2024-06-28 12:31
OTTAWA, June 28 (Reuters) - The Canadian economy grew by 0.3% in April, as rebounds in wholesale trade, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, and manufacturing contributed to the growth, Statistics Canada said on Friday. May GDP most likely rose 0.1%, the agency said in a flash estimate. The goods-producing sector was up 0.3% in April, while the service-producing sector also increased by 0.3%. (Changes in percent) Apr Mar(rev) Mar(prev) Apr yr/yr All industries +0.3 -0.0 -0.0 +1.1 Goods +0.3 -0.1 0.0 -1.1 Services +0.3 -0.0 -0.0 +1.8 NOTE - All figures are seasonally adjusted. Analysts in a Reuters survey had forecast April GDP to rise 0.3%. (([email protected] New Tab, opens new tab)) Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/GDP Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/canada-economy-grew-03-april-most-likely-up-01-may-2024-06-28/
2024-06-28 12:28
NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Russians are still indulging in foreign-made Toblerone chocolate, according to internal sales documents seen by Reuters, showing the difficulty of U.S. manufacturer Mondelez's (MDLZ.O) New Tab, opens new tab plan to isolate its business in the country from its global operations. Facing continuing pressure from employees, activists and investors to leave Russia, Mondelez planned to make its business there "standalone with a self-sufficient supply chain" by the end of last year. It told Reuters in February that products in Russia were made and distributed locally, with "no imports of finished goods from Europe into Russia or exports from Russia into Europe." But, high-end Toblerone chocolate is made in Switzerland and Slovakia, and the sales documents viewed by Reuters indicate that 100 tons of it were sold in Russia in the first four months of this year, although volumes were down 12% from a year earlier. The continued sales of the triangular chocolate bars, a shape reminiscent of the peaks of the Swiss Alps, show the challenges of removing Russia from the rest of Mondelez's business. Food including chocolate does not fall under the multitude of sanctions imposed by Western countries aimed at punishing Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since then, many companies have pledged to either exit the country or sell or wall-off their Russian operations. Mondelez said in a statement that it is possible that "branded products could be entering Russia through third-party distributors or brokers," grey market importers looking to capitalize on demand for Western brands that retreated after the war. Russia previously said it would allow imports without the trademark owner's permission. BILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS The country remains a significant part of Mondelez's business. The company's revenues in Russia accounted for 2.9%, or about $1 billion, of its $36 billion in global sales last year. Reuters found Toblerone bars on shop shelves in Moscow and St. Petersburg with packaging saying they were made in Mondelez's factory in Bern, Switzerland on November 23. A 100 gram bar was for sale for 175.99 roubles ($2.02 U.S. dollars). To stop third-party distributors or brokers from selling Toblerone in Russia, Mondelez could file lawsuits against them and retailers stocking the chocolate in Russian courts over trademark infringement, said Peter Maggs, a research professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and expert on Russian law. "For the poor company, it's like a whack-a-mole system, if there’s a demand, various people will be bringing the stuff in," Maggs said. "Unlike bringing in narcotics, you’re not going to get stopped at customs" for chocolate. "It’s really up to the company to enforce it," he added. Mondelez declined to provide additional comment. In another bid to separate Russia, Mondelez earlier this year appointed a new general manager to lead the country as a "standalone organization" but he reports to another executive who reports to the president of Europe. The Russian business and its employees are also still entangled in some ways with the rest of Mondelez. A source familiar with the matter who is not authorized to speak to media and could not be named said that Mondelez's Russian business still uses the company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, a central planning tool. The source also said that Russian employees working for the Russian business also attend meetings with employees from other regions. PROFITS DOWN The internal sales documents show that Mondelez's gross profit and net revenue on Toblerone in Russia fell in the first four months of this year compared to the same time last year. Revenue on Milka chocolate in Russia is up 5.2% in the same time period, according to the documents, while volumes and gross profit on the cheaper chocolate brand have fallen. Mondelez manufactures Milka in its factory in Pokrov, located about 60 miles east of Moscow, according to a translation of its Russian website. Mondelez said last June that it was expecting volume and sales declines in Russia in part because it stopped advertising and launching new products there. Mondelez's Russian business is still top of mind for some of its investors. At its annual meeting in May, a little over 30% of them backed a shareholder resolution calling for the company to conduct an independent study of the risks of continuing to do business in Russia, a move the company opposed. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/toblerone-still-sold-russia-even-mondelez-nixed-imports-2024-06-28/
2024-06-28 11:57
BRUSSELS, June 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission has changed the date for pre-disclosure of potential provisional duties on imports of Chinese biodiesel to July 19 from June 28, according to a Friday update on the Commission's trade defence website. The duties in the anti-dumping case would now be imposed by August 16, from a previous deadline of July 29, the update also showed. The Commission launched the investigation in December 2023 following a complaint from the European Biodiesel Board. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/eu-delays-announcement-measures-chinese-biodiesel-imports-2024-06-28/
2024-06-28 11:22
