2024-05-27 09:59

May 27 (Reuters) - Tornado-spawning thunderstorms that swept the Southern Plains and the Ozark Mountains have killed at least 21 people across four U.S. states as of Monday afternoon and wrecked hundreds of buildings, as forecasters warned of more severe weather. The death toll over the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend included at least eight fatalities in Arkansas, seven in Texas, four in Kentucky and two in Oklahoma, according to tallies by state emergency authorities. A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for parts of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania until Monday evening, the National Weather Service said. The watch was in effect for more than 30 million people in the Northeast, as the storms were expected to move to that part of the East Coast. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency early on Monday. The weather service New Tab, opens new tab issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the Atlanta area and other parts of Georgia and for several western South Carolina counties until at least Monday afternoon. "It was a tough night for our people," Beshear posted on social media platform X on Monday. He later said in a press briefing that devastating storms had hit almost the entire state. The storms damaged 100 state highways and roads, officials said. At least seven people perished - including a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old from a family - and nearly 100 were injured on Saturday night when a powerful tornado struck communities in North Texas near the Oklahoma border, Governor Greg Abbott told a Sunday news conference. Late on Sunday, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at least eight people died in her state after the storms. An Arkansan suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease died due to a lack of oxygen when the power went out. President Joe Biden offered condolences for the lives lost when he spoke on Monday with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Governors Abbott and Sanders, the White House said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was on the ground conducting damage assessments with state and local counterparts, the White House said, adding that Biden had directed federal agencies to provide support as needed. Hundreds of thousands of Americans were without power on Monday due to the weather, according to the PowerOutage.US tracking website. In Kentucky alone, more than 160,000 customers lacked electricity. In some areas, restoring power could take days, Kentucky Governor Beshear said in a news briefing. The weather service warned that additional storms would move through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, bringing damaging winds, large hail and more tornadoes, as well as heavy downpours capable of triggering flash floods. The latest extreme weather came just days after a powerful tornado ripped through an Iowa town, killing four people, and more twisters touched down in Texas last week. The U.S. is preparing for what government forecasters have called a potentially "extraordinary" 2024 Atlantic hurricane season beginning next Saturday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/kentucky-warns-more-severe-weather-after-us-storms-kill-14-2024-05-27/

2024-05-27 09:10

SINGAPORE, May 27 (Reuters) - Container shipper X-Press Feeders has conducted its first bio-methanol refuelling operation at the port of Singapore on Monday, a company executive said, after receiving in mid-May its first out of 14 dual-fuelled vessels ordered. The company aims to use more methanol to fuel its fleet to meet its targets of a 20% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2035 and to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Using bio-methanol produced from decomposing organic matter such as waste and residues helps reduce carbon emissions by 65% versus conventional marine fuel, said Francis Goh, chief operating officer at X-Press Feeders. The company's first dual-fuelled vessel has been delivered out of a Chinese shipyard this month and is sailing from Shanghai to Rotterdam via Singapore. It docked and refuelled with about 300 metric tons of bio-methanol at Singapore on Monday, supplied from Global Energy Trading's chemical bunker tanker. The ship refuelled while loading and unloading containers, making it the first simultaneous methanol bunkering and cargo operation to take place in Singapore, according to the city-state's port authority. "This marks an increase in productivity. The less time we spend in port, the faster our ships turn around," said Goh. The company will launch its methanol-fuelled feeder ships on a Baltic shipping route in July followed by a Finland route in October. "We thought the European market would be the most receptive to having such vessels... with the regulatory environment, it is very conducive," said Goh. The first green methanol bunker operation at Singapore was conducted by Maersk last July, while Stena Bulk refuelled green methanol at Singapore last week. X-Press Feeders will receive eight dual-fuel container ships between 2024 and 2025 and another six between 2025 and 2026. The company has agreements with six European ports to develop infrastructure for supply and bunkering of alternative fuels. Singapore, the world's largest bunker hub, has received 50 proposals for the supply of methanol as a bunker fuel, with potential to supply over 1 million tons of low-carbon methanol annually by 2030. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/x-press-feeders-completes-its-first-bio-methanol-bunkering-singapore-2024-05-27/

