2025-12-02 11:37
India's Russian oil imports to hit 3-year low amid sanctions Russia says trade must be safe from third-country pressures Payment methods to figure in talks during Putin's India visit NEW DELHI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - India's imports of Russian oil may decline for only "a brief period" as Moscow plans to boost supplies, using sophisticated technology to avert the impact of Western sanctions, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. His remarks came ahead of President Vladimir Putin's two-day visit to New Delhi from Thursday, looking to restore defence and energy ties as the South Asian nation is set to trim its Russian oil purchases this month to at least a three-year low. Sign up here. Russia's top buyer of seaborne oil, India has cut crude imports from Moscow under pressure from Western sanctions, particularly by Washington on Moscow's top oil producers Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab and Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab. "There can be, for a very brief period of time, insignificant decreases in the volume of oil trade," Peskov told Indian journalists, in response to a question about the impact of sanctions. WORKING TO BUILD THE NECESSARY ENVIRONMENT FOR BUYERS Russia is the top oil supplier to India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer. Moscow is working to build the "necessary environment" for buyers who seek its oil, Peskov said, speaking by video link organised by Russia's Sputnik news agency. "We have deep experience in performing under regime of these illegal sanctions," Peskov added. "We have our own technologies in doing that. We will continue to make those technologies more sophisticated should this practice of sanctions continue." Trade between Russia and India should be secured from pressure from third countries, he said, adding that payment methods would feature in the leaders' talks. ACTIVITIES OF INDIAN REFINERS Indian refiners, such as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL.NS) , opens new tab, Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL.NS) , opens new tab and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, have stopped buying Russian oil. State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) , opens new tab has placed orders to buy Russian oil from non-sanctioned entities, while Bharat Petroleum Corp is in an advanced stage of negotiations for Russian oil imports. Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy, partly owned by Rosneft, is exclusively processing Russian oil after other suppliers pulled back, following British and EU sanctions. Russia wants India to continue to provide support to Nayara to boost its local sale and capacity use. Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) , opens new tab, formerly Russia's top Indian client, has said it loaded Russian oil cargoes "precommitted" by October 22, and will process any arriving after November 20 at its refinery geared to domestic supply. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/decline-indias-russian-oil-imports-may-be-temporary-kremlin-says-2025-12-02/
2025-12-02 11:35
GDP rises 0.5% q/q, less than Q2's 0.9% rate Mining performed well, factory output slowed Fixed investment rises after three quarters of decline PRETORIA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - South Africa's economic growth slowed in the third quarter of 2025 as expected, but analysts heralded a pickup in fixed investment for the first time in a year as a bright spot that could lift the future growth rate if sustained. Africa's biggest economy grew 0.5% in seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter terms, in line with the median forecast of analysts polled by Reuters but slower than revised second-quarter growth of 0.9%. Sign up here. Nine of the 10 sectors tracked by Statistics South Africa recorded higher output, with mining and agriculture performing well , opens new tab though manufacturing production slowed and electricity, gas and water output contracted. The economy has struggled to build momentum over the past decade, with annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging less than 1%. This year the picture has started to brighten, as investors have piled into South African stocks and bonds on signs of fiscal discipline and a decision to lower the country's inflation target. The National Treasury forecasts a slight pickup in growth this year and next, to 1.2% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026. Investments in transport equipment mainly drove the 1.6% increase in gross fixed capital formation - spending on fixed assets like machinery - in the third quarter. Elna Moolman, head of South Africa macroeconomic research at Standard Bank, said though this increase was mainly driven by government spending, it was a positive sign that showed the economy had good prospects of accelerating in coming years. In year-on-year terms, GDP expanded 2.1% in the third quarter, better than economists' forecasts for 1.8% growth (ZAGDPY=ECI) , opens new tab. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-third-quarter-gdp-rises-05-qq-2025-12-02/
2025-12-02 11:27
FRANKFURT, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Inflation in the euro zone is practically at the European Central Bank's 2% target and will fluctuate around it despite a tariff-induced price rise in the United States, ECB policymaker Joachim Nagel said in an interview published on Tuesday. Inflation in the 20 nations sharing the euro accelerated to 2.2% last month from 2.1% in October, a small rise that is unlikely to be too concerning for an ECB that was anyway set to keep interest rates on hold this month. Sign up here. "We have practically achieved (our goal), and the inflation rate will continue to fluctuate around this value in the near future," Nagel, who heads the Bundesbank, told German magazine Stern. Nagel played down the significance for the ECB of a rise in U.S. inflation, which he said was caused by import tariffs and could get worse if the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Asked about Germany's economic prospects, Nagel said fiscal spending on the military and infrastructure could push growth above 1% in 2027, but the country needed to tackle its structural issues, such as a shrinking working-age population. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/euro-zone-inflation-practically-target-ecbs-nagel-says-2025-12-02/
2025-12-02 11:25
