2024-03-01 23:34

MEXICO CITY, March 1 (Reuters) - Authorities of Mexico's northern border state Nuevo Leon said Friday that they have "closed" the Cadereyta refinery over the refusal of state oil company Pemex to collaborate with environmental inspections. Led by opposition State Governor Samuel Garcia, the state government in January threatened to close the refinery, which has a capacity to process 275,000 barrels per day (bpd), unless it took measures to bring down high emissions. One Pemex source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Hector Lara refinery was still operating. The source added the refinery was "protected" against such actions by state governments. Pemex did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nuevo Leon authorities said the refinery was closed following a refusal "to receive the team from the environmental ministry as well as ostensible and notorious emission of pollutants to the atmosphere." Complaints about pollution in the metropolitan area, including about one incident in March last year, when locals documented large volumes of thick, yellow and black smoke billowing from flare stacks, continue. Pemex is owned by the state and the chief executive officer is appointed by the president. Since taking office, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party has vowed to invest heavily to rehabilitate ailing refineries, including measures meant to reduce harmful emissions. But Garcia, who belongs to the Citizens' Movement, an opposition party, said following the March incident that he would "impose harsh penalties." Last month, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, which oversees environmental issues in the United States, Mexico and Canada, also said it would review a complaint about emissions from the Cadereyta refinery. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/mexican-state-closes-pemex-refinery-over-pollution-investigation-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 23:30

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization's moratorium on customs duties on digital transmissions, a key pillar of internet development for decades, won a last-minute reprieve on Friday, but the deal will force companies to confront its expiration again in 2026. The WTO's 13th ministerial meeting in its final hour produced a deal in Abu Dhabi to extend the moratorium until the until the next ministerial meeting in two years, but with a hard expiration that will require a more extensive negotiation at that time. "Some countries may take it as an opportunity to get to work in building tariff systems to go live in 2026," a source close to the talks told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. India, which had sought concessions on agriculture, had blocked the extension but reversed course after a request from host United Arab Emirates, leaving the two-year extension as the only significant outcome from the meeting. Few trade experts know what digital tariffs would look like in practice, as the moratorium was launched in 1998 to foster growth in the fledgling internet and has been regularly renewed since then. Now, with massive companies such as Google (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab and Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues, more countries want a share of those riches and tariffs offer a potential avenue. But such duties would "make it harder for companies that rely on data and digital services - which is effectively all companies in this day and age," said Naomi Wilson, who heads trade policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, an industry group in Washington. "So it's more than a Big Tech problem or a developed country problem," Wilson said. "It really stands to undermine the entirety of the digital economy." INDONESIA TEMPLATE Thus far, only Indonesia has a regulation in place that would allow the imposition of duties on digital goods, which it describes as software, electronic data and multimedia transmissions delivered via electronic transmissions. Currently, Indonesia's tariffs on such transmissions are zero, in line with the moratorium. But Indonesia said in a WTO statement , opens new tab that as more imports have shifted to digital delivery, such as movies, video games and music, low-income and developing countries lost $56 billion of tariff revenues between 2017 and 2020. Indonesia added that digital duties would help local software developers and content providers better compete with global technology giants. U.S. industry groups also called for the ban on digital tariffs to be made permanent to end perpetual threats by some countries to block renewal to try to win concessions elsewhere. "It's a relief to see the moratorium survive, by the skin of its teeth," said Tiffany Smith, vice president of global trade policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, a group representing large U.S. companies. "The endless brinkmanship over the moratorium crowds out the ability to make progress on a broader agenda if important issues and undermines the viability of the WTO as a useful forum for trade ministers," Smith added. Should the moratorium ultimately be scuttled, a likely outcome is that some 140 countries supporting it would agree to renew it as part of a WTO "joint statement initiative," representing most major economies, said William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. "That would provide some modicum of reassurance to the business community," Reinsch added. https://www.reuters.com/technology/wto-e-commerce-tariff-moratorium-wins-temporary-reprieve-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 23:17

