2024-04-20 07:58
MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) - The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday its air defence intercepted and destroyed 50 Ukrainian drones overnight, repelling one of the largest such attacks on Russia during the conflict in Ukraine. Russian officials said two civilians were killed and a fuel depot was set ablaze during the attacks. The ministry said 26 drones were downed in the Belgorod region, 10 in Bryansk, eight in Kursk, two in Tula, as well as one drone in each of the regions of Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga and Moscow. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, said two civilians were killed as the result of a drone attack. He later said a pregnant woman and her unborn child separately died in a hospital from wounds suffered when after Ukraine shelled the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in the Shebekino district. Russia's Kursk regional governor Roman Starovoit said on the Telegram app that the village of Tyotkino, which has been frequently subjected to shelling, was attacked with cluster munitions. No one was injured. A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that Ukraine had conducted a large-scale drone attack overnight, targeting energy facilities supporting Russian military-industrial production. Ukraine does not officially confirm or deny it attacks refineries inside Russia, but says the facilities are legitimate targets which aid the Russian military effort. Russia says the Ukrainian drone attacks amount to terrorism. FUEL DEPOT SET ABLAZE The governor of Russia's western region of Smolensk said a Ukrainian drone hit a fuel depot overnight, setting it on fire, while an attack on the regional centre had been repelled. There are no large oil refineries in the Smolensk region. The governor, Vasily Anokhin, said on his Telegram messaging app that the drone attacked a fuel-energy facility in the Kardym region at 2 a.m. (2300 GMT on Friday), hitting a reservoir with fuel and oil lubricants. The firefighters were tackling the blaze, he added. "As a result of the work of the air defence forces, the aircraft were shot down. However, as a result of falling debris, a tank with fuel and oil lubricants caught fire," he said. Coming soon: Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with Reuters Econ World. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-smolensk-governor-says-ukrainian-drone-sets-fuel-depot-ablaze-2024-04-20/
2024-04-20 07:51
BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - Russia remained China's top oil supplier in March, data showed on Saturday, as refiners snapped up stranded Sokol shipments. China's imports from Russia, including supplies via pipelines and sea-borne shipments, jumped 12.5% on the year to 10.81 million metric tons, or 2.55 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. That was quite close to the previous monthly record of 2.56 million bpd in June 2023. Seven Russian tankers under sanctions offloaded Sokol cargoes in Chinese ports in March, as Russia worked to clear a glut of stranded supply in the wake of tightened U.S. sanctions. More than 10 million barrels of the oil supplied by Sakhalin-1, a unit of Rosneft (ROSN.MM) New Tab, opens new tab, had been floating in storage over the past three months amid payment difficulties and sanctions on shipping firms and vessels carrying the crude. Stockpiling of Russian crude for storage in strategic reserves by state-owned CNOOC also boosted imports from Russia. Data from consultancy Kpler forecast sea-borne shipments from Russia hitting a record high of 1.82 million bpd, including 440,000 bpd of Sokol and 967,000 of ESPO. Russia was China's top supplier throughout 2023, shipping 2.14 million bpd despite Western sanctions and a price cap following the Kremlin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In coordination with other OPEC+ members, Russia opted to roll forward a voluntary reduction in crude oil output of 300,000 bpd into the first quarter of the year to support energy prices. Imports from Saudi Arabia, previously China's largest supplier, totalled 6.3 million tons in March, or 1.48 million bpd, down 29.3% on the same period last year. Riyadh has said it would extend its voluntary cut of 1 million bpd through the end of June, leaving its output at around 9 million bpd. The world's top exporter kept the March official selling price of its flagship Arab Light to Asia at $1.50 over the Oman/Dubai average as the Kingdom sought to secure market share. January-March imports from Malaysia, a trans-shipment point for sanctioned cargoes from Iran and Venezuela, soared 39.2% on the year to 13.7 million tons, or 3.23 million bpd. The data showed 375,296 tons of imports from Venezuela, following a rare shipment of 352,455 tons of Venezuelan crude in February amid a temporary relaxation of U.S. sanctions on Caracas. Sanctions were re-imposed from Thursday after the U.S. said President Nicolas Maduro had failed to meet his election commitments. Customs recorded no imports from Iran. Below lists imports from main suppliers with volumes in million metric tons and year-on-year percentage change calculations by Reuters: (ton = 7.3 barrels for crude oil conversion) The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-imports-russian-oil-near-record-high-march-2024-04-20/
