2024-04-09 12:46

Commission to look into wind projects in 5 countries Bloc ups pressure on Chinese bidders in clean tech Chinese industry body criticises EU 'protectionism' BRUSSELS, April 9 (Reuters) - (This April 9 story has been corrected to clarify that the Vestager speech was delivered in Princeton, New Jersey, not at Princeton University, in paragraph 3) The EU will investigate subsidies received by Chinese suppliers of wind turbines destined for Europe, in the bloc's latest move to shield domestic firms from cheap clean tech products. The European Commission will look into conditions for the development of wind parks in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria, the EU's anti-trust commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday. Vestager did not name the Chinese companies which will be investigated by the European Union's executive during a speech delivered at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States. A group representing Chinese business interests in Brussels expressed its "profound dissatisfaction" over what it called protectionism and a lack of transparency from the EU as it rolls out its new rules to counter state aid from foreign actors. "This action sends a detrimental signal to the world, suggesting discrimination against Chinese enterprises and endorsing protectionism," the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said in a statement. While local producers like Siemens Energy and Vestas still supply the bulk of wind turbines to Europe's wind parks, they are increasingly facing Chinese competition on the world market - potentially threatening their positions in a global race to develop more efficient, and cheaper, turbines. Those critical of China's expansive trade policies cite similar tensions in Europe's solar market, which is stuck in a serious crisis that has pushed some local manufacturers to the brink of collapse. "China's competitiveness as a manufacturing location, the Chinese government's push to develop the entire wind supply chain, and ambitious renewable energy targets have all played a significant role", said market intelligence provider Enerdata. Chinese vendors profit from a booming domestic market, where local developers last year ordered wind turbines capable of generating around 100 gigawatt (GW). This is roughly the equivalent of 100 average-sized European nuclear plants with two reactors, research firm Wood Mackenzie said. It compares to an annual average of 29 GW set by the EU to meet its 2024 climate and energy targets. 'OPEN COMPETITION' The Commission is already investigating New Tab, opens new tab whether to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, saying it has evidence showing they benefit from subsidies. Vestager said the EU needed to adopt a more systematic approach rather than case-by-case investigations, adding: "We can't afford to see what happened on solar panels happening again on electric vehicles, wind or essential chips". Wind industry lobby group WindEurope, whose members include major turbine makers Vestas (VWS.CO) New Tab, opens new tab, Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) New Tab, opens new tab and Nordex (NDXG.DE) New Tab, opens new tab, welcomed the probe. "It is only natural that the (EU Commission) use the tools at its disposal to restore fair and open competition on the market," said WindEurope Chief Policy Officer Pierre Tardieu. European manufacturers were banned from using state-backed financing to shore up their bids by offering cheaper prices or deferring payments under OECD free trade rules, Tardieu added on a conference call. The wind power investigation will be under new EU powers which have allowed the Commission since July 2023 to assess whether foreign subsidies allow companies to submit overly advantageous offers in public tenders. Shares in Vestas, which declined to comment, closed 0.7% higher. A Siemens Energy spokesperson also declined to comment on the EU investigation, but said that all market participants needed a level playing field. 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-investigate-chinese-turbine-suppliers-wind-parks-2024-04-09/

