2024-10-30 07:17

BEIJING/MELBOURNE, Dec 17 (Reuters) - BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab paused operations at two iron ore mines in Western Australia on Saturday after heavy rains in the country's Pilbara region, a spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday, adding operations have since resumed. "We evacuated personnel from our MAC and South Flank mines to our accommodation villages on Saturday after heavy rains and flash flooding in the Pilbara," the spokesperson said. "Operations were temporarily paused until it was safe to return to site." BHP's Mining Area C (MAC) and South Flank mines make up its Central Pilbara hub, part of the miner's Western Australian iron ore operations that together delivered 65 million metric tons of iron ore in the first quarter of the company's 2025 financial year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/bhp-has-moved-anglo-american-company-chairman-says-2024-10-30/

2024-10-30 07:09

MUMBAI, Oct 30 (Reuters) - India's gold demand in 2024 is likely to fall to its lowest in four years as a rally in prices to a record high is seen denting purchases during the peak festival season in the December quarter, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Wednesday. Gold demand in the world's second-biggest consumer of the precious metal could stand between 700 and 750 metric tons in 2024, the lowest since 2020 and down from last year's 761 tons, Sachin Jain, CEO of WGC's Indian operations, told Reuters. Demand for the precious metal usually spikes towards the end of the year in India, as buying gold for weddings and major festivals such as Diwali and Dussehra is considered auspicious. But this year, many buyers advanced purchases to August after local prices fell sharply following New Delhi's reduction to the import duty by 9 percentage points in July, Jain said. "Buyers are now waiting for prices to settle ... In volume terms demand would be lower this year during the festival season," he said. Domestic prices of gold hit a record high of 79,700 rupees ($947) per 10 grams on Wednesday. They have risen 26% in 2024 after rising more than 10% in 2023. Indian gold consumption in the July-September quarter rose 18% to 248.3 tons, as investment demand jumped 41% and jewellery demand increased 10% in the quarter, the WGC said. India's physically backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have registered a sixth consecutive month of inflows in September and their holdings rose to 52.6 tons, up from 43.3 tons in January, WGC data showed. "With a lot of liquidation happening in the stock market certainly there will be some inflow in this quarter from stock markets as well," Jain said. India's NSE Nifty 50 share index (.NSEI) , opens new tab has dropped about 7% from a record high hit on Sept. 27. ($1 = 84.0800 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indias-gold-demand-hit-four-year-low-amid-price-rally-world-gold-council-says-2024-10-30/

2024-10-30 07:08

LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A flood of money was expected to cascade from U.S. cash funds to riskier assets as interest rates began to tumble. But so far, this flood has been missing in action, raising the question of whether this is a sign of extreme caution, plain inertia or something else. The brimming bunkers of cash held by U.S. households and companies have never been higher, inflated by monetary and fiscal responses to the pandemic shock and then cosseted by rising interest rates. It was presumed that tempting this cash back into bonds and stocks would only require an initial Federal Reserve interest rate cut, with the promise of an extended easing cycle and plain sailing ahead for the economy. Both scenarios seem to be materializing, and yet cash coffers are still swelling. Assets under management at cash-like U.S. money market funds - which are invested mostly in short-term government bills with maturities of less than a year - topped $6.5 trillion for the first time this month. That's some $200 billion higher than just before the Fed's 50 basis point rate cut last month, almost $1 trillion higher than this time last year, and twice the pre-pandemic level five years ago. Of course, the ongoing expansion of money fund assets over the past 18 months is partly just reinvestment, as these funds have enjoyed the heftiest returns in almost 20 years, as well as a whoosh of inflows from checkable deposits following the Silicon Valley Bank bust in the spring of 2023. That said, signs remain scant that these cautious savers will be chasing riskier returns any time soon. And what's the rush? The returns offered by these funds are still attractive, especially if you're wary of any economic or political disturbances ahead. Even though 12-month bills have shed roughly a full percentage point in yield over the past quarter, they still offer almost 4.3% - more than current two-year Treasury notes . And the latter have jumped by 30 basis points in recent weeks as signs that the economy is heating up again have cooled expectations for further near-term Fed easing. INEVITABLE TAILWIND? The Fed is still expected to lop off at least 130bp from policy rates by the end of next year, so most analysts still expect these savers will need to shift their calculus eventually. A first baby step for money fund holders may be on the U.S. Treasury curve: to lock in two-year fixed coupons at roughly the same rate as current average bill rates - before the Fed pulls the carpet out from bill returns over the next year. Investors with more confidence about the near-term outlook may instead opt to go straight to higher-yielding corporate credit or even stocks. Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok reckons that corporate credit and higher-yielding fixed income will benefit as cash in money funds seeks to take on more risk and households shed their unusually high government bond holdings. Slok pointed out that since 2021, households holding "TreasuryDirect" accounts - where you can buy and sell government bonds - have increased nearly six-fold to 4 million. That figure may be down from peaks closer to 5 million last year. Yet, almost six weeks after the Fed started cutting rates, the cash mountain appears undisturbed. PRE-CAUTIONARY LIQUIDITY Perhaps many of these money fund investors simply aren't as interest rate sensitive as many previously believed. In a special report this month, Barclays analyst Joseph Abate and team dug deeper into the cash question. They pointed out that what's even more head-scratching than the inertia in money funds is the still huge corporate and household stash in even lower-yielding checkable deposits. Total deposit holdings have surged as high as $7.1 trillion, which represent 7-9% of overall financial assets for both groups - the highest share in 34 years. These accounts yield around 3% or less on a "blended" basis, gleaned from a range of providers and including certificates of deposit and time deposits. The big question is why firms and individuals have been willing to forgo almost 200bp of return by keeping their money in these checking accounts instead of moving it to money funds - never mind piling into risky assets. Abate notes that roughly $1 trillion of checkable deposits did shift to money funds over the past year and some of this is clearly interest rate sensitive. But he thinks it may take another six months for these savvy investors to emerge from money funds into investment grade credit and doubts the shift to equity makes sense based on current valuations and risk premiums. As for the mountain of deposits, he reckons these may just reflect "a shift in liquidity preferences that has increased the demand for precautionary safety buffers". This could be driven by the regional banking blowup last year or even memories of money funds "breaking the buck" 15 years ago. Either way, the cash stash may go to work eventually, but don't hold your breath. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/peculiar-no-show-us-cash-funds-mike-dolan-2024-10-30/

