2024-04-24 11:28

April 24 (Reuters) - Agricultural commodities trader Bunge Global (BG.N) New Tab, opens new tab reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Wednesday as strong oilseed processing results in Europe and Asia offset weaker grain trading margins. The world's largest oilseed processor reaffirmed its 2024 outlook for annual adjusted earnings of $9 per share, down from $13.66 last year due to tighter processing margins in most regions. Bunge and its agribusiness rivals including Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) New Tab, opens new tab and Cargill (CARG.UL) have seen profits slump from recent historic highs as global crop supplies have swelled and prices slumped. The companies make money by processing, trading and shipping crops around the world, often benefiting when crises such as droughts or war trigger shortages. Bunge's earnings beat on Wednesday comes as the company is working to close a deal to acquire grain handler Viterra, a merger that would create an agribusiness powerhouse closer in size to Cargill and ADM but which has raised antitrust concerns. Canada's Competition Bureau on Tuesday said it found major competition concerns around the proposed acquisition. The non-binding report was sent to Canada's transport ministry, which has until June 2 to review the deal. Bunge is aiming to close the deal by mid-2024. Bunge's agribusiness segment, its largest in terms of revenue and volumes, posted lower adjusted earnings in the first quarter. Good crop export volumes were more than offset by weak trading margins, while lower North and South American processing results dented favorable processing earnings in Asia and Europe. Refined and specialty oils segment profit slipped on weak results in North America and Asia, while milling unit earnings jumped. The company posted an adjusted profit of $3.04 per share for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts' estimates of $2.53 per share, according to LSEG data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/bunge-beats-quarterly-profit-estimates-processing-recovery-2024-04-24/

2024-04-24 11:27

BENGALURU/CHENNAI, April 24 (Reuters) - Hindustan Unilever (HLL.NS) New Tab, opens new tab, the Indian arm of UK's Unilever (ULVR.L) New Tab, opens new tab, posted a bigger-than-expected fall in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, as consumers cut back on spending amid sticky food inflation, while stiff competition hurt demand. Branded consumer goods giants face greater competition from regional rivals, as smaller manufacturers are now better-equipped to compete for shelf space due to easing commodity prices, including of wheat and sugar. Consumer companies have also seen muted volume growth over the last 12 months due in part to sluggish rural demand and persistently high inflation. Hindustan Unilever said its profit fell to 24.06 billion rupees ($288.9 million) in the three months ended March 31, from 25.52 billion rupees a year earlier. Analysts, on average, had expected profit of 24.44 billion rupees, according to data from LSEG. Its sales rose only marginally to 146.93 billion rupees in the fourth quarter, with revenue in a key segment of beauty and personal care declining 2.7% amid price cuts. Product prices across its portfolio could decline in the low-single digit percentage range in the near-term, the company said, after having already cut prices of its skin cleansing and home care products. Still, Hindustan Unilever is optimistic that better monsoon showers and improving macroeconomic indicators would help drive demand in the mid-term. The company's homecare segment, its biggest one, which houses brands like Surf Excel and Comfort, posted mid-single-digit percentage volume growth led by outperformance in Vim liquid. The consumer goods giant approved a final dividend of 24 rupees per share for the financial year 2024. Its shares closed 0.1% lower before its results. They declined 15% in the March quarter, against the roughly 5% drop in the Nifty fast-moving consumer goods index (.NIFTYFMCG) New Tab, opens new tab. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/unilevers-india-arm-q4-profit-falls-more-than-estimates-inflation-competition-2024-04-24/

2024-04-24 11:07

April 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration unveiled plans on Wednesday to hold up to a dozen auctions of offshore wind development rights through 2028, including four before the end of this year. The schedule will help companies, states and others plan for projects that require massive amounts of investment and infrastructure, the Interior Department said in a statement. Interior has held just four offshore wind auctions since Biden took office in 2021. The last one, in the Gulf of Mexico last August, attracted lackluster industry interest. The agency will regularly update the schedule under new regulations finalized on Wednesday. The rules will streamline certain requirements for offshore wind development and cut industry costs by $1.9 billion over the next two decades, Interior said. "Our offshore wind leasing schedule will provide predictability to help developers and communities plan ahead and will provide the confidence needed to continue building on the tremendous offshore wind supply chain and manufacturing investments that we've already seen," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. The administration is determined to support the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry at a time when projects have been plagued by rising costs tied to inflation, interest rates and supply chain constraints. Just this week, New York state stalled three major planned offshore wind farms. According to Interior's schedule, this year the agency will hold lease sales for areas in the Central Atlantic, Gulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico and Oregon. In 2025, it will hold a single sale in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2026, it will hold an auction in the Central Atlantic. In 2027, two sales are scheduled - the Gulf of Mexico and New York Bight. In 2028, Interior aims to hold four auctions - in California, an undetermined U.S. territory, the Gulf of Maine and Hawaii. The timing of the sales is linked to the administration's five-year schedule to offer acreage to oil and gas companies for offshore development. A provision in Biden's landmark climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act, requires that Interior must offer at least 60 million acres (24.3 million hectares) for oil and gas leasing a year before issuing an offshore wind lease. The U.S. last held an oil and gas auction in December of last year and will not hold another one until 2025 under a scaled back five-year drilling plan finalized last year. In addition to establishing a leasing schedule, the offshore wind regulations finalized on Wednesday eliminate requirements for meteorological buoys, defer some survey requirements until a project is approved and allow incremental funding of decommissioning accounts over the life of a facility. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-sets-plan-12-offshore-wind-auctions-over-five-years-2024-04-24/