2024-04-20 07:46
WARSAW, April 20 (Reuters) - Poland has signed a 250-million-euro ($266.35 million) agreement with the World Bank to help finance its Clean Air programme, Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said late on Friday. "With the president of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, we also talked about the challenges facing the global economy and growing inequality in the world," he said in a post on social platform X. The Clean Air programme is the eastern European Union country’s subsidy scheme supporting the replacement of obsolete heat sources and insulation of single-family houses. ($1 = 0.9386 euros) Coming soon: Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with Reuters Econ World. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-get-266-million-world-bank-clean-air-program-finance-minister-says-2024-04-20/
2024-04-20 07:36
ANKARA, April 20 (Reuters) - Turkey's central bank said on Saturday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Brazil's central bank to lay groundwork for enhanced cooperation. The memorandum was signed by the governors of the banks in Washington on Friday, the Turkish central bank said in a statement. Turkish and Brazilian central banks aspire to foster cooperation and carry out corporate technical activities in the field of central banking, it said. The Turkish central bank said it also signed a memorandum of understanding with its counterpart in Kazakhstan to boost cooperation. Coming soon: Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with Reuters Econ World. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/central-banks-turkey-brazil-sign-cooperation-deal-2024-04-20/
2024-04-20 07:10
BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - Russia's coal shipments to China fell 21% in March dragged down by sanctions and import tariffs, customs data showed on Saturday. China's coal shipments from Russia fell to 6.92 million metric tons in March, its General Administration of Customs said. The shipments of Russian coal to China, which began to surge in 2022 as Western nations cut off trade with Moscow over the war in Ukraine, have been hit by recent U.S. sanctions on top exporters Suek and Michel and China's reinstated import tariffs of 3-6% this year, forcing exporters to cut prices. China's overall coal imports in March were flat with last year due to oversupply and low domestic prices, with many buyers only taking imported coal they had already purchased under long-term contracts, market sources said. Indonesia, which sells much of its coal to China under annual supply contracts, remained overwhelmingly the biggest supplier to China during the month. Shipments fell 9.9% to 19.8 million tons. Imports from Mongolia, mostly of coking coal used for steelmaking, rose 11.9% from a year earlier, supported by improved overland transportation logistics. Mongolian exporters are also benefiting from lower production by China's coking coal producing hub of Shanxi, which is increasing safety oversight following a rise in deadly accidents and plans to cut output by around 4% this year. China's coal imports from Australia rose 130% in the month, boosted by Australia's tariff-free status and by a low base effect. Chinese imports of Australian coal were still recovering in March 2023 following the end of an unofficial ban. Coming soon: Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with Reuters Econ World. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-coal-imports-russia-fall-21-march-2024-04-20/
2024-04-20 06:33
April 20 (Reuters) - China's exports of marine fuel oil fell 32% in March from a year earlier to 1.32 million metric tons, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Saturday. The exports are measured mostly by sales from bonded storage for vessels plying international routes. The March volume was 12% higher than the 1.17 million tons shipped out in February. Stronger volumes emerged as bunker prices at key Chinese ports like Zhoushan and Shanghai were lower than prices at regional hub Singapore in March, which drew some demand, industry sources said. Export volumes for bunkering in the first quarter totalled 4.16 million tons, 11.9% lower than the same period in 2023. Import volumes for March were at 1.98 million tons, down 19% from the same month last year. The import volumes included purchases under ordinary trade, which are subject to import duty and consumption tax, as well as imports into bonded storage. First quarter fuel oil imports totalled 5.57 million tons, climbing 3.3% compared to the first quarter in 2023. The year-on-year quarterly rise came despite demand for refining feedstock easing amid suppressed refining margins. The tables below show China's fuel oil exports and imports in metric tons. The exports section largely captures China's low sulphur oil bunkering sales along its coast. (Figures are based on latest available data at the time of publishing, and may be subject to revision by China customs at a later date) Coming soon: Get the latest news and expert analysis about the state of the global economy with Reuters Econ World. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-march-fuel-oil-exports-fall-32-yy-2024-04-20/
