2024-10-17 12:30

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Spanish power company Acciona Energia (ANE.MC) , opens new tab is considering a sale of its hydroelectric business, valued at 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), according to two sources familiar with the matter. The company has said that selling renewable assets is part of its strategy to strengthen its balance sheet. Acciona Energia has lined up bankers to contact potential buyers for the business, consisting of approximately 650 megawatts (MW) of hydro assets, the sources said. The company sold 175 MW of hydro installed capacity for 287 million euros earlier this year. Acciona Energia declined to comment. In July, Acciona Energia's parent company chairman, Jose Manuel Entrecanales, said the firm had received formal offers for many of its assets. He added it would "prioritise those deals where we see the best value and strategic fit". Acciona Energia expects to receive non-binding offers for its hydropower business at the beginning of November, the people said. ($1 = 0.9204 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/acciona-energia-considers-sale-11-billion-hydro-portfolio-sources-say-2024-10-17/

2024-10-17 12:26

MADRID, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Madrid regional government on Thursday cancelled the traditional annual herding of flocks of sheep through the centre of the Spanish capital scheduled for Sunday as a preventative measure against a new variant of the bluetongue disease. Bluetongue, spread by insects, can be deadly for domestic ruminants such as sheep, cattle and goats. The disease is present in different areas of Spain and with different variants. A new variant, BTV3, has been circulating in the Netherlands, northern Belgium and western Germany since last year, and has recently appeared in southwest Spain, Agriculture Ministry data show. Although no cases of the new variant were spotted in the Madrid region, authorities cancelled the crossing as a precaution. "We are in an area where we have to limit the concentration and movement of livestock," a spokeperson for the agriculture department of the Madrid regional government told Reuters. Once a year, sheep take to the streets of Madrid as part of the annual 'Fiesta de la Trashumancia' event, recognising the traditional routes used to herd livestock. The eight-century tradition disappeared in the 19th century but was revived three decades ago, delighting locals and tourists alike. Shepherds are allowed to herd their livestock towards southerly pastures for the winter through some of the busiest areas of the city, such as the Puerta del Sol square. Several countries including France and the Netherlands have implemented vaccinations campaigns against the new variant. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/madrid-cancels-sheep-herding-spectacle-avoid-bluetongue-spread-2024-10-17/

2024-10-17 11:59

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) has taken disciplinary action regarding the risk management systems of ABN AMRO Clearing Bank NV, which has agreed to pay a fine of 230,000 pounds ($299,200), the exchange said on Thursday. The exchange, the world's oldest and largest market for industrial metals, said a settlement was reached without ABN AMRO admitting or denying any of the alleged breaches. The bank failed an LME audit of its surveillance systems in 2020 and an investigation found that ABN AMRO did not have adequate processes to identify potential market abuse during January 2018 and November 2020, the LME said in a statement. In the meantime, the bank has implemented a series of enhancements to its market abuse management systems and controls, it added. The LME is owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (0388.HK) , opens new tab. ($1 = 0.7687 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/lme-fines-abn-amro-300000-disciplinary-action-2024-10-17/

