% at 589.16 by 0924 GMT. Sign up here. The index is up about 16% so far this year, set for its strongest annual performance since 2021, supported by easing interest rates, Germany’s fiscal spending push and portfolio shifts away from richly valued U.S. technology stocks. Trading volumes are expected to remain thin heading into the holidays, with several European markets closed or operating shortened sessions. Bourses in Amsterdam (.AEX) , opens new tab, Brussels (.BFX) , opens new tab and Paris (.FCHI) , opens new tab will close early, while markets in Germany (.GDAXI) , opens new tab and Milan (.FTMIB) , opens new tab are shut. Commodity-linked stocks edged higher. Energy shares (.SXEP) , opens new tab rose 0.3% as oil prices extended gains for a sixth session. Miners (.SXPP) , opens new tab ticked up after prices of gold, silver, platinum and copper hit record highs amid strong demand. Swissquote senior market analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said "forces pushing metal prices higher" such as heavy government debt in 2026, geopolitical uncertainty and looser monetary policy, among others, keep the outlook for metal prices positive in the medium to long term. "In the short term, however, prices have risen too far, too fast, and a correction would be healthy." On Tuesday, the European benchmark notched a fresh all-time-high, primarily driven by robust healthcare stocks after pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) , opens new tab secured crucial U.S. approval for its weight-loss pill. Sentiment was also lifted by data showing the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, prompting investors to trim some bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts despite the release being delayed by the government shutdown. Markets expect the next Fed chair to lean dovish, keeping the U.S. policy outlook central for investors next year. Europe’s rate path looks more hawkish into 2026 after the European Central Bank held rates last week, signalling a possible end to its easing cycle and a potential divergence from the Fed. Among individual stocks, BP (BP.L) , opens new tab rose as much as 1.4% before trimming gains after agreeing to sell a 65% stake in Castrol to investment firm Stonepeak for about $6 billion. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/european-shares-take-breather-holiday-shortened-session-2025-12-24/

2025-12-24 09:45

JAKARTA, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia has identified potential fines amounting to $8.5 billion that the government could collect in 2026 from palm oil companies and miners operating illegally in forest areas, the country's attorney general said on Wednesday. President Prabowo Subianto's forestry task force, made up of military personnel, police, prosecutors and government officials, has this year cracked down on an unprecedented scale on plantations and mines in what authorities say were supposed to be forest areas. Sign up here. The military-backed campaign has unnerved the palm oil industry, with analysts predicting that in combination with Indonesia's ambitious biodiesel plans, the seizures could put even more upward pressure on global prices by disrupting production. Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin, speaking at a ceremony in front of tall stacks of red rupiah banknotes, said the task force has already taken over 4.1 million hectares (9.8 million acres) of illegal plantations and mines, a total area about the size of the Netherlands. Burhanuddin also handed to the finance minister over 2.34 trillion rupiah ($139.70 million) in fines the task force collected from 20 palm oil companies and one nickel miner. "For 2026, there is revenue potential from administrative fines from palm oil plantations and mines within forest areas, amounting to 109.6 trillion rupiah ($6.54 billion) for palm oil and 32.63 trillion rupiah ($1.95 billion) for mining," Burhanuddin said. He did not name any of the companies. Burhanuddin also transferred more than 240,500 hectares of plantations to state firm Agrinas Palma Nusantara, which was set up early in 2025. Agrinas's total land size has now reached 1.7 million hectares, consolidating its position as the largest palm oil company in the world by area. At the ceremony, Prabowo praised the task force and railed against those he said had tried to bleed Indonesia dry as well as foreign forces undermining his government. "Even though the work, the journey is tough, I have an instinct in 2026 we will take even bolder steps ... We will save this nation's wealth without hesitation," he said. Indonesia is the world's biggest exporter of palm oil, thermal coal, nickel and tin. ($1 = 16,750.0000 rupiah) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/indonesia-plans-fine-palm-oil-growers-miners-85-billion-forest-encroachment-2025-12-24/

