2024-07-17 06:58

ATHENS, July 17 (Reuters) - Greece will impose a one-off windfall tax on its power producers over the next two months and use the proceeds to help subsidise power bills for households already strained by a cost-of-living crisis, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Tuesday. Wholesale electricity prices have surged in recent weeks, and Mitsotakis said consumers would bear the burden unless the government takes measures. "Therefore the government has decided to impose a one-off levy on gas-fired power producers and use the proceeds to be able to alleviate electricity bills in August," he said in an interview with Skai TV. The energy ministry is expected to announce details of the plan on Wednesday. Greece has experienced higher temperatures this summer after its warmest winter on record, weather conditions which scientists have linked to climate change. Power consumption has increased over the past few months in Greece and other countries in Europe whose power grids are interconnected, leading to short supplies and higher prices. Mitsotakis said the higher prices reflected a distorted European power market, adding that Greece needs to act pending a European Union solution. Last month, the conservative government extended a windfall tax on energy companies for 2023, aiming to raise some 300 million euros to support low-income pensioners. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/greece-impose-windfall-levy-power-producers-august-sept-2024-07-17/

2024-07-17 06:50

MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - Russia's energy ministry has proposed an extension of a gasoline exports ban into September and October, RBC daily reported on Wednesday citing a deputy minister's letter. Russia initially partially banned gasoline exports for six months from March 1 until Aug. 31 to pre-empt fuel shortages and stem a rise in prices after a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries and technical outages. The restrictions were suspended in May until June 30 and that suspension was then extended until the end of July. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Monday the government might decide to reinstate the gasoline export ban from August should there be supply shortages in the domestic fuel market. RBC daily said on Wednesday that Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin wrote in a letter to Novak proposing to extend the gasoline exports ban for September and October to ensure stable supplies of the fuel and safeguard the federal budget. The energy ministry declined to comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-energy-ministry-seeks-extend-gasoline-exports-ban-sept-oct-rbc-reports-2024-07-17/

2024-07-17 06:48

Indiana warehouse damaged by July 9 tornado Company sees insurance largely covering any earnings impact July 17 (Reuters) - Sales of Reckitt's (RKT.L) , opens new tab Mead Johnson baby formula powder are likely to take a short-term hit after a tornado damaged a third-party warehouse in the United States, the British consumer goods company said on Wednesday. The Mount Vernon warehouse in Indiana, out of action since the tornado struck on July 9, is an important site for the company's Mead Johnson Nutrition business, containing both raw materials and finished products, Reckitt said. All employees are safe, the company added, saying it had diverted deliveries to other warehouses in the United States. Some nutrition product varieties are likely to be affected in the short term, a Reckitt spokesperson said. The company could not estimate when the warehouse would be up and running again, but said it was working as quickly as possible with local authorities and regulators to minimise the disruption. "We are partnering with customers and suppliers on expedited recovery efforts to minimise disruption by leveraging our global supply chain and managing inventory at our other U.S. warehouses," the spokesperson said. This is not the first time Reckitt has had to rely on its worldwide supply chain in an emergency, which can take time because of the regulatory hurdles the company needs to clear with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. In 2022, during a months-long U.S. shortage of baby formula, Reckitt flew 65 tons of baby formula to Chicago from its plant in Singapore. A few months before, it said it was working with the FDA to increase baby formula supply, including expediting the approval of some products made at a facility in Mexico. Reckitt said on Wednesday it had comprehensive property damage and business interruption insurance, which it expects will largely offset the impact on earnings. This marks a third setback for the company this year. In February, an investigation showed some employees had under-reported liabilities in the Middle East, triggering the biggest one-day drop in Reckitt's shares since December 1999. A month later, the stock tumbled again after an Illinois jury ordered Reckitt's Mead Johnson unit to pay $60 million to the mother of a premature baby who died of an intestinal disease after allegedly being fed the company’s Enfamil Premature 24 baby formula products. Reckitt's stock, which was down 0.5% on Wednesday morning, has lost about 21% so far this year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/reckitts-baby-formula-sales-take-hit-after-tornado-hits-warehouse-2024-07-17/

2024-07-17 06:48

July 17 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) , opens new tab on Wednesday said it has appointed Katie Jackson, a former Shell executive with responsibility for acquisitions, as its new copper head. Jackson, currently the president of UK-based energy infrastructure firm National Grid Ventures, will join Rio Tinto on Sept. 1. She will succeed Bold Baatar, who will take the helm as chief commercial officer later in the year. Jackson previously held operational and commercial roles at Shell, where she also headed acquisitions, divestment and new business development across the energy giant's portfolio. As the head of Rio Tinto's copper operations, Jackson will oversee the ramp-up of the miner's prized Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia which holds one of the world's largest deposits of the metal which is key to the green energy transition. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/rio-tinto-names-former-shell-executive-katie-jackson-new-copper-boss-2024-07-17/