2024-04-09 12:45

LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - Benchmark zinc smelter treatment charges have fallen sharply this year, attesting to a tightening of the mine supply chain. Canadian miner Teck Resources (TECKb.TO) New Tab, opens new tab has agreed to pay Korea Zinc (010130.KS) New Tab, opens new tab $165 per metric ton to convert its zinc concentrate into refined metal, down from the $274 covering last year's shipments. The annual terms negotiated by the two companies have in recent years been the benchmark for the rest of the industry. Treatment charges rise during times of raw material surplus and slide during periods of shortfall. Last year's numbers were high because of a smelter bottleneck and resulting glut of mined concentrate in 2022. This year's low outcome says much about how zinc's supply dynamics have changed in the intervening 12 months. A string of mine closures, many of them due to the weak price environment, has tightened concentrate availability with significant implications for the refined metal market. FALLING MINE PRODUCTION London Metal Exchange (LME) zinc went from boom to bust over the course of 2022 and early 2023, the three-month price collapsing from an all-time high of $4,896 per ton in March 2022 to a three-year low of $2,215 in May 2023. The price implosion caused several higher-cost mines to close, most notably Boliden's (BOL.ST) New Tab, opens new tab Tara mine in Ireland, Nyrstar's (NYR.BR) New Tab, opens new tab Middle Tennessee operations and Toho Zinc's (5707.T) New Tab, opens new tab Rasp mine in Australia. The lengthening tally of casualties caused global mined output of zinc to contract by 1.4% year-on-year in 2023, according to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG). It was the second consecutive year of decline after a 2.6% drop in 2022. This year may not turn out much better. A November fire at the Ozernoy mine in Russia has delayed commissioning of what was expected to one of the biggest additions to global production this year. Ozernoy, capable of producing 350,000 tons of contained zinc every year, now seems unlikely to restart processing ore into concentrates until the fourth quarter of this year. When ILZSG last met in October for its biannual meeting, the Group forecast a robust 3.9% year-on-year increase in mined output this year. That's starting to look optimistic and may be subject to revision when the Group holds its spring 2024 meeting. SMELTER RECOVERY While mine supply has continued sliding, global smelter production has bounced back strongly since 2022. The main driver of higher smelter output has been China, where producers cranked up refined metal production to 6.6 million tons in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%, according to local data provider Shanghai Metal Market. That collective performance helped global output recover by 3.8% last year after a similar-sized dip in 2022. True, there are still Western smelters struggling with high energy prices, such as Nyrstar's Budel plant in the Netherlands which closed in January. But conversely, the Nordenham smelter in Germany has been ramping up New Tab, opens new tab after a year of being on care and maintenance. It's the gap between weak global mine performance and resurgent smelter demand for concentrates that explains the sharp drop in the annual benchmark treatment charge. Spot terms have fallen further as smelters scramble for material. Price reporting agency Fastmarkets assesses those for concentrate delivered to Chinese ports at $50-80 per ton. METAL GLUT The developing tightness in the zinc raw materials part of the production chain isn't yet having any discernible impact on the refined metal balance. Zinc remains the laggard of the LME pack even as improving macroeconomic sentiment lifts the base metals complex. Currently trading around $2,700 per ton, LME three-month metal is up by just 3.0% on the start of the year, compared with copper's 10% gains. The metal's usage in the form of galvanised steel means it is heavily exposed to the construction sector, a particularly weak part of the economy in both China and the rest of the world. With smelting activity rising over the last 12 months, there is no shortage of refined zinc. LME stocks recovered from a depleted 27,750 tons to 223,225 tons over the course of 2023. They have risen by another 37,000 tons so far this year thanks to sporadic bursts of warranting activity. LME time-spreads suggest there may be more surplus metal hovering over the market. The benchmark cash-to-three-months period has moved into super-contango territory, widening to over $50 per ton last month. The contango contracted to $38 at the Monday close but is still wider than anything seen since 2012-2013. TWIST IN THE ZINC PLOT The analyst consensus coming into this year was that zinc was on course to register a second year of significant supply surplus. ILZSG forecast a massive 367,000-ton global glut when it met in October. The median expectation in the Reuters January poll of base metal analysts was for a 300,000-ton surplus. Not one of the 11 analysts offering a supply-demand balance forecast expected anything other than too much metal. Such is the tightening in the zinc concentrates segment of the market, however, that expectations are being adjusted. Analysts at Macquarie Bank, for example, are now projecting a small 61,000-ton supply deficit over the year. "Given the very tight concentrates market, we have reduced our global refined production forecast to -0.4% this year," the bank said in its March quarterly "Commodities Compendium". Western production is expected to remain challenged and Chinese production growth is likely to brake sharply to just 0.5% due to a lack of feed. Several Chinese smelters have already brought forward maintenance or trimmed run-rates in reaction to the margin compression caused by low treatment fees, which account for around 40% of a typical smelter's profits, according to Macquarie. The bank expects a return to surplus next year but it could be a bumpy price ride since this year's zinc narrative has already taken a very unexpected turn. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. 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/smelter-charges-collapse-zinc-mine-supply-falters-2024-04-09/

