2024-07-11 19:28

WARSAW, July 11 (Reuters) - One miner died and one was still trapped underground after a pit in southern Poland was struck by an earth tremor, mine owner PGG said on Thursday evening. Representatives of the mine said earlier that one of the miners was being brought to the surface without giving any details on his condition. Some 76 miners had been brought to the surface earlier and 17 had been taken to nearby hospitals with one seriously hurt, PGG CEO Leszek Pietraszek said during a televised news conference in the afternoon. PGG spokesperson Aleksandra Wysocka-Siembiga earlier said the tremor occurred at around 0600 GMT about 1,200 metres (3,960 feet) below ground at the Rydultowy mine. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/polish-rescue-teams-working-save-dozens-trapped-miners-2024-07-11/

2024-07-11 19:28

BELGRADE, July 11 (Reuters) - Mining group Rio Tinto (RIO.L) New Tab, opens new tab welcomed a Serbian court ruling on Thursday that overturns a government decision in 2022 to revoke its initial planning permission to develop a lithium mine in the country. The Serbian Constitutional Court said the government had "overstepped the limits of its competence" by ruling against the mine's so-called spatial plan permit and said the decision was unconstitutional. If developed, the Jadar lithium project in Western Serbia could cover 90% of Europe’s current lithium needs and help to make the company a leading lithium producer. "Rio Tinto welcomes the decision of the Constitutional Court in Serbia," the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "We continue to believe the Jadar Project has the potential to be a world-class lithium-borates asset that could act as a catalyst for the development of other industries and thousands of jobs for the current and future generations in Serbia." The government in January 2022 had revoked Rio Tinto's permit defining what would be the mining area for the $2.4 billion lithium project following protests organised by environmental campaigners. Lithium, largely used in batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and mobile devices, is regarded as a critical material by many major economies. On Thursday several hundred protesters gathered in front of the Constitutional Court building to demand a halt to the lithium exploration, saying it is bad for the environment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/serbian-court-rules-govt-decision-revoke-lithium-project-permit-unconstitutional-2024-07-11/

2024-07-11 19:27

July 11 (Reuters) - Atlantic Shores, a joint venture of Shell (SHEL.L) New Tab, opens new tab and France's EDF , on Wednesday submitted a proposal to be the initial provider of offshore wind energy to the state of New Jersey in the Fourth Offshore Wind Solicitation. The project proposed involves Atlantic Shores Projects 1 and 2, which can generate more than 2,800 megawatt of electricity, enough to serve more than 1 million New Jersey homes combined. Last year, Atlantic Shores selected Vestas wind systems as a preferred turbine supplier for its 1.5 gigawatt project in New Jersey. In 2020, South Jersey Industries Inc announced a green hydrogen partnership with Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind. However, according to an analysis by an industry group, it is expected that the U.S. will fall far short of the Biden administration's 2030 offshore wind goal but will catch up quickly in the following years. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/atlantic-shores-seeks-first-offshore-wind-role-new-jersey-2024-07-11/

2024-07-11 13:05

July 11 (Reuters) - Jack Dorsey-led payments technology firm Block (SQ.N) New Tab, opens new tab could become a formidable player in the crypto mining industry, but Wall Street will need details on profit margins to gauge the earnings tailwind from this business, analysts said. Block inked New Tab, opens new tab its first large-scale crypto mining hardware pact on Wednesday, agreeing to supply its chips to bitcoin miner Core Scientific (CORZ.O) New Tab, opens new tab, but no financial details were disclosed. J.P. Morgan estimates the deal could fetch $225 million to $300 million for Block, but said it will need more information to evaluate the hardware business's long-term earnings potential. "We have more to learn in terms of margins of this business, so we are hesitant to underwrite this until we learn more around cadence and economics," J.P. Morgan said. The deal marks a major step for the payments company, which started out as "Square" in 2009 before rebranding itself in 2021 in a nod to its focus on crypto and blockchain technologies. Dorsey, who co-founded and led Twitter (now known as 'X'), has long been bullish on bitcoin. Block started investing New Tab, opens new tab 10% of its monthly gross profit from bitcoin products into bitcoin in April. Almost 9% of the company's cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were held in the form of bitcoin in the first quarter. "This development (the Core Scientific deal) is further evidence of Block as an emerging leader in the crypto hardware ecosystem," Macquarie analysts Paul Golding and Emma Liang wrote in a note. Subsequent similar deals could further validate Block's reputation in the industry, according to the analysts. But J.P. Morgan said the stock performance will be determined by Block's other segments, such as Square and Cash App. Block's shares have lost nearly 17% so far this year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/block-investors-need-more-gauge-crypto-units-earnings-potential-analysts-say-2024-07-11/