2025-12-24 07:30

Russia plans a power plant on the moon Plant will power joint Russian-Chinese research U.S. also plans a nuclear reactor on the moon MOSCOW, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Russia plans to put a nuclear power plant on the moon in the next decade to supply its lunar space programme and a joint Russian-Chinese research station, as major powers rush to explore the earth's only natural satellite. Ever since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into space in 1961, Russia has prided itself as a leading power in space exploration, but in recent decades it has fallen behind the United States and, increasingly, China. Sign up here. Russia's ambitions suffered a massive blow in August 2023 when its unmanned Luna-25 mission smashed into the surface of the moon while attempting to land, and Elon Musk has revolutionised the launch of space vehicles - once a Russian speciality. IS THAT A NUCLEAR REACTOR ON THE MOON? Russia's state space corporation, Roscosmos, said in a statement that it planned to build a lunar power plant by 2036 and signed a contract with the Lavochkin Association aerospace company to do it. Roscosmos did not say explicitly that the plant would be nuclear but it said the participants included Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute, Russia's leading nuclear research institute. Roscosmos said the purpose of the plant was to power Russia's lunar programme, including rovers, an observatory and the infrastructure of the joint Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station. "The project is an important step towards the creation of a permanently functioning scientific lunar station and the transition from one-time missions to a long-term lunar exploration programme," Roscosmos said. The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, said in June that one of the corporation's aims was to put a nuclear power plant on the moon and to explore Venus, known as earth's "sister" planet. The moon, which is 384,400 km (238,855 miles) from our planet, moderates the earth's wobble on its axis, which ensures a more stable climate. It also causes tides in the world's oceans. U.S. ALSO PLANS A REACTOR ON THE MOON Russia is not the only one with such plans. NASA in August declared its intent to put a nuclear reactor on the moon by the first quarter of fiscal year 2030. "We're in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon. And to have a base on the moon, we need energy," U.S. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said in August, when asked about the plans. He added that the United States was currently behind in the race to the moon. He said energy was essential to allow life to be sustained on the moon and thence for humans to get to Mars. International rules ban putting nuclear weapons in space but there are no bans on putting nuclear energy sources into space - as long as they comply with certain rules. Some space analysts have predicted a lunar gold rush: NASA says there are estimates of a million tonnes of Helium-3, an isotope of helium that is rare on earth, on the moon. Rare earth metals - used in smartphones, computers and advanced technologies - are also present on the moon, including scandium, yttrium and the 15 lanthanides, according to research by Boeing. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russia-plans-nuclear-power-plant-moon-within-decade-2025-12-24/

2025-12-24 07:14

Sovcomflot plans to add two LNG carriers to its fleet in 2026 Russia struggles to get new LNG tankers due to sanctions MOSCOW, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Russia's leading tanker group Sovcomflot (FLOT.MM) , opens new tab received the first Russian-built ice-class tanker for liquefied natural gas from Zvezda shipyard with plans to get two more next year, Interfax reported on Wednesday citing the company's CEO. Russia faces challenges in securing gas carriers due to Ukraine-related sanctions, especially vessels that are able to cut through the thick Arctic ice and serve LNG projects. Sign up here. Zvezda, Russia's most advanced shipbuilding facility, specializes in constructing large Arc7 ice-class tankers capable of breaking through ice up to two meters thick. These vessels are designed to transport LNG from Arctic projects, ensuring year-round deliveries in harsh conditions. The new tanker, named Alexey Kosygin after the Soviet statesman, is due to join the fleet of vessels for the Arctic LNG 2 plant, which is sanctioned by the United States. Russian energy company Novatek (NVTK.MM) , opens new tab which owns 60% of Arctic LNG 2, has said 15 Arc7 ice-class tankers will be eventually built at the Zvezda shipyard. In total, Novatek has contracted 21 such tankers. Ice-class tankers usually have double hulls - strengthened structures to withstand the pressure of ice - and reinforced propellers. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-gets-its-first-home-built-ice-class-lng-tanker-eyes-two-more-2026-2025-12-24/

2025-12-24 06:51

Dec 24 (Reuters) - Japan's top oil refiner Eneos (5020.T) , opens new tab is leading rival bidders for Chevron's (CVX.N) , opens new tab stake in a Singapore refinery, with a deal nearing completion, though potential delays remain, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Chevron, in an emailed statement to Reuters, declined to comment on the report, while Eneos says, "there are no decisions that we made on this matter." Sign up here. Reuters reported in September that the value of the entire refinery is estimated at roughly $1 billion and global commodities traders Vitol and Glencore (GLEN.L) , opens new tab are expected to make formal bids for Chevron's 50% stake. The other 50% is owned by Chinese state oil giant PetroChina (601857.SS) , opens new tab through its Singapore Petroleum unit. The refinery on Jurong Island is one of three major refineries in the city-state and has a crude processing capacity of about 290,000 barrels per day. Singapore is Asia's biggest oil trading hub and the world's largest bunkering port where refined products are blended, sold or re-exported. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/japans-eneos-leads-bids-chevrons-singapore-oil-refinery-stake-bloomberg-news-2025-12-24/