2024-07-17 06:35

BRUSSELS, July 17 (Reuters) - The European Union's goals to produce and import green hydrogen fuel are unrealistic and unlikely to be met despite billions of euros in funding, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said on Wednesday. The European Commission has set out targets to produce up to 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030 and import a further 10 million tonnes. While not binding, the goals are part of the bloc's plans to end its reliance on Russian energy imports. In a report, the ECA said those targets were based on "political will" rather than robust analysis, and the EU is far off track to meet them. Another target set out by Brussels, to install at least 40 gigawatts of renewable hydrogen electrolysers by 2030, was an idea suggested in documents by a hydrogen lobby group, the auditors found. Despite EU funding of 18.8 billion euros ($20.5 billion)being made available for green hydrogen projects, projects that would add less than 5GW of production capacity by 2030 have reached an advanced stage, although projects totalling around 50GW of capacity are also at an earlier assessment stage. Green hydrogen is deemed crucial to meet the EU's climate change commitments. It is produced by using renewable energy to split water - a process that produces no CO2 emissions - and the EU is banking on it to decarbonise industrial processes such as steel and fertiliser manufacturing. "The EU's industrial policy on renewable hydrogen needs a reality check," said auditor Stef Blok, who led the report. The ECA said the European Commission should devise a more targeted approach to allocating scarce EU funding, and update its policies to incentivise hydrogen projects. A Commission spokesperson said it took note of the report, and acknowledged the hydrogen market was taking shape "gradually". "Our work is far from finished. We now have to accelerate the deployment and uptake of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in Europe," the spokesperson said. ($1 = 0.9173 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eus-green-hydrogen-goals-not-realistic-auditors-say-2024-07-17/

2024-07-17 06:29

USD/JPY down 1%, traders suspect intervention GBP/USD up 0.5% to one year high, EUR/GBP at lowest in two years Swiss franc strengthens on dollar and euro Dollar index down 0.5% to four month low Kiwi up 0.6% after inflation data SINGAPORE/LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - (This July 17 story has been corrected to change the company name to BNY from BNY Mellon in paragraph 7) The yen rose sharply on Wednesday in what traders suspected was likely the result of another intervention from Japanese authorities to prop up the battered currency from multi-decade lows. The move in the yen was the standout in a busy day in currency markets, where the pound jumped after hotter than expected British inflation data and the dollar dipped across the board, with the dollar index dropping to a four-month low. The dollar was last 1% lower against the yen at 156.75 , extending its sudden fall shortly after the London trading session began, a move traders attributed to Japan's intervention. At one point, the dollar reached as low as 156.1 yen, having been at a 38-year high of 161.96 yen in early July. Japan's Ministry of Finance did not respond to requests for comment. Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said he would have to respond if speculators caused excessive moves and that there was no limit to how often authorities could intervene, Kyodo News reported. Bank of Japan data suggests Japan bought nearly 6 trillion yen via intervention last Thursday and Friday. "Current valuations are still stretched and the yen is still undervalued, so a bit more activism in FX markets from Japan is the way to correct any misalignments," said Geoff Yu, senior macro strategist at BNY in London. "But we have to wait for an official confirmation." The yen also made outsized gains against other currencies. The euro was last down 0.7% at 171.34 yen , while sterling fell 0.62% to 204.2yen . INFLATION AND RATES Elsewhere, the British pound rose 0.5% and hit a one-year high against the dollar of $1.3032 on data that showed UK inflation rose slightly more than expected. Headline inflation held at 2% on an annual basis in June against forecasts for a 1.9% increase, while the closely watched services inflation came in at 5.7%. That sent traders paring back bets of a rate cut from the Bank of England in August. "Today’s strong services inflation numbers suggest the upcoming decision will be a close call," said analysts at Nomura. "Much will now hinge on tomorrow’s labour market report, and specifically pay growth." The pound also strengthened to a near two-year top on the euro, which fell 0.18% to 83.85 pence, its lowest since August 2022. There was volatility elsewhere too. The Swiss franc strengthened with the low-yielding, safe-haven currency possibly caught up in the ructions involving the yen, which has similar properties. The dollar was down 0.66% on the franc at 0.8877, while the euro dipped 0.4% to 0.9706. , The euro gained against the dollar however, and was up 0.3% at $1.0933, a four-month high, while the Australian dollar tacked on 0.15% to $0.6747. That left the dollar index, which tracks the unit against six peers, down 0.46% at 103.75. Signs that inflation is slowing in the United States, boosting investor confidence that rate cuts are coming, has been weighing on the broad dollar. Investors have fully priced in a rate cut from the Fed come September, and are expecting more than 60 basis points worth of easing by the year end. While Tuesday's U.S. retail sales data pointed to consumer resilience and bolstered second-quarter growth prospects, it failed to alter market views. The New Zealand dollar was last 0.64% higher at $0.6087, helped by Wednesday's data that showed domestically driven inflation remained high in the second quarter, even as the headline figure missed expectations. Still, markets are sticking to bets of about three rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand this year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/dollar-wobbles-with-fed-rate-cuts-back-view-2024-07-17/