2024-11-18 07:03
BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A tide of plastic waste flowing into a major hydroelectric dam in eastern Congo is causing regular power cuts in several major cities, creating a challenge that local authorities are trying to solve. The Ruzizi dam located at the south end of Lake Kivu, which borders Rwanda, supplies the city of Bukavu and others with electricity and the power outages are hurting local businesses. The problem is linked to the growing use of plastics coupled with a lack of waste collection in the region. Heavy rainfall causes waste to flow down from the mountainous terrain to the lake, where it collects and blocks the machinery. "This waste effectively blocks the water. Water has difficulty entering the forced conduits to provide the pressure and speed required for the machines," Ljovy Mulemangabo, provincial director of national power company SNEL, told Reuters. Each day cleaners attempt to extract the plastic bottles, jerry cans and other debris that causes the dam's machinery to shut down for hours. Despite their efforts, the plastic accumulates and causes outages. Didier Kabi, the provincial minister of environment and green economy, is among those working to find a solution. He told Reuters in an interview that requiring households to join a waste collection organisation could help stop plastic from accumulating in the lake. "This will enable us to see to what extent everyone needs to collect their own waste at household level," he said. Surface-level cleaning isn't enough as the waste accumulates to a depth of 14 metres, with divers required to clean the river bed to prevent turbine blockages. Alex Mbilizi, a metalworker in Bukavu, said the lack of power was causing problems. "Our bosses are pressing us because of delays in completing their orders, and we don't know what to do," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/plastic-waste-chokes-congo-dam-causing-widespread-power-cuts-2024-11-18/
2024-11-18 06:51
SYDNEY, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Australia's central bank has found no evidence that monetary policy is more potent in the country than elsewhere given households have ways to manage interest rate risks, even though they have more debt exposed to variable rates. In a speech in Canberra on Monday, Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Christopher Kent said mortgage arrears were trending up but they remained low and were at similar levels to those in the United States where most mortgages are fixed on 30-year terms. In Australia, about 80% of mortgages are on variable rates while most of the fixed rate mortgages only last for two years or less. "This outcome reflects several features of the Australian mortgage market that collectively leave most borrowers with buffers that help them to manage through a period of higher interest rates," said Kent. He noted households pay down their loans more quickly than required, with extra payments in their offset and redraw accounts equal to a bit above 20% of the total value of the outstanding mortgage debt. The RBA has held rates steady for a year, judging the current cash rate of 4.35% - up from the 0.1% during the pandemic - is restrictive enough to bring inflation to its target band of 2-3% while preserving employment gains. The peak rate of 4.35% is lower than in many other economies in part because the RBA reckoned borrowers would be feeling the rate pain more quickly than elsewhere given the prominence of variable-rate mortgages. Kent also used part of the speech to shed some light on the RBA's reaction function and forward guidance that is more "infrequent, short-term and qualitative" than many other central banks. "I think it would be worth reviewing the RBA's approach to forward guidance from time to time, including to consider other ways that the RBA might clarify the nature of its reaction function," he said. The RBA has refrained from issuing forward guidance given it was something similar that cost the job of the previous RBA chief, Philip Lowe, who in 2021 told borrowers rates were unlikely to rise until 2024. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rba-finds-no-evidence-monetary-policy-is-more-potent-australia-than-elsewhere-2024-11-18/
2024-11-18 06:45
S&P 500, Nasdaq finish higher Gold prices rise as US dollar index edges lower Oil prices settle up 3% Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields lose ground NEW YORK/LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Global shares rose on Monday while the U.S. dollar fell but still traded near one-year highs as traders pared expectations of future interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. President-elect Donald Trump has begun making appointments, filling health and defense roles last week, but key positions for financial markets, Treasury secretary and trade representative have yet to be filled. The incoming administration is expected to focus on lowering taxes and raising tariffs, which could stoke inflation and limit the Fed's ability to cut rates. U.S. Treasury yields shed gains and eased in choppy trading, with the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes dropping 1 basis point to 4.416%. "I think the yield on the 10-year is an indication of the bond market saying that there continues to be risk to the budget, the deficit, and that inflation may still be lurking in the system if we're going to get tariffs," said Wasif Latif, president and chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners. "The nature and the shape of those tariffs might actually be inflationary. So I think the bond market is sending a signal, whereas the stock market took a little bit of a breather last week, but today it looks like the party is back on." The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab and Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab finished higher, with energy, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks driving gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab was dragged down by materials stocks. The Dow fell 0.13% to 43,389.60, the S&P 500 rose 0.39% to 5,892.62 and the Nasdaq rose 0.60% to 18,791.81. European stocks finished lower, weighed down by real estate and utilities stocks. The STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index closed down 0.06%. