2025-08-21 11:37
STOCKHOLM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Swedish state utility Vattenfall said on Thursday it has selected Britain's Rolls-Royce SMR (RR.L) , opens new tab and U.S. group GE Vernova (GEV.N) , opens new tab as candidates for the planned construction of a series of small modular reactors (SMR). Sweden's parliament in May passed legislation to finance a new generation of nuclear reactors, which the government says are key to energy security and achieving net zero emissions by 2045. Sign up here. Vattenfall plans to order either five BWRX-300 reactors from GE Vernova or three Rolls-Royce SMRs, which will provide a total output of around 1,500 MW, in what will become Sweden's first new nuclear reactors in four decades, it said in a statement. After looking like a doomed technology after nuclear accidents at Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan, nuclear power has seen a revival in recent years as countries scramble to phase out fossil fuels and address a warming climate. Sweden wants to build at least 2,500 MW of nuclear capacity by 2035. In total, the government wants the equivalent of around 10 full size reactors by 2045. "Now it's happening - with new nuclear power Sweden will get a more stable, competitive and climate friendly energy generation," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on X. "It's good both for Swedish families and the industrial economy." Electricity demand in Sweden is expected to double to around 300 terrawatt hours over the next two decades, the government says, due in part to key new industries like green steel, bio-fuels and large-scale hydrogen production. Without new energy capacity such as nuclear power, those industries will go elsewhere, the government says. However, industry has proven reluctant to invest and the government will now shoulder the lion's share of nuclear financing. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/swedens-vattenfall-shortlists-rolls-royce-ge-vernova-build-smr-nuclear-reactors-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:36
Trump calls on Fed Governor Cook to resign over mortgage allegations Fed's Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming begins today Palladium up 1.6% Aug 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell on Thursday, pressured by a firmer dollar, while investors looked to the U.S. central bank's annual Jackson Hole symposium later in the day for further policy cues. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,331.74 per ounce, as of 1041 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery also lost 0.4% to $3,373.70. Sign up here. The U.S. dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab was up 0.1%, making U.S. dollar-priced gold expensive for overseas buyers. "Global bond yields have ticked higher, and the dollar has firmed up a tiny bit, and both of these factors are helping to provide some light pressure on gold today.... the metal is continuing to consolidate, frustrating both the bulls and bears alike," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak on Friday at the August 21-23 Jackson Hole symposium, with investors watching whether he backs measures to bolster the labour market or focuses on curbing inflation. The Fed has held rates steady since December, although investors expect a 79% chance of a quarter-point cut by September, according to the CME's FedWatch tool. "There are growing expectations that the Fed Chair will signal a clear shift in policy on Friday... but whether the metal will head sharply higher to break $3400 resistance remains to be seen," Razaqzada added. Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low interest rate environment. Minutes from the Fed's July meeting showed the policymakers who dissented against last month's decision to keep interest rates unchanged - Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller - were alone in advocating for a rate cut. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump called on Fed Governor Lisa Cook to resign over allegations made by one of his political allies about mortgages she holds, intensifying his efforts to influence the central bank. Spot silver was down 0.7% at $37.64 per ounce, platinum fell 1.5% to $1,318.18 and palladium shed 1.6% to $1,096.73. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/gold-falls-dollar-firms-focus-jackson-hole-meeting-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:27
No one has claimed responsibility for 2022 pipeline blasts Suspect used sailing yacht to carry out attack, prosecutors say Ukraine has previously denied involvement Pipelines carried Russian gas to Europe BERLIN, Aug 21 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian man has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of coordinating the 2022 attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, German prosecutors said on Thursday, marking a breakthrough in an episode that sharpened tensions between Russia and the West. Seen by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage, the explosions severely damaged three pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Europe, prompting a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and squeezing energy supplies on the continent. No one has ever taken responsibility for the blasts. Sign up here. The arrest comes just as Kyiv is engaged in fraught diplomatic discussions with the United States over how to end the war in Ukraine without giving away major concessions and swathes of its own territory to Russia. Successive Ukrainian governments had seen the pipelines as a symbol of, and vehicle for, Russia's hold over European energy supplies that Kyiv argued made it hard to act against Moscow ever since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering Europe's deadliest conflict in 80 years, in which analysts say more than 1 million people have been killed or injured. "The bombing of the pipelines must be investigated, including through criminal prosecution. Therefore, it is good that we are making progress in this regard," said German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig in a statement. An official in the Ukrainian president's office said he could not comment as it was not clear who had been arrested. The official reiterated Ukraine's denial of any role in the blasts. The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, was part of a group of people who planted devices on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, a statement from the prosecutor's office said. He and his accomplices