2024-04-24 10:52

GENEVA, April 24 (Reuters) - The Gaza Strip could surpass famine thresholds of food insecurity, malnutrition and mortality in six weeks, an official from the World Food Programme said on Wednesday. "We are getting closer by the day to a famine situation," said Gian Caro Cirri, Geneva director of the World Food Programme (WFP). "There is reasonable evidence that all three famine thresholds -- food insecurity, malnutrition and mortality -- will be passed in the next six weeks." A U.N.-backed report published in March said that famine was imminent and likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July. On Tuesday, a U.S. official said the risk of famine in Gaza, especially in the north, was very high. Cirri was speaking at the launch of a report by the Global Network Against Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian and development actors including United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the European Union and the United States. In its report, the network described the 2024 outlook for the Middle East and Africa as extremely concerning due to the Gaza war and restricted humanitarian access, as well as the risk of the conflict spreading elsewhere in the region. "As for Gaza, the conflict makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to reach affected people," Cirri said. "We need to scale up massively our assistance... But under the current conditions, I'm afraid the situation will further deteriorate." The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza in the six months since Israel began an aerial and ground offensive against Gaza's ruling Islamist militant group Hamas. Israel has denied hindering supplies of humanitarian aid and blames aid agencies for inefficiencies in distribution. Israel's military campaign has reduced much of the territory of 2.3 million people to a wasteland with a humanitarian disaster unfolding since Oct. 7, when Hamas ignited war by storming into southern Israel. Cirri said that the only way to steer clear of famine in Gaza was to ensure immediate and daily deliveries of food supplies. "They've been selling off their belongings to buy food. They are most of the time destitute," he said. "And clearly some of them are dying of hunger." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-could-surpass-famine-thresholds-six-weeks-wfp-official-says-2024-04-24/

2024-04-24 10:30

BEIJING, April 24 (Reuters) - China's domestic coal prices have bottomed out and will exceed 2023 highs this year, a major coal industry group said on Wednesday. "Overall stockpiles are not very high, so if market purchases increase, that will directly cause prices to rise," said Han Lei, General Manager at the research department of China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association (CCTD). China's thermal coal prices are currently at over 800 yuan ($110.41) per metric ton, which Han said was being viewed by the industry as the price floor for this year. "We are seeing some bottoming out and rebounding," he said. CCTD expects China's coal output to remain largely flat this year, compared with a 2.9% growth last year. Lei said on Wednesday he expected the lower output in the near-term to help to support prices. Han also said recent government economic stimulus measures could boost demand for coal, adding that there was hope that the economy was bottoming out. Demand for the polluting fuel has been hit by a slowdown in the cement industry, whose capacity utilisation has fallen to 50% from 80% around the same time last year, he said. A protracted real estate slowdown has been cited as one of the major reasons for relatively tepid coal demand. Coal demand from the power sector has been stable, while consumption by the chemical sector has recovered slightly, growing to 6 million tons per week in April, compared with 5.5 million tons last year, according to a CCTD presentation. Red Sea disruptions have made inflated freight costs, making imports more expensive. Freight costs for imports from Indonesia has risen by $1, with Australian shipments becoming more expensive by upto $3, Han said. Coal imports by China, the world's largest user of the polluting fuel, are expected to be little changed or decline in 2024 despite an expected increase in overall demand for the polluting fuel. ($1 = 7.2460 Chinese yuan renminbi) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-coal-prices-have-bottomed-will-surpass-2023-highs-industry-group-says-2024-04-24/

2024-04-24 10:27

Analysts see upside for top refiners Geopolitical risks keep oil prices elevated War-related supply disruptions to keep margins strong NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - U.S refiners' first quarter profits are expected to fall from recent records, when earnings soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but overall will continue to draw support from disruptions in Russia and heavy refinery maintenance. Looking ahead, earnings are expected to be a fraction of the record levels but will rise in the coming months as demand picks up, analysts said. In the first quarter, margins were bolstered by outages at Russian refineries. Ukrainian drone attacks had shut about 14% of Russia's refining capacity as of the end of the quarter. "It is going to be another really strong quarter," said TD Cowen analyst Jason Gabelman. War-related supply disruptions remain critical for investors when assessing the flow trajectory for refining margins, he added. In the U.S., refiners faced both planned and unplanned maintenance, including an outage in February at BP's 435,000 barrels per day refinery in Whiting, Indiana. Overall U.S. refinery utilization rates fell to 80% during February, compared with roughly 87% in the prior year period, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). A better demand outlook, as well as solid product cracks are also expected to drive refinery gains in the first quarter, according to Matthew Blair, managing director at TPH&Co. In March, the increase in gasoline prices boosted gasoline crack spreads to their highest since August 2023. Valero Energy (VLO.N) New Tab, opens new tab, the second-largest U.S. refiner by capacity, is set to kick off refiner earnings on Thursday, with analysts forecasting profits of $3.24 per share, down from $8.27 a year ago, according to data from LSEG. Shares of Valero are up 28% year-to-date. Marathon Petroleum, the top U.S. refiner by volume, is forecast to report per share profit of $2.39, compared to $6.09 a year ago, according to LSEG estimates. Phillips 66, which reports on Friday, is expected to report earnings per share of $2.17, compared to $4.21 a year ago, according to LSEG estimates. Earnings are expected to rise in the next two quarters as demand picks up headed into the summer driving season, LSEG data shows. Gasoline prices could rise by as much as 15 cents per gallon due to disruptions in Russia, while unplanned plant outages or other unexpected supply shocks could push prices over $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022, according to Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com. "We expect some modest improvement quarter over quarter as refiners move into the stronger part of the year," said TD Cowen's Gabelman. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-refiners-profits-fall-last-year-margins-remain-strong-2024-04-24/