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab rose 2.99 points, or 0.35%, to 845.60. Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Wednesday, with analysts expecting the artificial-intelligence chip leader to record a jump in revenue. Shares of Nvidia have nearly tripled this year, with its hefty weighting in the S&P 500 partially helping to lift the index to record highs. The greenback strengthened 0.29% against the Japanese yen to 154.605. The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six others, was down 0.51% to 106.19, trading just below its one-year peak of 107.07 . Oil prices rose following reports that output at Norway's Johan Sverdrup oilfield has halted, adding to earlier gains stemming from escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war. Brent crude futures settled at $73.30 a barrel, gaining 3.2%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $69.16 a barrel, rising 3.2%. Gold prices rose after six days of losses, as the U.S. dollar's surge stalled. Spot gold rose 1.93% to $2,610.73 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled 1.7% up at $2,614.60. "It should be a quieter week as the recent relentless wave of U.S. macro and political news flow in theory slows down, with the main story on this front being on potential political appointments for the new Trump administration," Deutsche Bank head of global economics and thematic research Jim Reid said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-11-18/
2024-11-18 06:24
Nov 18 (Reuters) - South Africa's largest poultry producer, Astral Foods (ARLJ.J) , opens new tab, said on Monday it expected interest rate cuts to improve economic prospects and demand in 2025, after bouncing back from a rare loss last year. Astral reported headline earnings per share of 19.20 rand ($1.06) for the year ended Sept. 30, compared to a loss of 13.24 rand during the same period last year, hurt by power cuts and South Africa's worst bird flu outbreak. Total revenue rose 6.4% to 20.5 billion rand during the year as the company's poultry and stock feed segments grew despite constrained consumer spending. Astral said a series of expected interest rate cuts, coupled with South Africa's "two pot" pension reforms allowing people to make partial withdrawals from their pension funds before retirement, could help boost consumer demand. South Africa's tax authorities said about $1.2 billion was paid out in the first six weeks of the pension reforms taking effect in September. The country's central bank lowered its main lending rate by 25 basis points to 8% on Sept. 19, the first cut in more than four years. The South African Reserve Bank is expected to implement a further rate cut this week. ($1 = 18.1326 rand) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/safricas-top-poultry-firm-astral-expects-rate-cut-boost-2024-11-18/
2024-11-18 06:17
SINGAPORE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Sinopec Corp said on Monday that the company and Saudi Aramco have started constructing a refinery and petrochemical complex in southeast China's Fujian province. The new venture includes a 16 million metric ton-per-year (tpy), or 320,000 barrels per day refinery, a 1.5 million tpy ethylene plant, a 2 million paraxylene facility as well as a 300,000 tonnage crude oil terminal, Sinopec said in a statement. Fujian Petrochemical - a joint venture between Sinopec and the Fujian government - will hold a 50% stake in the venture, and Saudi Aramco and Sinopec will each own 25%, Sinopec said. The project is slated to become operational in 2030, and once in production, it will be able to supply 5 million tons of petrochemical feedstocks annually. Sinopec did not provide details on the investment value of the project. Sinopec and Aramco signed a preliminary agreement to build the complex two years ago. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/sinopec-aramco-start-building-petrochemical-complex-chinas-fujian-2024-11-18/
2024-11-18 06:14
Enel ups investor rewards in updated business plan Grids will be main engine of growth Enel to create new company for connection assets MILAN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest utility Enel (ENEI.MI) , opens new tab said on Monday it would lift its minimum dividend for the 2025-2027 period to 0.46 euros per share from 0.43 euros previously and simplify its investor reward policy. In its updated three-year plan, the state-controlled group said it would invest around 43 billion euros ($45 billion), 7 billion euros more than envisaged in the 2024-2026 strategy. Capital expenditure on power grids will increase around 40% from the previous plan to 26 billion euros, investments in renewable projects will remain almost unchanged at 12 billion euros, while 2.7 billion euros will be devoted to customers. This year, the group expects to complete a wide-ranging asset disposal plan started in late 2022 that will cut its debt to around 2.4 times core earnings, below a sector average of 3.1, the company said. All its targets for 2024 will be met on the back of strong results at its renewable division. With its debt in check and a cost cutting programme still running, the management team headed by Chief Executive Flavio Cattaneo will now boost capital expenditure in regulated assets and seek opportunities in offering services to data centres. "Between 2025 and 2027, we will focus on core activities and a flexible capital allocation, increasing investments mainly on regulated assets with predictable returns that will also support the acceleration of the energy transition," Cattaneo said in a statement. The CEO, appointed in May last year with the support of Italy's right-wing government, steered the company towards a more selective approach for renewable energy projects and focused spending on Europe. Enel said it would devote 75% of investments to Europe, with the rest going to Latin America and North America. The group now expects ordinary earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to increase to 22.9-23.1 billion euros in 2025, and potentially reach up to 24.5 billion in 2027. Net ordinary income is seen rising to 6.7-6.9 billion euros next year and surpassing 7 billion at the end of the plan. The new dividend policy foresees a higher dividend floor and an upside potential of up to 70% of net ordinary income. ($1 = 0.9486 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/italys-enel-invest-over-45-bln-by-2027-2024-11-18/
