2024-04-11 11:20
ALMATY, April 11 (Reuters) - More than 98,000 people have been evacuated due to floods in Kazakhstan, the country's emergencies ministry said on Thursday. A spokesman for the ministry said it was closely monitoring the situation in the North Kazakhstan and Akmola regions which were at risk of further flooding. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/over-98000-people-evacuated-due-floods-kazakhstan-2024-04-11/
2024-04-11 11:03
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 11 (Reuters) - Jeremy Weir, longtime chief executive at commodities trader Trafigura, is priming successor Richard Holtum to take over when he decides to step back into a chairman role, five sources familiar with the matter said. Trafigura has yet to announce an official transition or a timeline for the change but management reshuffles and the retirements announced last week of two executives have paved the way for a new generation of leadership. Holtum, the company's global head of gas, power and renewables, has joined Weir in meetings with top clients and banks in recent weeks, sources said, a first step in preparing him for the top job. One of the sources said the transition could take place as soon as this year. A spokesperson for Trafigura declined to comment. A former British military man, Holtum has had a meteoric rise at the firm. After joining the trader's liquefied natural gas (LNG) team in 2014 from Glencore, he was promoted to the lead the new division of gas and power in 2019. Trafigura consolidated division leadership last year and Holtum added renewables to his portfolio. "Renewable energy is the future. Holtum will step up when Weir decides he wants a quieter life," one of the sources said. All of the sources requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter. RECORD PROFITS Along with oil, Holtum's division helped to deliver record profits for the company over the last two years during Europe's energy crisis and extreme market dislocations created by Western sanctions on Russia. Trading firms say they also see future growth in power markets as the world shifts towards increased electrification and greater use of renewable energy sources. Natural gas is regarded as a bridge fossil fuel due to its lower emissions compared with coal. Trading houses had bumper profits in 2022 and 2023 after Russia's pipeline gas exports shrank to a tiny fraction of their former volume and gas prices hit record highs in Europe. Trafigura made $7.4 billion in net profit last year and its group equity has more than doubled since 2020. After Vitol, it is the world's second biggest oil and LNG trader and its copper book rivals that of mining giant Glencore. The firm is trying to move past some bribery scandals that have also dogged its rivals Vitol, Glencore and Gunvor, and precipitated management changes at the four companies in recent years. Trafigura resolved a bribery investigation into its oil dealings in Brazil with the U.S. Department of Justice last month and will pay a fine of about $127 million. The company still needs to resolve charges around its Angolan business. Switzerland's attorney general filed an indictment against Trafigura last year for failing to prevent alleged unlawful payments via a third party to a former employee of Angola's state oil company Sonangol between 2009-2011 and its former chief operating officer Mike Wainwright has been charged with bribery. Trafigura said it would defend itself in court and that Wainwright rejected the charges and would also defend himself. A spokesperson for Trafigura denied any connection between the recent retirements of its veteran oil head Jose Larocca and CFO Christope Salmon and "any legal issue, including the former parent company’s recent resolution with the DOJ." 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/ceo-commodity-trader-trafigura-starts-handover-successor-2024-04-11/
2024-04-11 10:46
COPENHAGEN, April 11 (Reuters) - A Siemens Gamesa wind turbine blade weighing 22 metric tons fell off the machinery on Wednesday but no one was hurt, the Odal Vind wind farm in Norway said, a month after it halted several of the company's turbines because of blade damage. The 72 metre (236 ft) blade was from a Siemens Gamesa 5.0-145 turbine, part of the turbine maker's 4.X platform, a spokesperson for the wind farm told Reuters on Thursday. Wednesday's incident is the latest challenge for Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) New Tab, opens new tab after what shareholders say was a botched takeover of turbine maker Gamesa, forcing it to seek billions of euros in state-backed guarantees. Odal Vind said last month it had already stopped 15 of the wind farm's 34 turbines because of blade damage linked to a production problem. "A crisis team has been established, and technical personnel from Siemens Gamesa are currently on site," Cloudberry Clean Energy (CLOUD.OL) New Tab, opens new tab, which