2024-10-12 11:18

FRANKFURT, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Maritime rescue services and firefighters in Germany's Baltic Sea have extinguished a fire on an oil tanker and brought the vessel safely into the port of Rostock, the city authorities said on Saturday. "The ship is safely moored...there is no more fire. The tanker was dragged into Rostock overseas port early in the morning," said a statement on the city's town hall website, adding the cargo was not affected. The fire broke out on Friday aboard the Germany-flagged, 73-metre-long tanker Annika, carrying around 640 tonnes of oil. Divers were checking for possible deformations or cracks in the hull, the statement said. Police and marine investigators will inspect the ship to investigate the cause of the fire. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/oil-tanker-moored-safely-northern-german-port-fire-extinguished-2024-10-12/

2024-10-12 10:05

Investors jeered design, lack of details with Tesla stocks tumbling 9% Experts say robotaxis should emulate regular taxis with more room Waymo's former CEO criticized the two-door configuration SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Tesla's (TSLA.O) , opens new tab reveal of a robotaxi designed as a low-slung, two-seater, sporty coupe - quite the opposite of a typical taxi with room for several passengers and luggage - flummoxed investors and analysts. CEO Elon Musk served up the cool design for the prototype of the Tesla robotaxi, dubbed Cybercab, at a much-hyped event near Los Angeles late on Thursday. These will go into production some time in 2026 and cost less than $30,000 a pop, he said. But in true Musk style, he skipped over expectations of how a two-seater robotaxi would serve the needs of families headed to a restaurant or to the airport, or if he expected these to appeal only to a niche clientele. Investors jeered the design and the lack of financial detail, with Tesla stocks tumbling 9% on Wall Street on Friday. "When you think of a cab, you think of something that's going to carry more than two people," said Jonathan Elfalan, vehicle testing director for the automotive website Edmunds.com. "Making this a two-seat-only car is very perplexing." Tesla did not respond to an email seeking comment. Experts said robotaxis would best emulate regular taxis with plenty of room, a tall design and sliding doors. Musk did showcase a futuristic robovan that could seat up to 20 people but did not say when that would be available. The market for two-door robotaxis would be very limited, said Sandeep Rao, a senior researcher at Leverage Shares, an investment management company with assets of about $1 billion, including in Tesla. Two-door vehicles account for just 2% of car sales in the U.S., excluding SUVs and pickups, according to data from analytics firm J.D. Power. Musk said he wanted to make robotaxis cheaper than mass transit to operate and predicted an operating cost of 20 cents per mile over time for the Cybercab. But he did not say how quickly Tesla could mass-produce Cybercabs and secure regulatory approvals, or how it could beat Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab Waymo, which already operates robotaxis in some U.S. cities. Waymo has a fleet of about 700 Jaguar Land Rover cars that fit four passengers, same as the seating capacity in Amazon's (AMZN.O) , opens new tab Zoox robotaxis. Waymo's former CEO John Krafcik said Tesla's design looked "more playful than serious," and that the two-door configuration posed challenges for older passengers and those with disabilities. 'MORE PLAYFUL THAN SERIOUS' Delivering the robotaxi and capturing a still nascent and tightly regulated market will be critical for Tesla. Musk this year scrapped plans to build a smaller, cheaper vehicle amid slowing EV demand and shifted focus to the advancing Tesla's autonomy ambitions. The robotaxi business could catapult Tesla's valuation to $5 trillion, he has said, from about $700 billion now. "Two-seaters have been proposed for decades as commuter vehicles. They just haven't taken off," said Sam Fiorani, vice president at research firm AutoForecast Solutions. Tesla will eventually need to build larger robotaxis, he said. Blake Anderson, senior investment analyst at Carson Group, a Tesla investor, said that if the Cybercab is supposed to be a lower-cost, mass-market model to widen Tesla's appeal, the two-seat design doesn't make sense. "It's probably a way that they can introduce something quick to market," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/teslas-sporty-two-seater-robotaxi-design-puzzles-experts-2024-10-12/

2024-10-12 09:44

VYLKOVE, Ukraine, Oct 12 (Reuters) - In a town without basements, residents of Ukraine's "Venice" on the Danube have no way to hide underground from the increasingly frequent Russian drone attacks on the country's river and deep sea ports. Vylkove, a small tourist and resort town, sits at the mouth of the Danube, and like in Italy's Venice, canals replace roads and boats replace cars for local residents. The only way to avoid drone attacks is to shoot them down, say border guards, who are constantly training. Ukraine has said Russia is deliberately hitting port infrastructure and commercial vessels in an effort to disrupt Ukrainian food exports, key to millions of people in northern Africa and the Middle East. The attacks have intensified dramatically over the past week and Vylkove is often in the path of drones. Pickup trucks with machine guns, assault rifles, searchlights and thermal imaging cameras help fight off attacks, said a former computer teacher, now a soldier with the call sign IT. "In general, we also have training every day. This also includes training and physical exercises, as well as preparing weapons, preparing vehicles, checking all systems to ensure that everything works as it should, in good condition," he said. Anger towards Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, guides the soldiers' actions, he said. "Otherwise, there are no emotions at all. So we just have to do our job and that's it. Emotions come later," IT said. Drone attacks usually begin in the dark, when black drones cannot be seen in the night sky. Without a basement to hide in, Yulia Kapitan, the owner of the Delta Hotel, protects her child by covering her with her own body on the bed. "I say to her, "Milana, shh, shh, shh, shh," so that the child is not so much frightened. There's a bright flash, the lights go out, this explosion, the sound of the explosion. It's forever memorising what your eyes saw in that moment." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-venice-danube-delta-faces-relentless-russian-drone-attacks-2024-10-12/