2024-04-09 12:05

NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - CLS Group, the largest currency settlement system, said on Tuesday it will not change its cut-off time for payment instructions for foreign exchange trades, dealing a blow to foreign asset managers hoping for some reprieve from a new U.S. rule putting them at risk of transaction failure. Beginning May 28, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires investors start settling U.S. equity transactions one day after the trade, or T+1, instead of the current two days. The move, aimed at reducing market risk, an area of focus since the GameStop trading frenzy, will decrease the time managers overseas have to line up dollars to pay for their securities. That has led to some managers to ask CLS to see what it can do to help. "We won't make any changes on our operational timeline, because we have members who can't support that," said Lisa Danino-Lewis, chief growth officer at CLS. With more than 40% of CLS's settlement members reporting they would need up to a year to make the necessary technology and operational changes, New York-based CLS said it cannot accommodate a delay at this time. Changing the current deadline at midnight CET (2200 GMT, May 27) for submitting instructions related to FX trades for next-day settlement would also require regulatory changes and more comprehensive risk assessment, CLS said. CLS said it will continue to monitor the market after the U.S. moves to a shorter settlement cycle in May, and remains open to revisiting the issue if anything unexpected occurs. It plans to issue updates in June and September. CLS' members who cannot accommodate the change represent about 50% of the $6.5 trillion in average daily value (ADV) of transactions that CLS settles. A survey of European firms found that because of T+1, 40% of asset managers' daily currency trades, or $50 billion to $70 billion, would have to settle outside the safety of the CLS, a figure that could rise to hundreds of billions in volatile markets. At managers' request, CLS began studying last summer whether its CLSSettlement service can accommodate later submissions for next-day FX settlement without destabilizing the markets. More than 50% of asset managers who were a part of CLS' outreach said they can mitigate the majority of their risk via CLS without any changes. Some 35% have yet to determine how they will respond to T+1. Basu Choudhury, head of partnerships and strategic initiatives, at OSTTRA, a provider of post-trade solutions said that CLS's decision not to change the cut-off shows the "difficulty of making root-and-branch changes" to post-trade systems in such a short time. "The FX ecosystem is very carefully balanced and so any changes to the structures need to be very carefully considered," said Choudhury. "But we're back to square one on the challenge of safely settling FX in line with T+1." 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/cls-declines-delaying-fx-cutoff-us-stock-changes-loom-2024-04-09/

2024-04-09 11:55

MOSCOW, April 9 (Reuters) - Russia has seized companies belonging to agricultural firm AgroTerra and placed them under temporary management, including some backed by Dutch investment firms, a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin showed late on Monday. The move follows similar asset seizures involving Western firms including Carlsberg (CARLb.CO) , opens new tab, Fortum (FORTUM.HE) , opens new tab and Uniper in retaliation for steps taken against Russian companies abroad. Monday's decree listed AgroTerra assets being placed under temporary management of Rosimushchestvo, Russia's federal property management agency. "As of now, the Company has not yet received any further details regarding the decree on the transfer of shares within the authorised capital of the AgroTerra Group to the temporary management of Rosimushchestvo," AgroTerra said. The company said it was operating as usual and that its primary focus was the ongoing sowing campaign. AgroTerra was one of Russia's top 20 agricultural landholders as of May 2023, according to the BEFL consultancy, cultivating an area of 265,000 hectares. The decree listed Dutch-registered firms AgroTerra Investments B.V. and AgroTerra Holdings B.V. as part owners of some of the assets. AgroTerra was founded in 2008 and is a producer and supplier of mass commodity crops and specialty, value-added crops to top food processors. NCH, a U.S.-based firm that lists AgroTerra as one of its Agribusinesses, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-seizes-assets-agricultural-firm-agroterra-2024-04-09/

2024-04-09 11:52

MOSCOW, April 9 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin was focused on dealing with flooding but that the most difficult days were still ahead for the Kurgan and Tyumen regions. Swiftly melting snow across swathes of the Ural Mountains and Siberia has swelled some of the biggest rivers which surge across the wilds of Russia, with at least 10,500 homes recorded as flooded so far and many thousands more at risk. "The difficult days are still ahead for the Kurgan and Tyumen regions," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "There is a lot of water coming." The Kremlin said Putin had discussed the situation by telephone with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, which has also been badly hit by flooding. Asked if Putin would visit the region of Orenburg, Peskov said Putin was constantly being updated on the situation but there were no current plans to visit the region. "Putin is effectively, although he is not there physically, constantly present in this subject," Peskov said. "He is constantly dealing with these issues throughout the day." "This is the hottest moment right now. We will see what happens in a few days," Peskov said. Residents of the city of Orsk asked Putin for help on Monday as they chanted "shame on you" at local officials, who they said had done too little to aid their plight. Peskov said local and emergency officials were overseeing the situation and communicating constantly with residents - and that some residents had initially refused to be evacuated. States of emergency have been declared in multiple Russian regions and the authorities have warned the water levels are rising in major rivers. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-floods-most-difficult-days-are-still-ahead-2024-04-09/