owns a 33.4% stake in the wind farm, said in a statement. Siemens Gamesa warned last year of quality problems at its onshore unit, with most of the issues linked to certain rotor blades and main bearings at its two most recent wind turbine platforms, the 4.X and 5.X. "It is still too early to say anything on the cause of the incident," the Odal Vind spokesperson said, declining to comment on whether the incident was linked to the previously reported quality issues. "As usual in such cases, we have started the safety protocol and stopped the turbines at the wind farm ... We now need to investigate the cause of this incident and are in contact with the customer to do so," Siemens Gamesa said in an emailed comment. Siemens Energy, the world's largest maker of offshore wind turbines, expects a 2024 loss before special items of around 2 billion euros at Siemens Gamesa. Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch said in February that the quality issues at Siemens Gamesa's onshore business surfaced on the basis of empirical usage data of newer turbines that had not been available at the time of the takeover. Cloudberry said the incident was covered by Odal Vind's warranties, and was not expected to have any significant financial implications. The other owners of Odal Vind are Akershus Energi with a 33.4% stake and pension fund KLP with 33.2%. 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/siemens-gamesa-wind-turbine-loses-22-ton-blade-norway-2024-04-11/
2024-04-11 10:45
April 11 (Reuters) - Diversified miner Sibanye Stillwater's (SSWJ.J) New Tab, opens new tab planned restructuring of its South African gold operations could cut 4,022 jobs, the South African company said on Thursday, with unions vowing to fight the layoffs. In a statement, the company, which suffered an annual loss of $2 billion in 2023 from a slump in metal prices, said the restructuring was meant to stem losses at its Beatrix 1 shaft, which has not delivered planned production. There will also be job losses at its Kloof 2 plant, which has had insufficient processing material after the Kloof 4 shaft was closed in 2023, it added. "The proposed restructuring of the operations and services could potentially affect 3,107 employees and 915 contractors," Sibanye said. The miner, South Africa's biggest mining sector employer, is also cutting some administrative jobs as it adjusts to the reduced mining headcount group-wide. The company would "continue to act prudently to protect the balance sheet and ensure the sustainability of the group", Chief Executive Neal Froneman added in the statement. Sibanye's plans to lay off workers are subject to consultations with trade unions, in terms of South Africa's labour laws. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) described Sibanye's proposed job cuts as "shocking capitalist barbarism" and called on Sibanye's top management to resign. "It is very shocking in the sense that the gold price is high," NUM, South Africa's biggest mineworker union, said in a statement. "We are also questioning the timing of this announcement, especially as we are about to enter into wage negotiations with the company." Another union, Solidarity, said it would oppose the planned job cuts. "Solidarity will do everything in its power to protect its members’ jobs," it said in a separate statement. Sibanye has already cut about 2,000 jobs at its platinum group metal (PGM) operations following the restructure of loss-making shafts after metal prices fell sharply last year. Last year, it reported impairments of $2.6 billion at its U.S. palladium mines, a nickel operation in France and a gold mine in South Africa, traced in part to the fall in metal prices and an uncertain outlook. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/sibanye-could-cut-4000-jobs-it-restructures-gold-operations-2024-04-11/
2024-04-11 10:42
April 11 (Reuters) - The European parliament on Thursday voted for proposals to make electricity prices less dependent on fossil fuel prices, in a bid to boost renewable energy and shield consumers from price spikes. The new rules seek to shift to longer term, fixed-price contracts to protect consumers from volatile energy markets. They also aim to improve the investment climate for new renewable energy projects and in turn improve the bloc's energy security. The European Commission proposed changes to the EU's electricity market last year after EU power prices soared to record levels as Russian gas supplies were cut following the invasion of Ukraine. 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/eu-parliament-adopts-proposals-power-market-reform-2024-04-11/
2024-04-11 10:03
