2023-12-01 00:58

Nov 30 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has forced a Saudi Aramco-backed venture capital firm to sell its shares in a Silicon Valley AI chip startup backed by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. Altman-backed Rain Neuromorphics, a startup designing chips that mimic the way the brain works and aims to serve companies using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, raised $25 million in 2022. Aramco's Prosperity7, a lead investor in the $25 million round for Rain AI, sold its shares in the startup after a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, people familiar with the matter said, according to the Bloomberg report. The agency, a U.S. watchdog for deals with national security implications, told the Saudi fund to unwind that deal sometime over the past year, the report said. Altman did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The U.S. Treasury, which oversees the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process, said: "CFIUS is committed to taking all necessary actions within its authority to safeguard U.S. national security. Consistent with law and practice, CFIUS does not publicly comment on transactions that it may or may not be reviewing." CFIUS is an inter-agency committee which reviews foreign investments in U.S. businesses and real estate that implicate national security concerns. The US has taken action that could slow AI development in the Middle East. In August, the U.S. expanded the restriction of exports of sophisticated Nvidia (NVDA.O) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) artificial-intelligence chips to include some countries in the Middle East. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-compels-saudi-fund-exit-altman-backed-ai-chip-startup-bloomberg-news-2023-11-30/

2023-11-30 23:59

PANAMA CITY, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Panama's Trade Minister Federico Alfaro announced his resignation on Thursday days after the country's top court ruled a contract between the government and Canadian miner First Quantum < FM.TO> was unconstitutional. The Central American country's trade ministry led negotiations on a contract between the government and First Quantum to operate a key copper mine, which opponents have deemed as too generous to the miner. In a resignation letter addressed to the president and shared on social media, Alfaro mentioned the contract, which generated months of protest throughout Panama, as well as the court ruling. The court's ruling "could have serious consequences for the country such as the loss of jobs and economic instability, international claims from investors, the impact on the level of investment already announced by the rating agencies," Alfaro wrote. President Laurentino Cortizo named Jorge Rivera as Alfaro's replacement, according to a statement from the president's office. Cortizo announced on Tuesday he will follow through with First Quantum's mine shutdown once the court's ruling is published in the country's official gazette, which has not yet happened. Incoming trade minister Rivera said in a separate public statement the ministry is evaluating actions to comply with the court's ruling and will start coordination talks with labor and environmental authorities. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/panama-trade-minister-resigns-after-mining-contract-backlash-2023-11-30/

2023-11-30 23:26

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Semiconductor firm Marvell Technology (MRVL.O) said on Thursday it expects nearly half of its quarterly revenue to decline in the first quarter of 2025, sending its shares down over 4% in afterhours trading. CEO Matthew Murphy attributed this drop in revenue to a tough macroeconomic environment and longer-than-expected inventory corrections. While the data center segment, which includes some AI and cloud systems, beat market expectations for revenue in the third quarter of 2024, Murphy added that going forward "the real question is the data center strength and how does that continue? and it's too early to call" Customers including cloud service providers and telecom operators continue to use existing chip inventory, after a cool down of the pandemic-fueled buying spree led to excess supply. Clearing of inventory has dampened prospects of new orders for chip makers like Marvell. Murphy added on an earnings call that while Marvell does expect year-on-year growth going forward, he could not comment on concerns surrounding inventory build hindering growth projections for the first quarter. The company's fourth-quarter forecast came in below Wall Street estimates. For the current quarter, Marvell expects revenue of $1.42 billion plus or minus 5%, which is below estimates of $1.46 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company expects income of 46 cents per share, plus or minus 5 cents for the fourth quarter. This compares to estimates of 49 cents profit per share. However, Marvell beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and profit, as the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) buoyed demand for its chips. Marvell posted net revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter ended Oct. 28, compared with analysts' estimates of $1.40 billion, according to LSEG data. Excluding items, the company posted a profit of 41 cents per share, marginally beating estimates of 40 cents per share. https://www.reuters.com/technology/marvell-technology-forecasts-weak-revenue-inventory-corrections-persist-2023-11-30/

