2025-09-16 07:40
UK pay growth slows a bit but remains strong Payroll numbers fall for 7th month in a row BoE, worried about inflation, set to keep rates on hold Vacancies edge up in hint at hiring recovery LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Britain's jobs market has lost a little more steam, official data showed on Tuesday, potentially easing worries at the Bank of England about persistent inflation pressures. The Office for National Statistics figures showed the number of workers on firms' payrolls falling for a seventh month in a row and broader wage growth edging down. But there was also a hint that employers might be ready for some more hiring. Sign up here. The BoE is expected to keep interest rates on hold this week, having cut them in August. Many of its policymakers remain wary about inflation heat in the jobs market. Tuesday's figures showed the number of payrolled employees fell by a provisional 8,000 in August. July's drop was revised to 6,000 from a previously reported reduction of 8,000. TAX INCREASE, CONCERNS OF FURTHER RISES WEIGH ON STAFFING Employers have blamed a tax increase ordered by finance minister Rachel Reeves for their cautious stance on staffing and many are worried about a possible further hit in her next budget due in November. "Some businesses may be choosing to delay recruitment decisions until there is more clarity on potential tax changes," said Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK. Basic wage growth in the private sector - watched closely by the BoE - slowed to 4.7% between May and July from 4.8% in the three months to June. Overall average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, grew by 4.8%, weaker than the previous reading of 5.0% but still above the roughly 3% level seen as consistent with the BoE's 2% inflation target. "Today’s data release won’t do much to alleviate the Bank of England’s concerns over the upside risks to inflation," said Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics. Investors do not expect another BoE rate cut for at least six months. There were some signs in the ONS data of an improvement in employers' appetite for hiring. The number of job vacancies in the three months to August rose to 728,000 after touching its lowest in the previous month's release since early 2021. It was the first increase in the number of vacancies from one month's job report to the next since the three months to February last year, the ONS said. Sanjay Raja, Deutsche Bank’s chief UK economist, said a wave of staffing cuts by employers was now probably complete although budget uncertainty was likely to weigh on hiring, and pay settlements would edge lower over the rest of the year. "This should give some comfort that the path ahead may be less bumpy than perhaps some of the survey data suggests," Raja said. Britain's unemployment rate in the three months to July held at 4.7%, its highest since the second quarter of 2021, although that figure is based on a survey of households that the ONS has said is not currently reliable. Surveys published last week showed that employers had offered the lowest pay settlements in more than three-and-a-half years in July and hiring had continued to slow - albeit by less than in previous months. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/uk-jobs-market-slows-again-offering-some-inflation-relief-bank-england-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 07:24
LARNACA, Cyprus Sept 16 (Reuters) - Soccer players are lining up for a fiery kick - not on the pitch, but in the form of a searing shot of olive oil from Cyprus. The peppery, throat-burning liquid is part of a performance revolution driven by a small plant in Cyprus that produces early-harvest olive oil packed with inflammation-busting polyphenols. Sign up here. Soccer players taking the shot are convinced it helps them recover faster and play harder, says olive oil producer Nick Schizas, who used to be a FIFA-licenced agent representing soccer players from across the world. "They were coming back with much more energy. They were recovering quicker between their games, between their training and without me pushing them they were coming back asking for more," Schizas said of his old life in soccer. He has teamed up with soil engineer Nicolas Netien to start a small business marketing oil pods under the Oleaphen brand. They supply sportspeople including soccer players in England's prestigious Premier League and a cycling team participating in the Tour de France. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits come from picking the olives before they are ripe, when they still contain high levels of polyphenols. Netien and Schizas are producing such oils at an interesting time. Researchers from two Cypriot universities will this year launch clinical studies on the performance of Cypriot soccer players taking doses of high phenolic olive oil, hoping to add to a growing body of evidence on its health potential. They will also measure the benefits to gut microbiome. At an olive mill in the Larnaca district, Netien, who says that he has produced oil with the highest recorded polyphenol content, closely follows the extraction process. Churning produces a polyphenol called Oleocanthal, which he calls "the most natural, powerful anti-inflammatory in the world". This early harvest oil contains 30 times more polyphenols than extra virgin olive oil, and 100 times more Oleocanthal. To keep those compounds intact, Oleaphen uses single-dose seaweed-based pods instead of bottles, preventing oxidation and waste. Netien says what they are doing is a modern revival of an old practice. "There's a tradition in the Mediterranean, especially in Greece and Cyprus, of doing some olive oil really early in the season ... and this oil was kept at home to be used as a medicine," he said. "It's not new. It's thousands of years old." https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/olive-oil-with-kick-seeks-energise-cypriot-players-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 07:20
LAGOS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Nigeria's finance ministry has ordered the immediate suspension of a levy on all imported goods, which companies had said would raise the cost of doing business and crimp economic recovery efforts. Finance Minister Wale Edun said in a directive issued late on Monday that the 4% Free on Board (FOB) levy, introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) last month, should be suspended to address the concerns raised by businesses. Sign up here. "Following extensive consultations with industry stakeholders, trade experts, and relevant government officials, it has become clear that the implementation of the 4% FOB charge poses significant challenges to Nigerian trade facilitation, the business environment, and economic stability," Edun said in a statement. Importers and business groups had warned that the levy would increase the cost of goods, fuel inflation, and hurt Nigeria's trade competitiveness at a time when the country was trying to end currency volatility and sluggish growth. The suspension will allow for a comprehensive review of the levy's framework and its broader economic implications, the ministry said, adding that it would work with the customs service and other stakeholders to develop a more "equitable and efficient revenue structure". Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, has been seeking to boost non-oil revenues amid declining crude output and mounting fiscal pressures. But businesses have pushed back against what they see as arbitrary levies that complicate trade and raise costs. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigeria-suspends-fob-levy-imports-after-industry-backlash-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 06:56