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan It may seem like an over-reaction to an inflation miss of less than a tenth of a percentage point, but the heated March consumer price update has jolted markets into doubting any U.S. interest rate cut before the November election. After much trepidation ahead of the report, the monthly rise in U.S. CPI rise was 0.359% - rounded up to 0.4%, compared to the 0.3% forecast. The rounded print would have been in line with expectations had the number come in less than one basis point lower. To be sure, the narrative quickly focussed on stubborn rent rises and shelter inflation, spiky insurance costs and the third month in a row of a rounded 0.4% monthly gain in 'core' CPI inflation that kept annual core inflation stuck at 3.8%. But the market reaction was dramatic - some might say over the top. Futures markets virtually wiped the chances of a June Federal Reserve rate cut off the map, see less than a 50% chance of move in July and now doubt there will be any more than one rate cut this year - despite Fed policymakers indicating as many as three only last month. Minutes of that Fed meeting released later on Wednesday did little to calm the horses. Perhaps most pointedly for those watching the political calendar, a first quarter-point Fed rate cut is now not fully in futures prices until the Nov 7 meeting - days after this year's White House and Congressional elections. With the political optics around a first cut in September likely tricky for the Fed, futures only see about an 80% chance of a move then. The CPI news knocked Wall St stock benchmarks (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab almost 1% and triggered the biggest one-day jump in 2-year Treasury yields and biggest one-day jump in the dollar index (.DXY) New Tab, opens new tab since March last year. The dollar move was exaggerated by the yen slicing through presumed Bank of Japan intervention barriers around 152 per dollar to hit its weakest since 1990 above 153 on Thursday - significantly without any sign of BOJ purchases. And the fact that markets still see a 75% chance of a June rate cut from the European Central Bank - which is meeting on Thursday - despite the Fed futures wipeout, triggered the biggest one-day drop in over a year in the euro/dollar exchange rate too. The fundamental reasons for the dollar move were pretty clear and it was the biggest daily surge in 10-year Treasury borrowing rates since 2022. Coming in a week of heavy new debt sales at the long-end of the Treasury curve didn't help. And some $22 billion of 30-year bonds are up for grabs later on Thursday. Investors will now focus on Thursday's producer prices report for a clearer picture of March inflation - looking at components in there that may give more clues on how the Fed's favored PCE inflation gauge is evolving. A stream of Fed speakers will, perhaps literally, be watched like a hawk. But whatever you think is driving the renewed inflation angst, it's certainly not happening in China. China's annual consumer inflation cooled more than expected in March to just 0.1%, while producer price deflation persisted, maintaining pressure on policymakers to launch more stimulus there as demand remains weak. Overall, Wednesday's market selloffs seem to calm a bit on Thursday. Treasuries hogged Wednesday's closes, even though Wall St stock futures were in the red again ahead of the bell - as were Asia and European bourses earlier. More worrying for inflation-watchers was the overnight geopolitical developments. Oil prices pushed higher again on Middle East tensions. The German airline Lufthansa on Thursday extended the suspension of its flights to Tehran, with the region on alert for Iranian retaliation for a suspected Israeli air strike on Iran's embassy in Syria. An Iranian news agency had published an Arabic report on the social media platform X saying all airspace over Tehran had been closed for military drills, but then removed the report and denied issuing such news. The region and the United States have been on alert for a retaliatory attack by Iran since April 1, when Israeli warplanes were suspected of bombing the Iranian embassy compound in Syria. Markets are also trying to focus on the start of the first quarter earnings season and a trio of big banks- JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo - are slated to post results on Friday. Analysts expect aggregate S&P 500 earnings in the first quarter to grow 5.0% from last year, according to LSEG data. That is lower than the 7.2% annual earnings growth for the quarter forecast on Jan. 1. Key diary items that may provide direction to U.S. markets later on Thursday: * European Central Bank policy decision and press briefing * US March producer price index, weekly jobless claims * Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins, New York Fed President John Williams, Richmond Fed chief Thomas Barkin and Atlanta Fed chief Raphael Bostic all speak * US Treasury sells $22 billion of 30-year bonds * US corporate earnings: Constellation Brands, Carmax, Fastenal * Eurogroup finance ministers meet in Brussels Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-markets-view-usa-2024-04-11/