2024-10-17 11:49

Fishers blame rice farms for worsening water levels Rice farmers and government attribute issue to climate change Paraguay River hit record low, expected to remain low until year-end VILLA OLIVA, Paraguay, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A sharp decline in the Paraguay River, which hit a record low this month due to drought upstream in Brazil, is fueling a conflict between the country's fishers and rice farmers over water use in a southern wetland region bordering Argentina. Residents of the Ñeembucú department and local fishers say that water-intensive rice farms, which use river water to irrigate their crops, are aggravating already-low water levels linked to drier weather caused by climate change. "It is very damaging. They take a lot of water and river levels get worse," said Crescencio Almada, a fisherman for 35 years in the region, part of a wetland in the Plata basin, which regulates the flow of the Paraguay and Paraná rivers. The drought upriver that has seen rivers dry up in the Brazilian Amazon, and the advance of farming, have altered the area's landscape, with large tracts of land planted with rice where water or forests once stood. However, rice farmers, and the government, say the problem is related to climate change, not irrigation. "We've been working for five years in the area and we have endured cyclical moments of low water levels in the river as well as moments of large amounts of water," said Paraguayan Rice Federation president Ignacio Heisecke. "The river runs for 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) within Brazil and the low water level comes from upstream. The Paraguayan producer who is downstream is not to blame." David Fariña, director of water protection and conservation at Paraguay's environment ministry, said the main cause of low water levels was a lack of rainfall in the river basin and the "critical" situation up-river in Brazil. "Should we blame the current situation of the Paraguay River on the farming sector, considering that the entire Plata basin has had a rainfall deficit for around four years?" he said, adding that other regional rivers had also dropped. "The Paraná River, the Pilcomayo River, are all in the same situation. There is no rice there." Paraguay grows 175,000 hectares (432,000 acres) of rice in Ñeembucú and five other departments and produces about 1.5 million metric tons of the grain. In 2023, the country exported some 900,000 tons worth $400 million, according to the federation. The Paraguay River hit a record low on Oct. 11 at the Alberdi port before improving slightly. The national Meteorology Directorate expects the river to remain low until year-end. Sergio Jara, another fisherman, told Reuters the river had "dropped a lot", blaming farmers using water for irrigation, as he eyed a muddy puddle where he used to fish in Villa Oliva, about 100 km (60 miles) from Asuncion. "Before, at least we caught a little more, now almost nothing. It's not enough to live on, the water level has gone down a lot," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/paraguays-drying-river-stokes-water-tensions-between-fishers-farmers-2024-10-17/

2024-10-17 11:43

Oct 17 (Reuters) - PPG Industries (PPG.N) , opens new tab will lay off 1,800 employees in the U.S. and Europe and close various facilities as part of a cost-reduction program, the paints and coatings maker said on Thursday. Shares of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company were up 1.3% before the bell. PPG said the program was focused on reducing structural costs primarily in Europe and in certain other global businesses, along with other corporate costs after recent agreements to sell two of its businesses. The company also said on Thursday it would sell its architectural coatings business in the U.S. and Canada to buyout firm American Industrial Partners for about $550 million. PPG's architectural coatings business houses brands such as Dulux, Glidden, Olympic and Liquid Nails. It expects the deal to close in late 2024 or early 2025. In August, the company had said it would sell its silica products business to Polish chemical company Qemetica for $310 million. The sale is expected to close in the last quarter of 2024. "(Decision to cut jobs) are necessary to adjust our fixed cost base and to right-size our company following these two business divestitures," CEO Tim Knavish said in a statement. Both the deals followed strategic reviews announced earlier this year. PPG expects annualized pre-tax savings of about $175 million, including $60 million in 2025, once the cost-cut program is fully implemented. The company said it would record a pre-tax charge of $250 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Separately, PPG missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday, hurt by lower sales at its industrial coatings unit. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ppg-lay-off-1800-employees-us-europe-cost-cut-push-2024-10-17/

2024-10-17 11:38

ATHENS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A Greek court on Thursday handed a 15-month suspended prison sentence to a former regional governor in central Greece and three other former officials over the handling of deadly floods in 2020. Cyclone Ianos swept through central Greece in 2020, killing three people, flooding cities and highways in the region of Thessaly and turning agricultural land into mud lakes near the hardest-hit cities of Karditsa and Farsala. The court on Thursday found former regional governor Costas Agorastos, a former deputy governor and two former directors of technical projects guilty of omissions that could have prevented the flooding. They have denied any wrongdoing. Agorastos said outside the court that he could not have stopped a flood, which occurs once in 1,000 years and that he planned to appeal against the ruling. The court acquitted all of the defendants of involuntary manslaughter charges related to the deaths. But lawyers representing the victims said they would take legal steps to overturn that decision. "We were really disappointed with the ruling," Vassiliki Soufla, lawyer of one of the victims, told Reuters. "The death of those people was not an accident, was not a bad moment. It was a result of the collective failure of the state mechanism," Soufla told reporters outside the court. Greece is struggling to keep pace with a rapid increase in extreme weather. Last year, Storm Daniel was the second major flood in three years to hit Thessaly, part of a pattern of worsening freak weather in Europe. The flooding - Greece's worst on record - killed 16 people and devastated the fertile region, sweeping away agricultural land, roads and railways. A legal investigation has been launched into whether any crimes were committed by intention or negligence that worsened the impact of last year's flooding. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greece-court-sentences-former-state-officials-over-deadly-2020-floods-central-2024-10-17/