2024-10-12 05:51

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, Oct 12 (Reuters) - China's highly anticipated announcement of financial stimulus plans on Saturday was big on intent but low on the measurable details that investors need to ratify their recent return to the world's second-biggest stock market. Saturday's news conference by Finance Minister Lan Foan reiterated Beijing's broad plans to revive the ailing economy, with promises made on significant increases to government debt and support for consumers and the property sector. But for investors who were hoping to hear authorities spell out exactly how much the government will throw at the crisis, the briefing was disappointing. “The strength of the announced fiscal stimulus plan is weaker than expected. There's no timetable, no amount, no details of how the money will be spent," said Huang Yan, investment manager at private fund company Shanghai QiuYang Capital Co in Shanghai. Huang had hoped for more stimulus to boost consumption. Market analysts had been looking for a spending package between 2 trillion yuan to 10 trillion yuan ($283 billion to $1.4 trillion). Reuters reported , opens new tab last month that China plans to issue special sovereign bonds worth about 2 trillion yuan this year as part of fresh fiscal stimulus. Bloomberg News reported China is considering the injection up to 1 trillion yuan of capital into its biggest state banks. Lan's press conference did not give any specifics. In the three weeks since the People's Bank of China (PBOC) kicked off China's most aggressive stimulus measures since the pandemic, the CSI300 Index (.CSI300) , opens new tab has broken records for daily moves and is up 16% overall. Stocks have grown wobbly in recent sessions, though, as initial enthusiasm gave way to concerns about whether the policy support would be big enough to revive growth. "If that's what we have in terms of fiscal policies, the stock market bull run could run out of steam," Huang said, referring to comments at Saturday's press conference. Heading into the briefing, some investors had braced for the finance minister to withhold actual spending details until China's rubber-stamp parliament meets later this month. Equally, investors also worried that mere interest rate cuts, which the PBOC has already announced, and a reluctance by the central government to spend will imperil the odds the world's second-largest economy can hit its 5% growth target. "Investors will need to be patient," said HSBC's chief Asia economist Fred Neumann, noting concrete numbers could come only by the end of this month when the standing committee of the National People's Congress reviews and votes on specific proposals. Jason Bedford, former China analyst at Bridgewater and UBS, pointed to Lan's pledge to recapitalise big state banks as indicating authorities expect to see a revival in demand for credit. "But the only way the economy needs more credit is if you create credit demand which can only be done if you provide fiscal (support)." HOW MUCH? Investors have good reason to be circumspect about how much Beijing will spend. The slump in consumer confidence and the property sector is a by-product of the years-long drive by the Communist Party leadership to reduce debt and root out corruption. Yet, the hope that authorities are serious to fix those issues has driven foreign investors and domestic retail money into stocks. The PBOC's 500-billion-yuan swap facility to channel more cash into the stock market has helped. The Shanghai Composite index (.SSEC) , opens new tab is up 12% since the measures were first announced on Sept. 24, but property (.CSI000952) , opens new tab and tourism (.CSI930633) , opens new tab stocks are still dragging in a sign of some doubts around the extent of state support. Global commodity markets from iron ore to other industrial metals and oil have also been volatile on hopes stimulus will stoke its sluggish demand. "Potentially some event money might be disappointed and remove some bets on the headline numbers not meeting high expectations but the more important capital flows might be encouraged by continuing efforts to stabilise the economy and keep growth at appropriate levels," said Matthew Haupt, portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney. According to LSEG Lipper data, overseas China funds received a net $13.91 billion since Sept. 24, pumping up inflows so far in 2024 to $54.34 billion. Much of that money has gone into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while mutual funds are still reporting net outflows of $11.77 billion for the year. Bedford is hopeful of a revival in retail interest sustaining the stock market rally. "We have a perfect storm of four factors at play," he said, citing pent-up household savings and a lack of attractive alternatives to the stock market, an alignment of corporate and shareholder interests driving up buybacks and dividends, and central bank programmes offering leverage to corporates and institutions to invest in the stock market. "A sustained rally driven by the China household has the foundations for success ... we are early in this process and the risk is the possibility of flawed execution or not communicating things well. The structural story remains compelling though." ($1 = 7.0666 Chinese yuan renminbi) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-stimulus-message-leaves-investors-wanting-though-hanging-onto-hope-2024-10-12/