2024-04-09 11:51

Human rights court: Swiss climate policies fell short Case brought against Bern by 2,000 senior Swiss women Mixed ruling as court throws out two other climate cases STRASBOURG, France, April 9 (Reuters) - Europe's top human rights court ruled on Tuesday that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat climate change, in a decision that will set a precedent for future climate lawsuits. The European Court of Human Rights's ruling, in favour of the more than 2,000 Swiss women who brought the case, is expected to resonate in court decisions across Europe and beyond, and to embolden more communities to bring climate cases against governments. But in a sign of the complexities of the growing wave of climate litigation, the court (ECtHR) rejected two other climate-related cases on procedural grounds. One of these was brought by a group of six Portuguese young people against 32 European governments and another by a former mayor of a low-lying French coastal town. The Swiss women, known as KlimaSeniorinnen and aged over 64, said their government's climate inaction put them at risk of dying during heatwaves. They argued their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to such climate change impacts. In her ruling, Court President Siofra O'Leary said the Swiss government had failed to comply with its own targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and had failed to set a national carbon budget. "It is clear that future generations are likely to bear an increasingly severe burden of the consequences of present failures and omissions to combat climate change," O'Leary said. One of KlimaSeniorinnen's leaders, Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti said she was struggling to grasp the full extent of the decision. "We keep asking our lawyers, 'Is that right?'. And they tell us 'it's the most you could have had. The biggest victory possible'." The Swiss Federal Office of Justice, which represented the Swiss government at the court, took note of the ruling. "Together with the authorities concerned, we will now analyse the extensive judgment and review what measures Switzerland will take in the future," it said in a statement. CLIMATE LITIGATION ON THE RISE The cases before the 17-judge panel in Strasbourg, France, are among the increasing number of climate lawsuits brought by citizens against governments that hinge on human rights law. The verdict in the Swiss case, which cannot be appealed, will have international ripple effects, most directly by establishing a binding legal precedent for all 46 countries that are signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights. It indicates Switzerland has a legal duty to take greater action on reducing emissions. If Switzerland does not update its policies, further litigation could follow at the national level and courts could issue financial penalties, Lucy Maxwell, co-director of the non-profit Climate Litigation Network, said. Switzerland has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, from 1990 levels. Bern had proposed stronger measures to deliver the goal, but voters rebuffed them in a 2021 referendum as too burdensome. The verdict could also influence future rulings at the Strasbourg court, which had put six other climate cases on hold pending Tuesday's decisions. These include a lawsuit against the Norwegian government that alleges it violated human rights by issuing new licences for oil and gas exploration in the Barents Sea beyond 2035. "(It) sets a crucial legally binding precedent serving as a blueprint for how to successfully sue your own government over climate failures," Ruth Delbaere, legal campaigns director at global civic movement Avaaz, said of the Swiss case's outcome. Courts in Australia, Brazil, Peru and South Korea are considering human rights-based climate cases. India's supreme court held in a ruling last month that citizens have the right to be free from the adverse impacts of climate change. In the case brought by the Portuguese youngsters, the court ruled that while a state's greenhouse gas emissions may have an adverse impact on people living outside its borders, it did not justify prosecuting a case across multiple jurisdictions. It also noted that the young people had not exhausted legal avenues within Portugal's national courts before coming to the ECtHR. "I really hoped that we would win against all the countries," Sofia Oliveira, one of the Portuguese teens, said in a statement. "But the most important thing is that the Court has said in the Swiss women’s case that governments must cut their emissions more to protect human rights. So, their win is a win for us too and a win for everyone." The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-activists-seek-breakthrough-human-rights-court-ruling-against-european-2024-04-09/