March 1 (Reuters) - Credit ratings agency Fitch on Friday affirmed United States' long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating at "AA+" with a "stable" outlook. Fitch forecast the country's gross domestic product growth to slow in 2024, despite its economy proving resilient in the face of higher interest rates. The U.S. economy grew by 2.5% in 2023, partly reflecting the renewed fiscal policy easing as highlighted by the large general government (GG) deficit in 2023. Fitch estimated that the GG deficit had reached 8.8% of GDP in 2023 and forecast the 2024 GG deficit to narrow to 8% of GDP, on the back of escalating revenue growth, narrower spending, falling off of some large one-off spending on deposit insurance in 2023. "The interest burden, however, will continue to grow given the higher debt burden and impact of higher rates," Fitch added. According to the agency, the outcome of the upcoming November presidential and congressional elections will be important for policymaking and the ability to pass and implement legislation. In November, peer Moody's lowered outlook on the country's credit rating to "negative", citing large fiscal deficits and a decline in debt affordability. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fitch-affirms-united-states-ratings-aa-outlook-stable-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 23:03

March 1 (Reuters) - Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab has indefinitely idled two biodiesel production facilities in the U.S. Midwest, the company confirmed on Friday, citing poor market conditions. The second-largest U.S. oil producer bought biodiesel maker Renewable Energy Group for $3.15 billion in 2022 to expand its renewable fuels production to 100,000 barrels per day by 2030. The deal brought it 10 biodiesel plants and one renewable diesel facility. Chevron idled plants in Ralston, Iowa, and Madison, Wisconsin, that combined can process 50 million gallon per year of biodiesel. Biodiesel production capacity was 2.07 billion gallons in December, according to U.S. government estimates. Biodiesel is made from agricultural oils and animal fats, is more costly to make than petroleum-based diesel but is a cleaner burning fuel. Production also generates credits that can offset the cost of production. Prices have slumped in recently months as supplies have grown and the value of renewable credits recently fell to a three-year low. The price of a blend of 20% biodiesel fell last month to $3.45 per gallon of gasoline equivalent, from the peak of $4.80 per gallon in October 2022. President Joe Biden's administration last year increased the amount of biofuels that oil refiners must blend into the nation's fuel mix over the next three years, but the plan includes lower mandates for corn-based ethanol than it had initially proposed and sent credit prices lower. Production of renewable diesel, another type of fuel produced with animal fats that can be used unaltered in diesel engines, is expected to reach 230,000 barrels per day this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Producers of renewable diesel generate more renewable credits due to their lower carbon intensity score than biodiesel. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chevron-idles-two-us-midwest-biodiesel-plants-profits-slip-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 22:21

March 1 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler on Friday signaled she sees the elusive "soft landing" of falling inflation amidst a healthy labor market within reach for the U.S. economy, noting that inflation expectations remain anchored and the Fed has avoided a wage-price spiral. "I am cautiously optimistic that we will see continued progress on disinflation without significant deterioration of the labor market," Kugler said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Institute's annual economic summit. Kugler notably did not lay out her expectations for when or how fast the Fed should cut its policy rate, which it drove up rapidly in 2022-2023 and has held in the 5.25% to 5.5% range since last July. But she said her optimism stems from how quickly Fed interest rate hikes and the reversal of the supply shocks that contributed to inflation have eased price pressures even as the labor market stayed strong. Inflation surged post-pandemic because of sharp and rapid constraints on the supply of both goods and labor, to which businesses were not able to quickly adjust, she noted. But it has dropped nearly as rapidly, as supply of both workers and goods came on line last year. Wage growth slowed as a result, she noted, likely putting to rest the threat of a wage-price spiral that could have allowed inflation to entrench. Meanwhile inflation expectations have remained anchored, with businesses resetting prices less often than at the height of the inflation surge - a sign, she said, of cooling inflation. At 3.7%, the U.S. unemployment rate is only a few tenths higher than it was when the Fed started raising rates in March 2022. Meanwhile the inflation rate by the Fed's targeted measure -- the annual change in the personal consumption expenditures price index -- is down by 4.5 percentage points, to 2.4% at its most recent reading. "We have seen inflation cool significantly, falling more rapidly than at any time since the 1980s," Kugler said. "Yet unemployment remains near the lowest levels seen only a few times since the 1960s." Kugler said the Fed's job is not yet done. "We are laser focused" on bringing inflation down to the Fed's 2% target, she said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/feds-kugler-optimistic-disinflation-without-big-job-losses-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 22:20

SAO PAULO, March 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) , opens new tab said on Friday it will increase the average prices of jet fuel to distributors by 8.4% starting on Mar. 1. Petrobras said in a statement the move, which represents an increase of about 0.31 real ($0.06) per liter, comes after four declines in jet fuel prices in a row. The firm added its jet fuel prices now have fallen 2.7% this year, following a 19.6% decrease in 2023. ($1 = 4.9541 reais) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/brazils-petrobras-increases-average-jet-fuel-prices-by-84-2024-03-01/