EU vets to survey, advise on Barcelona swine fever outbreak Spain resumes pork exports to China, urges others to follow ASF outbreak may boost US exports, says Steiner Consulting MADRID, Dec 2 (Reuters) - A taskforce of EU vets specialising in epidemics began work in Barcelona on Tuesday as Spain seeks to contain an African swine fever outbreak that has forced it to halt some pork exports. The experts in virology and risk management will visit a 6-km exclusion zone around the affected area in Bellaterra to survey the situation, provide advice and prepare a follow-report with recommendations, a European Commission spokesperson said. Sign up here. Spain is the EU's leading pork producer, accounting for a quarter of the bloc's output, ahead of Germany, with annual exports worth about 3.5 billion euros ($4.05 billion). It resumed shipments on Monday from other regions to China, which accounts for almost 42% of Spanish pork exports outside the EU, after Beijing confirmed it would only limit imports from the Barcelona area, in line with a recently-signed regionalisation agreement. But other countries including Britain, Mexico and Canada have suspended a wide range of pork and by-product shipments from across Spain. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged them to continue buying from regions outside the containment zone. "It is very important to keep markets beyond Europe open for pork exports," Sanchez said in an interview on TVE. OUTBREAKS AROUND EUROPE The EU taskforce was most recently deployed in September to help monitor a swine fever outbreak in Estonia. Croatia is also trying to contain an outbreak, while Italy and Germany have recorded cases in recent years that have prompted the culling of pigs. "Biosecurity measures must be reinforced even more with three countries (Spain, Italy and Germany) around us now affected," said Anne Richard, director of French pork industry association Inaporc. Officials suspect the virus may have spread after a wild boar ate contaminated food, possibly a sandwich brought from outside Spain. The virus is harmless to humans, but spreads rapidly among pigs and wild boar, for whom it can be fatal. It was detected in two wild boar in a wooded, hilly area outside Barcelona and a further eight are being tested. The outbreak could allow U.S. farmers to export more. "With more EU countries finding ASF within their borders, U.S. producers have an opportunity to meet global demand," U.S. consultancy Steiner Consulting Group said. U.S. pork exports are expected to fall by 0.3% to 6.96 billion pounds in 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "If the recent outbreak in Spain is not contained, we would expect U.S. pork exports to once again surpass 7 billion pounds," Steiner Consulting said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eu-epidemic-vets-begin-work-swine-fever-outbreak-barcelona-2025-12-02/
2025-12-02 11:23
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Cliff Asness's AQR Capital Management started the final month of the year with positive returns in several funds, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The $179 billion hedge fund finished November 0.4% largely flat in its multi-strategy fund, Apex Strategy. It had generated a 16.2% return from the start of the year to November 30, the source said. Sign up here. The fund posted a 3.1% return for the month in its AQR Delphi Long-Short Equity Strategy, bringing the overall performance to a positive 16.4% for the year. AQR's Managed Futures Full Volatility Strategy lost 0.4% for the month of November but is still up 19.2% year-to-date. The hedge fund's Helix Strategy, which follows trends in a diverse set of harder-to-access markets, returned 0.7% in November and is up 13.7% for the year to date. These annual returns surpass a wider collection of systematic hedge funds, whose algorithms ride market trends until they peter out. An index that tracks these kinds of trend funds is largely flat, up 0.31% for the year to November 28, according to Societe Generale's (SOGN.PA) , opens new tab indices. All returns listed were net of fees. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/hedge-fund-aqr-heads-towards-year-end-with-double-digit-returns-source-says-2025-12-02/
2025-12-02 11:22
Audit reveals irregularities, leading to significant recovery New code to increase annual revenue by 586 billion CFA francs Barrick resolves dispute, migrates to new code BAMAKO, Dec 2 - Mali has recovered 761 billion CFA francs ($1.2 billion) in arrears from mining companies following a sweeping audit, its finance minister said, marking one of the country’s biggest clawbacks from its extractive sector. The military-led government launched an audit of Mali’s mining sector in early 2023 that uncovered massive shortfalls for the state and paved the way for a new mining code , opens new tab. Sign up here. That new mining law raised royalties, boosted state stakes in mining companies and scrapped stability clauses. A recovery commission was set up after an audit by firms Inventus and Mozar flagged financial irregularities and shortfalls for the state estimated at 300 to 600 billion CFA francs. The overhaul of the industry triggered a two-year dispute with Canadian miner Barrick Mining (ABX.TO) , opens new tab, Mali’s top gold producer, before a deal was struck in November. Economy and Finance Minister Alousséni Sanou, speaking on state television late on Monday, did not say if the recovered sum included Barrick’s recent 244 billion CFA francs deal. Other operators, including B2Gold (BTO.TO) , opens new tab, Allied Gold (AAUC.TO) , opens new tab, Resolute Mining (RSG.AX) , opens new tab, Endeavour Mining (EDV.L) , opens new tab, and lithium players like Ganfeng (002460.SZ) , opens new tab and Kodal (KOD.L) , opens new tab settled their arrears and migrated to the new regime earlier. “I am delighted with these results, among which we can mention the recovery of 761 billion CFA out of a target of 400 billion,” Sanou said during a ceremony presenting the audit report to President Assimi Goita. Sanou added that all mining companies will now operate under the 2023 code, which is expected to lift annual revenues by 586 billion CFA francs on audited firms alone, bringing their total contribution to about 1,022 billion CFA francs each year. Audit and legal costs amounted to 2.87 billion CFA francs, he said. Mamou Touré, a member of the renegotiation committee, said the goal was not only to recover funds but also to give the state a sizable stake in mining contracts. Mali, one of Africa’s top gold producers, relies heavily on mining for export earnings and fiscal revenues. The scrutiny to tighten oversight has squeezed growth, with industrial gold output falling 32% year-on-year to 26.2 metric tons by end-August. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mali-recovers-12-billion-arrears-miners-eyes-annual-windfall-under-new-code-2025-12-02/
