2024-10-30 00:11

MADRID, Oct 30 (Reuters) - An unspecified number of corpses have been found in areas affected by flash floods that are devastating southeastern Spain, the leader of the Valencia region told reporters early on Wednesday. "Dead bodies have been found, but out of respect for the families, we are not going to provide any further data," Carlos Mazon said. Torrential rains caused by a cold front moving across the country's south and east had been flooding roads and towns on Tuesday, prompting authorities in the worst-hit areas to advise citizens to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/several-corpses-found-flood-hit-areas-eastern-spain-official-says-2024-10-30/

2024-10-29 23:44

Litasco hires experienced traders in Americas after rebuilding credit lines, sources say Efforts part of broader restructuring as Litasco distances from Russian parent Lukoil - source Litasco has secured more than $2 Bln in open credit lines, also opened letters of credit - sources Hired former Gunvor trader Dmitri Sinenko as managing director for Lukoil Pan Americas- sources NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Swiss-based energy trader Litasco is hiring experienced traders and has lined up credit lines to revive its business in the Americas that withered after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, three sources close to the company said. Neither Litasco nor its Russian parent, oil producer Lukoil PJSC, were included in the U.S. sanctions imposed on many Russian entities in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Lenders around the world cut financing to Litasco anyway, to avoid unwittingly falling foul of other sanctions and to avoid any reputational damage for facilitating Russian oil trade. That reduced the company's open credit lines to near zero, impeding its ability to trade cargoes on the international market, the sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly. Litasco's efforts to revive American operations come amid a broader restructuring and as the company distances itself from its Russian parent, one source said. Litasco operates independently of Lukoil, two of the sources said. Lukoil Pan Americas, the U.S.-based unit of Litasco, does not deal in cargoes of Russian origin, the three sources said. Reuters was unable to reach Lukoil Pan Americas by phone or email. Litasco said it does not comment on specific business, commercial, political or employee-related matters. Lukoil PJSC did not answer Reuters requests for comment. Litasco has secured more than $2 billion in open credit lines for trade, the three sources said. It has also opened letters of credit to work with counterparties, one source said. "They will likely keep looking to expand their credit lines but this puts the company in a solid financial position to re-activate the business which was virtually dormant for the past two years," one source said. The company is focusing on rebuilding its oil and fuel trading operations in North, Central, South Americas and the Caribbean, one of the sources said. Litasco's Americas unit has been headquartered in Houston, Texas, since it was set up in 2013. Lukoil Pan Americas will be backed by a parent guarantee, meaning that Litasco in Switzerland would make any contractual payments if the U.S. arm is unable to do so, the source added. Litasco has hired Dmitri Sinenko, considered by peers and rivals to be one of the most profitable U.S. gasoline traders of the past decade, to serve as managing director of Lukoil Pan Americas and lead its turnaround efforts, the sources said. Sinenko is being joined by long-term associate Sushant Koduru, who will handle the gasoline and diesel trading books for Lukoil Pan Americas, the sources said. Sinenko and Koduru are expected to go on a hiring drive in coming months to rebuild the company's talent pool, which shrank from over 80 employees prior to Russia's war on Ukraine to around 16, the sources said. Among employees who left Lukoil Pan Americas since the conflict started in Ukraine is Gustavo Giron. Giron left to become head of business development at rival trading firm Mercuria last year after occupying the same role at Lukoil Pan Americas, according to two sources close to Giron. Sinenko, Koduru and Giron could not be contacted for comment. Sinenko started in the new role on Tuesday and Koduru will begin in November, the sources said. Both Sinenko and Koduru join Lukoil Pan Americas from Gunvor. Prior to Gunvor, both were at Asian trading firm Noble Group. Gunvor declined to comment. Reuters earlier reported Sinenko was in talks to join Litasco, but details of his new role were not available and are being reported for the first time. The trading community in Houston has grown with booming oil and gas output in the United States as a result of the shale revolution. Swiss trading firm Gunvor last year said it was expanding operations in the U.S., and in May Reuters reported that UAE'S ADNOC is planning to set up a U.S. trading desk. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-trader-litasco-hires-traders-lines-up-credit-rebuild-americas-arm-sources-2024-10-29/

2024-10-29 23:32

SYDNEY, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Alcoa (AA.N) , opens new tab is "very bullish" on aluminium as the energy transition drives demand growth, including substitution away from copper, CEO William Oplinger said on Wednesday. "As we look forward, demand growth will be driven by this energy transition," he said, adding that as demand outstrips supply for copper, demand for aluminium will grow because it is a ready substitute in some applications, he told a conference in Sydney. Megatrends are driving aluminium demand of 3%, 4%, and 5% every year, he said. "Couple that with some supply changes in the industry, for instance the Chinese sticking to a mandatory cap they have put in place ... that shapes up to a much stronger aluminium market globally," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/alcoa-very-bullish-aluminium-energy-transition-2024-10-29/

