2024-03-12 12:36
ST PETERSBURG, March 12 (Reuters) - A Russian court on Tuesday extended until April 15 the pre-trial detention of a German man who was arrested last month on suspicion of carrying gummy candies containing cannabis into Russia. Patrick Schobel, 38, was detained on Feb. 14 on arrival at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport from Istanbul. An inspection of his luggage uncovered a pack of "Fink Green Goldbears" whose wrapping displayed a picture of a marijuana leaf. A criminal case for drug smuggling case has been opened against Schobel. The maximum term for such an offence is seven years. Schobel requested in a court hearing in St Petersburg that his detention be replaced with house arrest, and volunteered to surrender his passport. The requests were denied by the judge, according to a Reuters reporter in the courtroom. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-extends-pre-trial-detention-german-arrested-cannabis-gummies-2024-03-12/
2024-03-12 12:32
LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - OPEC on Tuesday stuck to its forecast for relatively strong growth in global oil demand in 2024 and 2025, and further raised its economic growth forecast for this year saying there was more room for improvement. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a monthly report, said world oil demand will rise by 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 and by 1.85 million bpd in 2025. Both forecasts were unchanged from last month. OPEC's 2024 demand growth forecast is far above that of many other forecasters including the International Energy Agency. OPEC believes oil use will keep rising for the next two decades, while the IEA predicts it will peak by 2030 as the world shifts to cleaner energy. In the report, OPEC said a "robust dynamic" for economic growth towards the end of 2023 was expected to extend into the first half of 2024 and raised its 2024 economic growth forecast by 0.1 percentage points, following a hike last month. "While some downside risks persist, a continuation of the expected momentum from the beginning of the year could result in additional upside potential for global economic growth in 2024." OPEC said in the report. "The 2024 and 2025 growth trajectories of India, China, as well as the United States, could exceed current expectations." The OPEC report also said that OPEC oil production rose by 203,000 bpd in February to 26.57 million bpd led by Nigeria and Libya, despite a new round of voluntary output cuts by the OPEC+ alliance that started in January. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/opec-sticks-oil-demand-view-nudges-up-economic-growth-again-2024-03-12/
2024-03-12 12:25
April 4 (Reuters) - Finnish labour unions will suspend a four-week strike which began on March 11 next week, the SAK trade union association said on Thursday. The SAK said in a statement it would reassess the situation on April 18. The strikes have disrupted ports and the rail system and impacted Finland's imports and exports. They were launched to protest against government plans to reform the labour market and reduce social welfare, changes that the government says are necessary. Here is how some companies have been affected: BOLIDEN (BOL.ST) , opens new tab The Swedish metals maker estimated on March 22 the strikes' negative impact on its first-quarter operating profit at around 500 million crowns ($46.89 million). FINNAIR (FIA1S.HE) , opens new tab The national carrier expects disruptions to its refuelling services and planned measures to allow refuelling at stations outside Finland. It saw no impact on flights as of March 22. KEMIRA (KEMIRA.HE) , opens new tab The chemicals company said on April 3 it would stop production at several of its manufacturing lines serving pulp and paper customers for the remainder of the week, with one other manufacturing site having already closed in March. Some employees' work and salary payments will stop, it said. It added that the strikes significantly harm the operations of Kemira's value chain. KEMPOWER (KEMPOWR.HE) , opens new tab The maker of charging solutions for electric vehicles cut its first-quarter guidance on March 22, citing delays to deliveries. It saw first-quarter revenue significantly below the year-ago number of 55.8 million euros ($60.33 million), and operative earnings to be "significantly negative", it said in a statement. METSA BOARD (METSB.HE) , opens new tab The forestry group Metsa shut down five mills, including Metsa Board's Joutseno mill, and said it would assess wage payments for employees involved. Metsa also said it expected eight further mills to become idle as of March 25 because of the strike. NESTE (NESTE.HE) , opens new tab The oil and biofuels group could stop production at its Porvoo oil refinery as the strike cuts off raw material transportation and leads to filling up of storage facilities. Neste said on March 26 that fuel was no longer available at some of its stations and the situation would get worse as the strike continues. NOKIAN TYRES (TYRES.HE) , opens new tab The tire maker said on March 22 it would temporarily lay off 350 employees at its car tire factory in Nokia for 90 days due to the strikes. Inventories were filling up as the strikes hampered deliveries, it said. OUTOKUMPU (OUT1V.HE) , opens new tab Stainless steelmaker Outokumpu (OUT1V.HE) , opens new tab on March 21 lowered its first-quarter core profit guidance for the second time. It estimates the combined negative impact of the three-week long strike on adjusted EBITDA at about 65 million euros, a spokesperson said. SSAB (SSABa.ST) , opens new tab The Swedish steelmaker estimated on March 28 that the strike would shave off about 350 million crowns from SSAB Europe's first-quarter operating result. If the strikes continue into the second quarter, they will weaken the operating result by an estimated 125 million crowns each week, it said in a statement. STORA ENSO (STERV.HE) , opens new tab The forestry firm said on March 22 it would start shutting down its Imatra and Oulu mills on March 24 and expected them to be fully closed by the start of Easter. Stora Enso said on April 2 it will ramp up production at its Varkaus packaging board mill after production was halted and wages suspended for affected employees in March. It said it also expects the ramping up of its Oulu mill in the coming days. UPM (UPM.HE) , opens new tab Production has been halted at UPM's paper mills in Kymi, Rauma and Jämsänkoski and two pulp mills. However, the Jämsänkoski printing paper machine is due to restart on March 25 for five days, a spokesperson said. The forestry company is suspending pay for employees involved. VR GROUP The state-owned railway, which normally runs 250 freight trains per day, said the strike would keep freight traffic at a standstill until April 7. Passenger transport will not be affected. ($1 = 0.9250 euros) ($1 = 10.6633 Swedish crowns) The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/how-strikes-over-finnish-labour-reforms-hit-companies-2024-03-11/