2024-10-12 05:47

EVs, plug-in hybrids accounted for 52.8% of overall sales Tesla sales in China up 66% year-on-year China's government announced subsidies for EV trade-ins BEIJING, Oct 12 (Reuters) - China's passenger vehicle sales rose 4.3% in September from a year earlier, snapping five months of decline with a boost from a government subsidy to encourage trade-ins as part of a broader stimulus package. All the gains came from battery-powered vehicles, whose buyers and manufacturers have benefited since July from a doubling of subsidies to consumers, while sales of gasoline cars in China, a market foreign brands once dominated, continue to shrink. Sales in the world's biggest auto market hit 2.13 million vehicles in September, up from 2.04 million a year earlier. For the first nine months, sales were up 1.9% from 2023 levels, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids jumped 50.9%, accounting for 52.8% of overall sales. It was the third month in a row that battery-powered vehicles including plug-ins outnumbered sales of gasoline-engine cars in China. Gasoline car sales in September were above 1 million, up more than 100,000 from August. But that was far short of September last year, when over 1.29 million were sold in China. Sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids - a category the Chinese industry group classifies as "new energy vehicles" - hit 1.12 million in September and 7.13 million for the first nine months. Global EV sales have slowed this year with automakers outside China scaling back production. Sales in China, however, have risen, driven by expanded subsidies for consumers trading in older vehicles for EVs and more fuel-efficient cars - a programme likened to the U.S. "cash-for-clunkers" stimulus in 2009. Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab sold over 72,000 vehicles in China, up 66% year-on-year, its best month this year. The U.S.-headquartered company exported 16,121 China-made vehicles in September, down from over 23,000 the previous month. Tesla, which counts on China for about a third of its sales, has added its own incentives, including zero-percent financing. Chinese EV makers BYD (002594.SZ) , opens new tab, Li Auto (2015.HK) , opens new tab and Xpeng (9868.HK) , opens new tab recorded their best-ever month in September. China's best-selling new energy vehicle makers through the first eight months were BYD, Geely and Tesla. SUBSIDIES KICK IN China's government announced in July a subsidy of more than $2,800 when consumers scrap an older car to replace it with an EV, doubling a subsidy introduced in April. The subsidy for a more fuel-efficient combustion vehicle is just over $2,100. As of late September, 1.1 million consumers had registered to take advantage of the subsidies. Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CPCA, said on Saturday that he expects a strong fourth quarter on trade-in subsidies by local governments. But car sales data also published on Saturday by the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), another industry association, was less upbeat. Vehicles sales last month in China fell 1.7% from a year earlier, according to CAAM data, which counts commercial vehicles like trucks as well as passenger cars. Commercial vehicle wholesales, including exports, plunged 23.5%, worsening a 12.2% slide in August, CAAM data showed. The government will "significantly increase" debt issuance to boost the world's second-largest economy, Finance Minister Lan Foan said on Saturday, as it seeks to lift faltering growth back towards its target of around 5%. China's central bank has announced interest rate cuts and liquidity injections in its largest easing since the COVID-19 pandemic. An open question is whether China will channel more stimulus to support the purchase of EVs, a sector officials have identified as a priority. The finance ministry plans to issue 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) of special sovereign debt, using part of the proceeds to increase subsidies for the consumer goods trade-in programme and for business equipment upgrades, Reuters has reported. Car exports grew 22% in September, bringing sales for the first nine months to 3.55 million vehicles, despite a political backlash against Chinese automakers in major overseas markets. China overtook Japan to become the world's largest vehicle exporter last year. U.S. officials and others have argued China's capacity to make more cars than it can sell at home combined with past subsidies give Chinese EV makers an unfair advantage. The European Union is pressing ahead with tariffs of up to 45% on Chinese-made EVs after a vote last week, a move opposed by Germany. China has said it hopes to avoid tariffs through negotiations that would set minimum EV sales prices in Europe. The United States and Canada have each set tariffs of 100% on Chinese-made EVs that effectively lock them out of those markets. ($1 = 7.0666 Chinese yuan) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/china-car-sales-rise-snapping-five-month-decline-subsidy-boost-2024-10-12/

2024-10-11 23:18

Oct 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday put on hold approvals and permits necessary to allow a Kinder Morgan (KMI.N) , opens new tab subsidiary to construct a 32-mile gas pipeline in Tennessee, at the urging of environmental groups. The proposed Cumberland Project, set to be constructed by Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline, could transport about 245,000 dekatherms per day of additional natural gas to power supplier Tennessee Valley Authority. On a 2-1 vote , opens new tab, Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's order issuing a water quality certification and the Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of a permit. The request for a stay was filed by environmental organizations Appalachian Voices and Sierra Club, which claimed the pipeline's construction could have detrimental impact on the environment. The court said a stay was appropriate for it to have the time to consider the merits of the environmental groups' case. It said further arguments in the case would be heard in December. A Kinder Morgan spokesperson said the company does not agree with the court's decision, which it will continue to review while evaluating its options. Bri Knisely, Director of Public Power Campaigns at Appalachian Voices, welcomed the court's decision "The Cumberland Pipeline poses a major, unnecessary risk to important aquatic habitat in Tennessee, as well as the health and safety of our communities," she said. Sierra Club did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-court-puts-hold-permits-kinder-morgan-unit-build-tennessee-pipeline-2024-10-11/