MUMBAI, June 28 (Reuters) - India's rupee rose slightly, while government bonds were unable to gain meaningfully on the day of the much-awaited inclusion of the country's sovereign debt into a widely-tracked JPMorgan debt index as inflows underwhelmed investors. Early on Friday, the rupee touched a peak of 83.3675 against the U.S. dollar and ended 0.1% higher at 83.3825. The benchmark bond yield was marginally higher at 7.01%. Foreign exchange market indicators had pointed to inflows, likely due to passive funds buying bonds, but multiple market participants said the quantum of inflows was sharply lower than anticipated. Traders had been betting on inflows of up to $2 billion spread over Thursday and Friday. By 4:00 p.m. IST on Friday, traders said a maximum of 40 billion rupees ($480 million) may have come into government bonds. In the previous session, bonds under the so-called fully accessible route, which will be added to the JPMorgan emerging market debt index, saw a net purchase of around $120 million by foreign investors. "The market expected passive investors to jump in on the first day to minimise tracking error," Deepak Sood, senior partner and head of fixed income at Alpha Alternatives, said. "However, it seems that the flows will pick up gradually as most investors need to rebalance their portfolios. We are confident that the momentum will increase in coming days." India's inclusion in the JPMorgan index was announced in September, setting the stage for billions of dollars to flow into the world's fifth-largest economy. Since then, foreign investors have bought nearly $11 billion of government bonds under the fully accessible route. Nagaraj Kulkarni, co-head for Asia rates strategy (ex-China) and head - flows strategy at Standard Chartered Bank expects a pick up from July. "Index related inflows are underway for some time now, and we expect them to continue. We expect inflows to be spread out over a period rather than on one specific day," he said on Friday. ($1 = 83.3790 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/indian-rupee-sees-mild-gains-bonds-muted-jpm-index-flows-undershoot-estimates-2024-06-28/
2024-06-28 11:16
BERLIN, June 28 (Reuters) - Germany has agreed to form a climate and energy alliance with Morocco to support renewable energy expansion and hydrogen production in the north African country, the development ministry said on Friday. Germany is seeking to expand its reliance on hydrogen as a future energy source to cut greenhouse emissions for highly polluting industrial sectors that cannot be electrified such as steel and chemicals. Berlin will have to import up to 70% of its hydrogen demand in the future as Europe's largest economy aims to become climate-neutral by 2045, but it lacks the space and conditions for large wind and solar power production. "Morocco has the best conditions for the energy transition and the production of green hydrogen. Germany wants to import hydrogen," Development Minister Svenja Schulze, who signed the alliance declaration with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita in Berlin, said in a statement. Schulze said the new green hydrogen economy must be fair and unlike the fossil-based economy. "We want to do this fairly and in partnership, so that Morocco can also drive forward its energy transition and get its fair share of the value chains of the future," she added. Given the geographical proximity, Germany supports electricity trading cooperation between Morocco and the European Union and the participation of German technology companies and suppliers to advance the hydrogen economy there, Economy Ministry State Secretary Stefan Wenzel said. The world's largest solar thermal power plant in the southern Moroccan city of Ouarzazate was built with Germany's support, the development ministry said, adding that Germany is also involved in building Morocco's first green hydrogen pilot plant. The plant is expected to produce around 10,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year, enough to produce 50,000 tonnes of green steel, the ministry added. Germany's development ministry was not immediately available to clarify when hydrogen production and exports to Germany will start or how it will be transported to Germany. Further investments will follow on the basis of the new German-Moroccan alliance for climate and energy, it added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/germany-morocco-agree-alliance-support-green-hydrogen-production-exports-2024-06-28/
2024-06-28 11:14
Brent 2024 average is forecast at $83.93 a barrel in poll WTI 2024 average is forecast at $79.72 a barrel in poll Prices could spike to $90 depending on summer use, geopoliticsFor table of crude price forecasts, click June 27 (Reuters) - Oil prices will not change much in the second half of 2024 as concerns around demand from China and prospects of higher supply from key producers counter risks from geopolitical tensions, a Reuters poll indicated on Friday. A poll of 44 analysts and economists surveyed by Reuters in the last two weeks forecast the global benchmark, Brent crude , would average $83.93 per barrel in 2024, just shy of the $84.01 consensus in the previous month's poll. The forecast for average 2024 U.S. crude , at $79.72, was slightly above May's poll result of $79.56. Brent crude futures have averaged $83.4 thus far in 2024, after brief spikes to as high as $92.18, driven by supply risks due to the conflict in the Middle East. "Beyond the noise, oil prices seem stuck in a sideways trend," with supply and demand providing little direction and storage levels floating well within seasonal norms, said Julius Baer analyst Norbert Rücker. However, a few analysts said prices could jump to the $90 mark and potentially beyond, depending on a variety of factors including summer consumption, the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, and output curbs from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Analysts expect oil demand to grow by between 0.99 and 1.4 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2024, slightly above the 0.96 mbpd forecast by the Paris-based International Energy Agency. On the supply side, meanwhile, most analysts noted that crude production from non-OPEC countries is rising. If OPEC+ moves ahead with gradually unwinding its current production cuts from October, the market could move into a small surplus by the end of 2025, said William Weatherburn, analyst at Capital Economics. Earlier this month, OPEC and allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, opted to slowly unwind output cuts of 2.2 million bpd over the course of a year beginning in October, while extending cuts of another 3.66 million bpd through the end of 2025. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/oil-prices-stay-steady-china-demand-woes-offset-mideast-risks-2024-06-28/