2024-10-29 23:13

TAIPEI, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Taiwan expects a strong Typhoon Kong-rey to make landfall on Thursday, issuing a land warning on Wednesday ahead of the storm which will bring driving rain and strong winds across a swath of the island. Kong-rey is forecast to hit land as a strong category 4 typhoon late morning on Thursday on Taiwan's sparsely populated and mountainous east coast in the county of Taitung. It is then expected to cross Taiwan's south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head towards China, Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said. The heaviest rain will hit Taiwan's east coast and the north around the capital Taipei throughout the day on Thursday, the administration added. Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last one, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-issues-land-warning-ahead-arrival-typhoon-kong-rey-2024-10-29/

2024-10-29 23:07

EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs to take effect Thursday EU members divided over tariffs in vote on Oct. 4 China has own investigations into EU brandy, dairy, pork Brussels, Beijing to continue negotiating possible alternative BRUSSELS, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The European Union has decided to increase tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles to as much as 45.3% at the end of its highest profile investigation that has divided Europe and prompted retaliation from Beijing. Just over a year after launching its anti-subsidy probe, the European Commission will set out extra tariffs ranging from 7.8% for Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab to 35.3% for China's SAIC, on top of the EU's standard 10% car import duty. The extra tariffs were formally approved and published in the EU's Official Journal on Tuesday, meaning they will take effect on Wednesday. The Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, has said tariffs are required to counter what it says are unfair subsidies including preferential financing and grants as well as land, batteries and raw materials at below market prices. It says China's spare production capacity of 3 million EVs per year is twice the size of the EU market. Given 100% tariffs in the United States and Canada, the most obvious outlet for those EVs is Europe. The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said it was profoundly disappointed by the "protectionist" and "arbitrary" EU measure and was disheartened by the lack of substantial progress in negotiations to find an alternative to tariffs. Beijing launched its own probes this year into imports of EU brandy, dairy and pork products in apparent retaliation. It has also challenged the EU's provisional measures at the World Trade Organization. European automakers are grappling with an influx of lower-cost EVs from Chinese rivals. The Commission estimates Chinese brands' share of the EU market has risen to 8% from below 1% in 2019 and could reach 15% in 2025. It says prices are typically 20% below those of EU-made models. The EU's stance towards Beijing has hardened in the last five years. It views China as a potential partner in some areas, but also as a competitor and a systemic rival, but EU members are not united on EV tariffs. Germany, the EU's biggest economy and major car producer, opposed tariffs in a vote this month in which 10 EU members backed them, five voted against and 12 abstained. Germany's economy ministry said on Tuesday that Berlin supported ongoing EU negotiations with China and hoped for a diplomatic resolution to mitigate trade tensions while protecting EU industry. "The Federal Government stands for open markets. Because Germany in particular, as a globally interconnected economy, is dependent on this," the spokesperson added. German carmakers have heavily criticised the EU measures, aware that possible higher Chinese import duties on large-engined gasoline vehicles would hit them hardest. The measures come as thousands of German industrial workers, including at the carmakers, strike for higher wages, with Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) , opens new tab possibly about to announce shutting plants on home soil for the first time in its 87-year history. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the EU was headed for an "economic cold war" with China. However, France's PFA car association has welcomed duties, adding it backed free trade as long as it was fair. The Commission has held eight rounds of technical negotiations with China to find an alternative to tariffs and said talks can continue after tariffs are imposed. The two sides are looking at possible minimum price commitments for imported cars and agreed on Friday to hold a further round, although the Commission said there were "significant remaining gaps". It remains to be seen what impact tariffs will have on consumer prices. Some producers may be able to absorb them at least partially. In the first nine months of 2024, China's EV exports to the EU were down 7% from a year earlier, but they have surged by more than a third in August and September, ahead of the tariffs, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) show. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/eu-slaps-tariffs-chinese-evs-risking-beijing-payback-2024-10-29/

2024-10-29 23:04

NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A group of five governors on Tuesday urged PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. grid operator, to change the process it uses to determine the price paid to power plants after record-high prices awarded in its last auction. The most recent PJM capacity auction resulted in prices that were nearly 10 times the previous year, with results attributed largely to shrinking power supply and rising electricity demand. The prices raised concerns about swelling power bills for everyday homes and businesses in the grid operator's territory, and led environmental groups to file a complaint against PJM's process to determine its prices. The capacity auction results will cost homes and businesses in the 13 states and the District of Columbia that are served by PJM $14.7 billion, the governors of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware said in a letter to the grid operator. "Urgent action is needed to prevent customers from paying billions more than is necessary," the group said. Those governors implored PJM to broaden the number of power plants in its auction to increase available supply calculations used to determine prices, encourage more renewable power generation and lower the capacity price cap, among other requests. PJM has asked regulators to delay its 2026/27 auction by about six months to address the complaint against it. The group of governors said they supported the delay. The grid operator said it had continuously warned that government policy measures aimed at shifting away from fossil-fired power generation, before adding new clean electricity generation, could result in a supply crunch. "Our state leaders are critical voices and we appreciate their input as we work to balance the need for an investment signal for new generation with the need to keep prices affordable for consumers," PJM spokesman Jeff Shields said in an email. "Our states also play a critical role in the policy choices they make that directly impact supply and demand on our system," he added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-governors-push-back-pjm-after-record-high-power-plant-prices-2024-10-29/