2024-03-12 11:48
Sept 8 (Reuters) - Sterling edged lower on Tuesday after data showed that growth in British wages was slightly weaker than expected but failed to affect bets on the Bank of England policy path. Wages grew at their slowest pace since October 2022 while the unemployment rate edged up unexpectedly, according to data which may slightly ease the Bank of England's inflation worries. Money markets fully price a 25 basis points rate cut from the BoE by August and an around 50% chance by June. Sterling was last down 0.1% at $1.2798 after jumping 1.6% last week versus the greenback as investors bet that the BoE will be slower than the European Central Bank and U.S. Federal Reserve in cutting interest rates. Last week, the dollar and euro were under selling pressure versus sterling after Fed Chair Jerome Powell sounded more confident about cutting interest rates in coming months, while the ECB's governing council had begun to discuss a suitable timeline for monetary policy easing. Some analysts argued that investors tried to shorten sterling in recent months on the back of deteriorating data and weak external balances. Still, the pound has outperformed this year, supported by its high-yielding currency status on top of a broad risk appetite. Investors will focus on U.S. inflation data later in the session which could affect market expectations for the Fed future decisions. "Since this (wage figures) is published as a moving average, a big base effect should add pressure in the next couple of months and push it below 6.0%, according to our economist," said Francesco Pesole, rate strategist at ING. Investors will look at UK inflation data next week, with some analysts warning that while figures could be close to the BoE target, underlying pressures are still in place. "By a quirk of base effects, the April energy price cap reduction might mean UK inflation beats the euro zone in the race to return to target," said Mark Capleton, strategist at BofA. "The UK's underlying inflation picture is considerably less benign." Capleton argued that "the UK 'had to wave a bigger stick' than its peers, needing much higher average policy rates." The euro was up 0.2% at 85.46 pence. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-edges-lower-after-uk-jobs-figures-focus-us-inflation-data-2024-03-12/
2024-03-12 11:47
PARIS, March 12 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab fulfilled from existing stock all its delivery contracts from its refinery in Port Jerome-Gravenchon in northern France since it was hit by a major fire on Monday, a spokesperson for the company said. The refinery's staff were working to assess the damage to one of two distillation towers of the oil refinery to see if and when it would be able to operate again after an emergency at the refinery was called off early on Tuesday, the spokesperson said. She could not specify how long the refinery would be able to honour all delivery contracts from existing stocks with the tower shut down. The refinery, located in Normandy near the estuary of the Seine river, has two distillery towers and a capacity of 240,000 barrels per day (bpd), making it amongst the biggest in France. It supplies the Ile-de-France region around Paris. One person out of the five who received medical treatment was still in observation in a local hospital, the spokesperson said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxon-mobils-french-refinery-has-honoured-contracts-after-fire-company-says-2024-03-12/
2024-03-12 11:42
March 12 (Reuters) - Global grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) , opens new tab said on Tuesday some of its employees have received subpoenas from the Department of Justice amid an ongoing investigation over its accounting practices. ADM said some sales between business units within the company were not recorded at amounts approximating market value and corrected certain segment-specific financial information for previous financial statements from 2018 to 2023. Reuters reported FBI agents delivered subpoenas to company employees in Illinois last week. They show that a criminal probe into ADM's accounting issues first reported by Reuters last month is escalating fast and directly relates to accounting issues that the company said in January were the subject of an internal probe. The investigations have brought more uncertainty to ADM's nutrition segment, which has struggled to meet lofty revenue targets and faces slowing demand for meat alternatives and supply chain problems. "The DOJ directed grand jury subpoenas to certain current and former company employees. The company is cooperating with the DOJ," ADM said in a filing. The company said the adjustments made to previous statements following the investigation have no impact on consolidated financial statements as a whole for any period as they were made to sales between business segments. The company's shares were up 4.1% in premarket trade. Touted by executives to be the future of ADM, the nutrition division, ADM's smallest, had seen explosive growth until profits began to erode in late 2022. ADM said the unit took a goodwill impairment charge of $137 million in 2023. The company reported profit of $6.43 per share for the full year, after an investigation into accounting practices at the company's nutrition division delayed the release of its financial results for nearly two months. ADM had cut its 2023 profit estimate in January, pulled its forward-looking outlook for nutrition, announced an internal investigation and put finance chief Vikram Luthar on administrative leave. The company said the investigation covers the period between January 2018 and September 2023. ADM said that over the next couple of years it would gradually implement worldwide enhancements to its internal controls and improve documenting the company's pricing guidelines for inter-segment sales. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/adm-corrects-financial-statements-amid-probe-over-accounting-practices-2024-03-12/