2024-05-27 06:59

SATKHIRA, Bangladesh, May 27 (Reuters) - Strong gales and heavy rain triggered by the first major cyclone of the year lashed the coastlines of India and Bangladesh on Monday, killing at least 16 people and cutting power to millions. The winds had not stopped as night fell, with water rising in many places and overwhelming drainage systems, Bangladeshi climate expert Liakath Ali said. "Many people are stranded - it will be another long night ahead with millions not having electricity or shelter," he said in a statement. "And people having no idea of how damaged their homes, land and livestock are." Cyclone Remal is the first of the frequent storms expected to pound the low-lying coasts of the South Asian neighbours this year as climate change drives up surface temperatures at sea. Packing speeds of up to 135 kph, it crossed the area around Bangladesh's southern port of Mongla and the adjoining Sagar Islands in India's West Bengal late on Sunday, weather officials said, making landfall at about 9 p.m. More than 8.4 million people, including 3.2 million children, are at high health, nutrition, sanitation and safety risk, said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh. At least 10 people were killed in Bangladesh, disaster management chief Mijanur Rahman told Reuters, adding some victims died en route to shelters or when their homes or walls collapsed, or drowned during the storm. "People are usually very reluctant to leave their livestock and homes to go to cyclone shelters," he said. "They wait until the last minute when it is often too late." State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Mohibbur Rahman said the cyclone destroyed nearly 35,000 homes across 19 districts. An additional 115,000 homes were partially damaged. "Many areas remain waterlogged, and fish enclosures and trees have been devastated. As more information becomes available, the full scope of the impact will be clearer." MANGROVE FORESTS FLOODED In India's West Bengal state, four people were electrocuted, authorities said, taking the death toll in the state to six. Bangladesh shut down electricity supply to some areas in advance to avoid accidents, while in many coastal towns fallen trees and snapped electricity lines further disrupted supply, power ministry officials said. Nearly 3 million people in Bangladesh were without electricity, officials added. West Bengal authorities said at least 1,200 power poles were uprooted, while 300 mud huts had been razed. Bangladeshi State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid said in a Facebook post that Remal has caused extensive damage nationwide, urging people to be patient as repairs were under way. "Our crews began repairing the lines as soon as the wind speed subsided," he said. The cyclone also disrupted around 10,000 telecom towers, leaving millions without mobile service. The rain and high tides damaged some embankments and flooded coastal areas in the Sundarbans, home to some of the world's largest mangrove forests, which are shared by India and Bangladesh. Flooded roads disrupted travel in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. Rain also flooded many streets in the Indian city of Kolkata, with reports of wall collapses and at least 52 fallen trees. Kolkata resumed flights after more than 50 were cancelled from Sunday. Suburban train services were also restored. Both nations moved nearly a million people to storm shelters, about 800,000 in Bangladesh and roughly 110,000 in India, authorities said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/millions-without-power-cyclone-remal-pounds-bangladesh-india-2024-05-27/

2024-05-27 05:58

Bullion hit lowest level since May 9 on Friday Platinum up 3% PCE index due this week May 27 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Monday, as investors assessed diminishing bets of U.S. interest rate cuts ahead of a key inflation report due later in the week. Spot gold was up 0.5% to $2,344.88 per ounce as of 1158 GMT, having touched its lowest since May 9 at $2,325.19 on Friday. U.S. gold futures also climbed 0.5% to $2,345.80. Bullion hit a record high of $2,449.89 last week, but has shed more than $100 since then. "Gold has suffered from more hawkish perceived comments from Fed officials and better-than-expected U.S. economic data, with market participants shifting again back the timing of the first Fed rate cut," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. Federal Reserve officials indicated that it would likely take longer than anticipated for inflation to fall to 2%, the minutes of its latest policy meeting showed last week. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Friday it's possible that a key underlying interest rate that influences the potency of monetary policy may rise in the future after years of declines, but it's too soon to say if that will happen. While gold is often considered a safeguard against inflation, higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset. Investors are now waiting for the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the U.S. central bank's preferred inflation gauge, which is due on Friday. Traders are currently pricing in a roughly 62% chance that the Fed will cut rates in November, according to the CME FedWatch tool New Tab, opens new tab, compared to about a 63% chance on Friday. "We expect gold prices to stay volatile, and price setbacks to be shallow, targeting gold prices to test new record highs later this year," UBS' Staunovo said. Spot silver rose 1.7% to $30.86. It hit an 11-year high last week. "Silver has outperformed gold this year, and this trend is likely to continue," Staunovo said. Platinum climbed 3.1% to $1,057.05, and palladium rose 2.3% to $986.00. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gold-recoups-2-week-low-traders-eye-us-inflation-data-2024-05-27/