had set off from Rostock on Germany's northeastern coast in a sailing yacht to carry out the attack, it said. The vessel had been rented from a German company with the help of forged identity documents via middlemen, it added. Authorities acted on a European arrest warrant for the suspect, who faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of important structures. Carabinieri officers arrested him overnight in the province of Rimini on Italy's Adriatic coast, the German prosecutors' statement said. The Italian Carabinieri confirmed the arrest and said the suspect was aged 49 but gave no further details. MYSTERIOUS BLASTS In September 2022, one of the two lines of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, along with both lines of Nord Stream 1 that carried Russian gas to Europe. Both the U.S. and Ukraine have denied having anything to do with the attacks, as has Russia. Moscow, without providing evidence, blamed Western sabotage for the blasts, which largely severed Russian gas supplies to the lucrative European market. Denmark and Sweden closed their investigations in February 2024, leaving Germany as the only country continuing to pursue the case. Danish authorities concluded there was "deliberate sabotage of the gas pipelines" but found "insufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case", while Sweden closed its investigation citing a lack of jurisdiction. The Washington Post and Germany's Der Spiegel magazine have previously said the team that carried out the attack was put together by a former Ukrainian intelligence officer, who has denied involvement. In January 2023, Germany raided a ship that it said may have been used to transport explosives and told the United Nations it believed trained divers could have attached devices to the pipelines at about 70 to 80 metres deep. The boat, leased in Germany via a Poland-registered company, contained traces of octogen, the same explosive that was found at the underwater blast sites, according to the investigations by Germany, Denmark and Sweden. German media reported last year that Germany had issued a European arrest warrant against a Ukrainian diving instructor who allegedly was part of the team that blew up the pipelines. Citing unnamed sources, several outlets reported that German investigators believed the man, last known to have lived in Poland, was one of the divers who planted explosive devices on the pipelines. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ukrainian-man-arrested-over-nord-stream-pipeline-attacks-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:27
Aug 21 (Reuters) - McCormick said on Thursday it will raise its stake in its Mexico joint venture to 75% by acquiring 25% more for $750 million as the condiments maker seeks to expand further in Latin America. Founded in 1947, the joint venture with Mexican food processing company Grupo Herdez (HERDEZ.MX) , opens new tab has been a dominant player in the condiments and sauces segment of Latin America's second-largest economy. Sign up here. McCormick de Mexico's portfolio consists primarily of mayonnaise, including its flagship McCormick Mayonesa con Jugo de Limones brand. The deal is subject to customary closing and regulatory conditions, McCormick said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/mccormick-expands-stake-its-mexican-joint-venture-75-750-million-deal-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:26
MUMBAI, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Indian importers for the first time bought palm oil from Colombia and Guatemala as producers sitting on surplus stocks offered cargoes at steep discounts, four trade sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Indonesia and Malaysia dominate global palm oil supplies and are the main suppliers to India, which imported 9 million tons of palm oil in 2023/24. Colombia and Guatemala, the fourth- and sixth-largest producers of palm oil, usually export their surplus stocks to Europe and North America. Sign up here. Rising production in the two Latin American countries and their ability to divert their supplies could weigh on benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures , industry officials said. Colombian and Guatemalan cargoes were offered at steep discounts on a free-on-board (FOB) basis to ensure their landed cost at Indian ports remained lower than supplies from Malaysia and Indonesia, said a Mumbai-based dealer at a global trading house, who declined to be named in line with company policy. Indian buyers prefer quick shipments, and the shipping time from South America is about 45 days, but the discounts were enough to lure them, the dealer said. The landed cost of South American palm oil at Indian ports was more than $10 per ton lower than supplies from Indonesia and Malaysia, another Mumbai-based dealer said. Crude palm oil (CPO) is currently being offered at about $1,165 a ton, including cost, insurance and freight (CIF), in India for October delivery. Freight to ship palm oil from the Americas is about $90 per ton, compared with $45 from Southeast Asia, said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a Mumbai-based brokerage. Vessels will be loaded at South American ports in September to arrive at India's Kandla port in October, said a New Delhi-based dealer. Latin America exports half of its 5 million tons of palm oil, and India's first purchases from the region could open the door to more supplies, said Aashish Acharya, vice president at Patanjali Foods Ltd (PAFO.NS) , opens new tab, a leading importer of edible oils. Palm oil demand has been rising and will remain robust in the coming months due to the festival season in India, Acharya said. Festival season starts in September and sees increased demand for edible oils to produce sweets and fried foods. Demand usually dips again during winter months. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-snaps-up-steeply-discounted-palm-oil-colombia-guatemala-2025-08-21/
2025-08-21 11:26
BRUSSELS, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The European Union's proposal would mean lowered U.S. car tariffs down to 15% retroactively from August 1st, the European Union's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Thursday. Sefcovic's comment came as a 3-1/2 page joint statement by the United States and the EU was released, locking in a trade deal reached last month that includes a 15% tariff on most EU imports. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/eu-says-its-proposal-means-lowered-us-car-tariffs-down-15-retroactively-aug-1-2025-08-05/