2024-10-30 07:05

MADRID, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Spanish power utility Endesa (ELE.MC) , opens new tab said on Wednesday that it is on track to meet its targets for the year after a recovery in its gas business helped net profit for the first nine months rise 33%, surpassing analysts' expectations. The company, owned by Italian energy giant Enel (ENEI.MI) , opens new tab, posted a net profit of 1.4 billion euros ($1.51 billion) for the period, compared with 1.06 billion euros a year earlier and expectations of 1.3 billion euros. The group, which will give a strategic update on Nov. 19, expects the outcome of a $700 million arbitration case related to a price review of a long-term liquefied natural gas supply contract in Nigeria by the end of the year. ($1 = 0.9241 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/endesas-9-month-net-profit-surpasses-expectations-with-33-increase-2024-10-30/

2024-10-30 06:58

JAKARTA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Chinese battery material maker CNGR Advanced Material Co (300919.SZ) , opens new tab is planning to build an integrated production facility worth $10 billion in nickel-rich Indonesia, a local official for the company said on Wednesday. The investment will take place over 10 to 15 years and the company is looking for a suitable location for the plant, Magdalena Veronika, a director at CNGR Indonesia told reporters. She said the project has been granted national strategic project status from the government, which will provide certain benefits including land procurement. It will require 3,000 to 5,000 hectares (7,413 to 12,355 acres) of land, she added. "The investment can reach $10.5 billion which will be divided into three stages," she said. The project is the latest venture by a Chinese-backed firm in top nickel miner Indonesia, which banned nickel ore exports in 2020 to try to establish a fully integrated battery industry and electric vehicle ecosystem at home. CNGR, which already produces Class-1 nickel product from Indonesia, aims to produce battery precursor products at the planned new facility, Veronika said. The company is also open to have their partners build a processing plant at their planned site. "Our clients has said that once an integrated facility has been built, they would be happy to join us," she said, with CNGR focusing their investment in battery materials while other companies may invest in battery or other products. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-cngr-plans-build-around-10-bln-battery-plant-indonesia-2024-10-30/

2024-10-30 06:51

Oct 30 (Reuters) - A subsidiary of Russia's gas major Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab has filed a claim for 85.7 billion roubles ($879 million) against global industrial gases and engineering company Linde (LIN.DE) , opens new tab and its subsidiaries, court documents showed on Wednesday. The Gazprom subsidiary, in charge of the Amur Gas Processing Plant filed the claim on Oct. 29 in the Arbitration Court of the Amur Region, in Russia's east. Linde left Russia and the plant, which facilitates Russian gas exports to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The plant's first technological line started operation in June 2021. The plant is expected to reach full annual capacity of 42 billion cubic metres of natural gas processing next year. Linde, the world's largest industrial gases company, said in 2022 it was suspending all business development activities in Russia, ceasing supply to certain customers, and divesting industrial assets to reduce its footprint in the country. Gazprom and Linde did not immediately reply to emailed requests for comment. There have been a number of claims against Linde in Russia following its departure from the country. In one of the cases, a Russian court ordered that assets worth around $1.15 billion of a British subsidiary of Linde be frozen in a dispute over a gas processing plant in August. ($1 = 97.4955 roubles) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gazprom-subsidiary-files-880-mln-claim-against-linde-2024-10-30/