2024-07-11 12:46

HOUSTON/FREEPORT, July 11 (Reuters) - About 1 million homes and businesses in Texas remained without power on Thursday, four days after Hurricane Beryl lashed the state with fierce winds and flooding, sparking frustration among companies, officials and residents who were facing extreme heat. A little more than half of CenterPoint Energy's (CNP.N) New Tab, opens new tab 2.3 million customers had power restored by Thursday morning, the company said, following Beryl's landfall near Matagorda. CenterPoint is Texas' largest electricity provider. Hiccups in the restoration of power are slowing down some companies' efforts to return operations to normal, especially around Freeport, among Texas' largest energy hubs. More rain on Thursday added to the delays. However, most oil and gas companies have resumed normal operations after Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 storm. Freeport LNG, the U.S. third largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer, began pulling in small volumes of natural gas for processing on Thursday, according to data from financial firm LSEG. The company has not provided an operational update since Sunday, when it said it ramped down production. A small flare could be seen flickering at the facility, according to a Reuters witness. No vessels were docked at the LNG company's berths, but many power restoration crews were working in the area with service trucks arriving from as far as Nebraska and North Carolina, according to locals interviewed by Reuters. "The major concern of the week over the impact of Hurricane Beryl on U.S. LNG production has receded," said consultancy Rystad's vice president, Wei Xiong, in a note to clients. The port of Freeport said restrictions for navigating during daylight could be lifted on Thursday. U.S. natural gas futures fell about 2% to a two-month low on Thursday on a bigger-than-expected weekly storage build as output rose and the amount of gas flowing to LNG export plants dropped due to Beryl. Chemical maker Olin (OLN.N) New Tab, opens new tab on Wednesday declared a force majeure for some product and aromatic shipments after Beryl caused damage to its Freeport facilities. The firm said the duration of the disruption was uncertain, and did not respond to requests for more details. Formosa Plastics, which temporarily shut down operations at its Point Comfort plant after a malfunction with a gas compressor system, said it did not receive any severe damage from Beryl. The company expects operations to be back to normal by the end of next week. Chemical company BASF (BASFn.DE) New Tab, opens new tab said its facilities in Texas experienced minimal impact from Hurricane Beryl and the site was working to resume normal operations. The ports of Houston, Galveston and Texas City were open on Thursday, with some of them operating with restrictions that were expected to be lifted soon. The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday afternoon rescinded port conditions issued during storms, signaling normal operations. The Texas Gulf Coast is home to massive oil and gas processing facilities, as well as export plants and chemical manufacturers. Texas accounts for 40% of U.S. oil output and 20% of the country's natural gas production. Refineries, offshore production sites and ports saw limited damage and had largely returned to normal operations by Thursday. BACKLASH CenterPoint has been facing scrutiny over its preparations ahead of Beryl and speed of reaction. The utility said on Wednesday it expected to restore power to an additional 400,000 customers by Friday and 350,000 customers by Sunday. In total, 2.26 million of its customers lost power in the storm. "We did not have material damage to our transmission system or substations or flooding of substations," CenterPoint executive vice president, Jason Ryan, told Texas commissioners on Thursday. Entergy, which had peak outages of about 252,000 customers in Texas after the hurricane, said it had restored power to about 43% of those affected. In Freeport, however, most restaurants remained closed three days after the storm due to a lack of power. Damaged electric lines could be seen trailing on roads, according to a Reuters witness. Residents crowded into a McDonald's restaurant in the area, one of the few places open, to charge phones. "We're still picking back up," a local said. Afternoon rains brought some relief to soaring temperatures in southeast Texas, which were in the low to mid-90 degrees Fahrenheit (low to mid-32 degrees Celsius), with heat indices in the 100s, the National Weather Service said. Damage from Beryl could cost U.S. insurers roughly $2.7 million, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co said on Thursday. An insurance adjuster said he was inspecting about 50 houses in Freeport on Thursday before heading to other coastal towns impacted by the storm. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/over-13-million-texas-remain-without-power-after-beryl-2024-07-11/

2024-07-11 12:29

July 11 (Reuters) - Conagra Brands (CAG.N) New Tab, opens new tab forecast annual revenue and profit below estimates after missing quarterly revenue expectations on Thursday, as high living costs prompted cash-strapped shoppers to turn to cheaper alternatives for their at-home meals. Shares of the company, which also missed quarterly revenue estimates, were down about 4% in premarket trading. The packaged food industry has been struggling with lackluster volume recovery as higher living costs have squeezed budgets, forcing cost-conscious consumers to look for even cheaper alternatives despite preferring to eat at home over dining out. Despite reducing product prices to attract more cautious spenders, the maker of Slim Jim beef jerky still experienced sluggish demand in its frozen food and snacking businesses. Conagra's total volumes decreased 1.8% in the fourth quarter after falling 7.7% last year. "Looking ahead, we expect a gradual waning of the challenging industry trends seen throughout fiscal year 2024, as consumers adapt and establish new reference prices," CEO Sean Connolly said. The company expects fiscal-year 2025 organic sales to decrease between 1.5% to flat, compared with analysts' estimates of 1.54% rise, as per LSEG data. The company beat quarterly estimates for profit but forecasts fiscal 2025 profit below estimates. The Healthy Choice cereal maker expects annual profit per share to be in the range of $2.60 to $2.65 compared to analysts' estimates of $2.69 per share. Conagra Brands reported net sales of $2.91 billion for the quarter ending May 26, below analysts' average estimates of $2.93 billion, according to LSEG data. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/conagra-brands-forecasts-annual-organic-sales-below-estimates-tepid-demand-2024-07-11/