2023-11-30 23:19

Nov 30 (Reuters) - The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) on Thursday approved preliminary interim tolls for the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline system, allowing the project to begin charging for shipping services once operations start. The interim benchmark toll is set at $11.46 per barrel and applies to shippers with a 15-year contract transporting under 75,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Edmonton to Burnaby. Other tolls will vary by path, length of contract and volume commitment, the CER said. Trans Mountain applied in June for a base toll of $11 to $12 a barrel, depending on the type of crude shipped and its destination, but was met with opposition from a number of contracted shippers including Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO) and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), who argued tolls were too high. The newly approved interim benchmark toll consists of a fixed amount of $10.88 per barrel and a variable portion of $0.58. The fixed amount is nearly double what Trans Mountain estimated it would be in 2017, as a result of ballooning construction costs. The 590,000 bpd expansion project will nearly triple the flow of Canadian crude to the Pacific coast, but is expected to cost C$30.9 billion ($22.79 billion), more than four times its original budget. TMX is scheduled to come online by the end of March 2024. The CER is still planning to hold a hearing on final tolls next year, and asked Trans Mountain to provide additional cost information by Dec. 15. Long-term shipping contracts cover 80% of the expansion project's capacity. The final tolls will affect the value of the pipeline when the Canadian government, which bought it in 2018 to ensure the expansion got built, puts it up for sale. Many analysts expect the government will struggle to recoup its full investment in Trans Mountain. Morningstar analyst Stephen Ellis said discussions around tolls could get more heated if the pipeline is sold before they are finalised. "Shippers are unlikely to be happy paying tariffs based on a huge cost number when it has just been valued at a lot less," Ellis said. ($1 = 1.3558 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/canadian-regulators-approve-preliminary-interim-tolls-expanded-trans-mountain-2023-11-30/