2024-05-27 05:54

May 27 (Reuters) - There will be no foreign exchange report during U.S. hours on Monday, May 27, as markets are closed for a public holiday. Reuters will resume the report in Asian trading hours on Tuesday, May 28. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/dollar-firm-ahead-global-inflation-data-2024-05-27/

2024-05-27 04:31

LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 27 (Reuters) - Asia's imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are displaying contrasting dynamics in May, with strength in usually price-sensitive buyers like India, but a softer trend in the developed economies such as Japan and South Korea. The top-importing continent is on track to receive about 23.61 million metric tons of the super-chilled fuel this month, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler. This is up slightly from April's 23.23 million tons, although on a daily basis May's arrivals are a touch weaker, while they are stronger than the 20.75 million from May 2023. But while the overall LNG import figures are relatively stable for Asia this month, the breakdown is somewhat at odds with recent movements in the spot price. India's May imports are estimated at 2.46 million tons, up from 2.03 million in April and the strongest month since October 2020. The surge in arrivals comes even as the spot price for delivery to North Asia has been rallying, rising from a near three-year low of $8.30 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week to Feb. 23 to a five-month high of $12.30 last week. What is worth noting is that the cargoes arriving in India in May would have been secured in a window from later February to early April, a time when spot prices were rising but were still below the $10 per mmBtu level. Now that the spot price has risen decisively above that level, it raises the possibility that Indian utilities will scale back purchases as LNG will no longer be competitive in the domestic market. There may be some early signs of this with Kpler tracking 1.13 million tons of arrivals so far in June, more than half of that coming from the United States, meaning those cargoes would have been secured at prices before the recent surge. Another South Asian buyer with robust LNG imports is Pakistan, with Kpler tracking arrivals of 730,000 tons in May, which along with the same volume in January marks the strongest outcome since June 2022. Qatar is the major supplier to both India and Pakistan and it's likely that the South Asian nations were able to secure competitive terms for spot cargoes given the Gulf producer is likely to have seen lower demand from Europe in recent months. LNG vessels have been avoiding the Red Sea and Suez Canal because of attacks on shipping by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group, even though so far no LNG carrier has been targeted. This means Qatar's LNG shipments to Europe have been declining, dropping to 870,000 tons in May, the lowest since August and down from a recent peak of 1.23 million tons in January. But they may be recovering with Kpler tracking exports of 1.02 million tons of LNG to Europe so far for June, and an ongoing recovery in volumes to Europe may cut those available at discounts to India and Pakistan. NORTH ASIA EASES In contrast to the strength in LNG imports in South Asia, those in North Asia were softer in May. China, the world's top buyer, is on track to receive 5.96 million tons in May, down from 6.47 million in April and the lowest monthly total since February, according to Kpler. However, China's imports are likely to exceed the 5.80 million tons from May last year, continuing the trend so far this year of higher LNG arrivals amid a recovering economy and constrained hydropower output. Japan, the world's second-biggest LNG buyer, is expected to import 4.83 million tons in May, down from 5.36 million in April, but higher than the 4.13 million from May last year. Third-ranked South Korea is on track for May imports of 3.45 million tons, down from 3.99 million in April but higher than the 3.19 million from May last year. The overall dynamic for the big three North Asian importers is that arrivals are trending lower, in line with usual seasonal moves, but imports are higher on an annual basis, which does provide fundamental support for the higher spot price. However, the recent spike higher in spot prices may start to undermine imports in South Asia from July onwards, as well as in China, where a rise above $10 per mmBtu makes it difficult for LNG to compete in the domestic market. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indias-robust-lng-imports-are-asias-standout-higher-prices-may-weigh-russell-2024-05-27/