Sept 16 (Reuters) - Kuwait Petroleum Corporation is seeking to revive the Shahin project to lease and re-lease crude oil pipelines, a presentation by the company showed on Tuesday. Last week, media reports citing people familiar with the matter said the company is considering leasing part of its pipeline network to help fund a $65 billion investment plan that covers everything from upstream to petrochemicals. Sign up here. Kuwait Oil Company is the country's main crude producer, alongside Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, which operates in the Neutral Zone shared with Saudi Arabia. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/kuwait-petroleum-corporation-seeks-revive-pipeline-lease-re-lease-project-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 06:55
Auction due to be held in September delayed indefinitely Victoria state government cites investment changes in global market Delay follows multiple developers pausing or scrapping offshore projects SYDNEY, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Australia's Victoria state has postponed its inaugural auction for offshore wind farm funding, citing global investment hurdles, in a setback to an industry deemed vital to the country's transition from coal-fired power to renewable energy. The state government confirmed on Tuesday that it would delay the auction process, which had been scheduled for this month, and would release a revised timeline by the year-end. Sign up here. Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D'Ambrosio said global investment headwinds meant an auction now would risk attracting too few participants. "As the global market for offshore wind investment changes, we're making sure the auction is competitive and attractive and will release a new timeline for this process later this year,” she said. The Gippsland zone auction would have been Australia's first opportunity for developers to bid for government underwriting support. Winning projects would be guaranteed a fixed price for power generated through a system known as contract-for-difference. The guarantee would help give companies investment certainty needed to build the large, expensive farms Australia wants due to their capacity to generate more power than existing onshore farms. Ben Carrozzi, an energy and infrastructure partner at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, said the delay would avoid the "danger of rushed auction programmes" that have occurred in other markets. "We hope to see continued dialogue and clarity on next steps in order to ensure that the sector receives the comfort it requires to continue to invest," he said. But the announcement deals another blow to the nascent sector, which is facing rising costs and regulatory hurdles, as well as market uncertainty, partly driven by criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump targeting the industry. It comes days after Origin Energy (ORG.AX) , opens new tab said it would pause plans to develop an A$8 billion ($5.33 billion) farm in Gippsland as it was unable to meet the Victorian government’s original auction timeline. Other developers have also walked away. Spain’s BlueFloat Energy in July abandoned one of Gippsland's most advanced projects, citing market conditions. In August, Norwegian energy company Equinor (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab pulled out of the A$10 billion Novocastrian wind farm in New South Wales, after a series of earlier withdrawals in Australia. D'Ambrosio said the state would focus now on securing environmental approvals for building ports to support construction of future offshore wind projects. "Offshore wind is critical to the nation's energy security and pushing down energy bills for Victorian families and we continue to engage with the Commonwealth on renewable energy projects including a timeline and support package to deliver Australia's first offshore wind auction." ($1 = 1.5015 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/australia-delays-first-offshore-wind-auction-global-investment-retreats-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 06:54
Sept 16 (Reuters) - Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab and Chile's state-run Codelco have finalised an agreement to jointly operate their neighbouring Chilean copper mines in a deal aimed at generating at least $5 billion from higher production and cost savings, they said on Tuesday. The plan will bring together certain operations at Codelco's Andina mine and Anglo American's Los Bronces mine in the Andes mountains of central Chile, boosting production by 120,000 metric tons of copper a year and reducing costs by about 15% per ton. Sign up here. Los Bronces last year produced 172,000 tons of copper, while Andina produced 182,000 tons, for a total of about 350,000 tons. Anglo and Codelco aim to add 2.7 million tons to output over a 21-year period. Additional pre-tax value, expected to come in at least $5 billion, will be shared equally between Codelco and Anglo's local unit, Anglo American Sur, which also includes Japan's Mitsubishi and a Codelco-Mitsui joint venture as partners. Codelco Chairman Maximo Pacheco told reporters that Codelco had sought a tie-up between Andina and Los Bronces for decades. The agreed scheme, which follows an initial agreement from February, will enable a joint mining program that could yield new production as soon as 2030. "Without major investments, geologists agree on the optimal way to extract the ore — no longer separately from each deposit, but by treating these two deposits as a single one," Pacheco said after a meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad. "It represents a shift in the paradigm of how mining is done, mining that can be carried out collaboratively," Pacheco said. Analysts have previously noted that Anglo's greater processing capacity at Los Bronces could be a benefit to Andina. Codelco and Anglo will keep ownership of their respective assets even while forming a jointly owned company to oversee execution. The companies next need to appoint executives and board members, secure regulatory approvals and prepare environmental permit applications. In recent years, both Los Bronces and Andina have faced pushback from environmentalists over potential impacts to the local water supply and a nearby glacier. The companies said they would meet existing environmental standards. The finalised deal comes after Anglo last week announced a proposed merger with Canada's Teck Resources (TECKb.TO) , opens new tab that would include Los Bronces. If completed, it would be the biggest mining deal globally in more than a decade. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/anglo-american-codelco-finalise-5-billion-chilean-copper-mines-deal-2025-09-16/