2023-11-30 23:06

TOKYO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - International energy companies, from Germany's RWE to Spain's Iberdrola, are urging Japan to beef up offshore wind power auctions and make investments more attractive, amid soaring installation costs as competition for suppliers grows worldwide. Although desperate to ease its heavy dependence on energy imports from the Middle East and Russia, Japan is coming late to offshore wind, but some industry players say it is taking a more cautious approach that puts it at a disadvantage. "It's a global race and we can't look at it in isolation," Jens Orfelt, president for offshore wind development for Asia-Pacific at RWE Renewables (RWEG.DE), told a recent conference. The remarks came amid surging prices and fierce competition for equipment, from nacelles and towers to installation ships, with some major global projects, particularly in the United States, having recently been scrapped or facing delays. From turbine selection to the start of operations, Japan's development process takes much longer than in Europe, said a spokesperson for Vestas (VWS.CO), a top global supplier. "The longer the project timeline, the more uncertainty and risk arise," they told Reuters, saying industry and government could work more closely to shorten such periods. That view is echoed by global players such as Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and Iberdrola (IBE.MC), among others. Japan's ministry of economy, trade and industry (METI) did not reply to a request for a comment. With less than 500 megawatt (MW) of installed offshore wind capacity now, Japan aims for projects of 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. So far, it has auctioned 1.7 GW of offshore wind capacity contracts, all won by Mitsubishi-led consortiums (8058.T) in 2021, and will choose winners for four more wind farms with total capacity of 1.8 GW by the end of March. A third round, yet to be announced, is expected to offer 1.05 GW more in two projects, METI says. But foreign players involved in some of the world's biggest offshore farms consider that scale and speed to be too modest, adding that bigger auctions allow better planning of supply chains and cost control. "We would say continue with the auctions but consider 1 GW per project instead of 1 GW per auction," Orfelt added. In this area, Japan is well behind Taiwan, which is offering 3 GW in its auctions, and South Korea, which is expanding in floating wind, a technology yet to be commercially launched in Japan. "If you want to create appetite from investors you need to propose larger plants," Begona Diaz, Asia-Pacific area manager for offshore wind at Spain's Iberdrola Renewables (IBE.MC), told the conference. "You are not able to generate scale economies from just 300 MW, you need to go for huge plants." Japan needs about $18 billion to develop offshore wind farms by 2030, including already invested funds, and $250 billion by 2050, which includes hard-to-predict floating offshore wind costs, said Chris Wilkinson, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy. Orsted's country manager for Japan, Henriette Holm, called on Japan to tender "10 GW to 15 GW in one go". MYSTERY BIDDERS In the wake of the emissions-fighting U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Japan adopted a law in March to promote green investment by selling government debt of about 20 trillion yen ($136 billion) to lure private capital of 150 trillion yen over the next decade. Japan's auction rules bar companies from commenting on the second-round process or saying whether they are bidding. But Japanese government documents show Germany's RWE, in consortiums with Japanese companies, was making environment assessments - an indication of a bid - for two areas in the second round in the regions of Akita and Niigata. Other foreign companies making such assessments included Singapore's Vena Energy, SSE Pacifico co-owned by UK-listed energy group SSE (SSE.L) and Canada's Northland Power (NPI.TO). RWE and SSE Pacifico declined to comment. Vena Energy and Northland Power did not reply to Reuters requests for comment. BP (BP.L) is seeking partners for offshore wind projects in Japan, a market it has identified for growth, an executive told Reuters in November. The company did not reply to request for a comment. Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL) did not bid in the second round but is "positioning together with local partners for upcoming licensing rounds", spokesperson Magnus Frantzen Eidsvold said. SUPPLY CHAIN METI is pushing for domestic suppliers to make up at least 60% of offshore wind projects by 2040, to help Japan grow its expertise, and foreign players will probably have to join forces with Japanese companies to win jobs and localise production. GE Renewable Energy (GE.N) has teamed with Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions (6502.T) to make GE's Haliade-X offshore wind turbines near Tokyo. Toshiba Energy Systems plans to build a domestic supply chain for offshore wind turbines and will start nacelle production from 2026, to gradually phase out foreign parts, said Yuji Shimada, an official at Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions. Vestas, which produces nacelles and blades in India and China, is pushing for a strong regional supply chain, rather than factories in individual countries, its spokesperson said. "We think establishing a supply chain in one country for one country will only lead to increased costs and increased risks," the spokesperson added. ($1=147.0900 yen) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/foreign-wind-power-players-urge-japan-scale-up-offshore-auctions-2023-11-30/

2023-11-30 22:40

SAO PAULO, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem (BRKM5.SA) is facing a new 1 billion real ($203 million) lawsuit over damages that its salt mines have caused sinking ground in the city of Maceio and forced evacuations, the company said on Thursday. The lawsuit, which state and federal prosecutors filed against the company and the city, seeks an expanded risk area related to ground subsidence and requiring Braskem to compensate more families. The announcement comes after Maceio's civil defense office warned on Wednesday that Braskem's salt mine number 18, located near a lake in the Mutange neighborhood, was at imminent risk of collapse. The city, in the northeastern coastal state of Alagoas, said on Thursday the soil movement in the area "remains with the same intensity" recorded on the previous day, when there were 23 families still occupying properties in the region. "Since yesterday, more than half of these properties have already been vacated," the city said. It was not immediately clear what the city's role was according to the lawsuit. The company's rock salt mining activities in the area, which were halted in 2019, led to soil subsidence that forced the interdiction of several neighborhoods in Maceio. Braskem has set aside 14.4 billion reais so far to address issues related to the sinking ground in the city, authorities attributed to its decades-long salt mining activities carried in Maceio's underground. The company has disbursed 9.2 billion reais of the total provisional funds since 2018, when the crisis deepened when cracks in streets and buildings formed in five neighborhoods. It was not immediately clear if the amount the lawsuit seeks is already included in the company's provisions. This week, executives said that Braskem expects to finish relocating and compensating the city's residents affected by the sinking in early 2024. ($1 = 4.9182 reais) https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/brazils-braskem-sued-over-sinking-ground-alagoas-mines-2023-11-30/