2025-07-10 07:18
HAMBURG, July 10 (Reuters) - Germany's Suedzucker (SZUG.DE) , opens new tab, Europe's largest sugar producer, posted an 85% fall in quarterly operating profit on Thursday, hurt by low EU sugar prices. Suedzucker reported operating profits of 22 million euros ($25.82 million) for the first quarter to end-May, down from 155 million euros a year earlier. Sign up here. It confirmed its previous forecast for full-year group operating profit of between 150 million and 300 million euros, down from 350 million euros in the previous year. Suedzucker's sugar segment reported an operating loss of 56 million euros in the first quarter against a profit of 59 million euros a year ago. “The significant decline in results was mainly caused by the downturn in sugar prices,” Suedzucker said, adding lower production costs could compensate for the drop in prices. The sugar segment is expected to report a full-year operating loss of between 100 and 200 million euros from a 13 million euro loss in the previous year, returning to profit in the second half of the year. EU sugar prices fell to 540 euros a metric ton in May 2025 from 619 euros in October 2024, partly because of imports of cheap Ukrainian sugar to support the country following Russia's invasion. The EU plans to cut imports of Ukrainian sugar by around 80%. “The EU has still made no final political decision about imports of Ukrainian sugar so we are unable to give an assessment of the impact of any EU restrictions Ukrainian imports,” a Suedzucker spokesperson said. “But we expect higher EU sugar prices from the start of the new sugar season in October 2025 because of a significant reduction in EU sugar production due to a reduced beet cultivated area." The outcome of the negotiations on a higher import quota for sugar from Ukraine poses a risk, he said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/suedzucker-posts-85-q1-earnings-drop-weak-sugar-market-2025-07-10/
2025-07-10 07:11
COPENHAGEN, July 10 (Reuters) - Danish offshore wind developer Orsted (ORSTED.CO) , opens new tab said on Thursday it had agreed a 90 billion Taiwan dollar ($3.08 billion) project financing package for its 632 Megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm Greater Changhua 2 offshore Taiwan. ($1 = 29.2360 Taiwan dollars) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/orsted-raises-3-bln-greater-changhua-2-wind-farm-2025-07-10/
2025-07-10 07:04
MUMBAI, July 10 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee ticked up on Thursday, tracking regional peers higher, as a fresh round of tariff threats from the White House did little to move the needle for markets with traders expecting the local unit to stick to its familiar range in the near-term. The rupee was at 85.59 as of 12:20 p.m. IST, up 0.1% from its previous close of 85.6725. Sign up here. Traders reckon that the rupee may hover between 85.40 and 86, a range that it has settled into over the last couple of weeks, as they wait for the result of trade negotiations with the United States. Most regional economies have received tariff letters from Trump but India's negotiations with U.S. are still ongoing. A trade delegation is expected to visit the U.S. soon for further talks, an Indian trade official said on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 50% tariff on U.S. copper imports and a 50% duty on goods from Brazil, both to start on August 1. Trump has also dispatched August 1 tariff notices to seven minor U.S. trading partners that exported only $15 billion in goods to the U.S. last year, including a 20% tariff on goods from the Philippines. However, equity and currency markets in Asia appeared to take the latest salvos in their stride, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) , opens new tab up 0.4%. Asian currencies were mostly up between 0.1% to 0.4% while the dollar index steadied just shy of 97.5. While the immediate reaction was muted, ANZ said in a note that an uncertain trade outlook and weaker growth prospects were likely to limit portfolio inflows in the Asian region in the near term. Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums were little changed on the day, showing little support for an interest rate cut later this month, with most policymakers remaining worried about the inflationary pressures emanating from tariffs. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-nudges-higher-familiar-resistance-support-levels-tipped-hold-2025-07-10/
2025-07-10 06:59
LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - Britain's government will not move to a zonal system for wholesale energy prices but instead seek to take greater control of the planning process to determine where clean energy infrastructure is built. Britain, which has some of the highest electricity costs in the world, is grappling with how to build new generation in the form of wind or solar farms and transport it to where it is needed across the country. Sign up here. It had considered breaking the country into zones, with a price based on supply and demand, in the hope it would incentivise businesses to locate nearer to renewable energy sources, potentially cutting the cost of transmission. Instead it announced reforms on Thursday that it said would seek to spread out the building of new energy projects around the country, give investors more confidence on where to build and when, and speed up the time it takes to get connections to the power grid. "Our package of reforms will protect consumers and secure investment as we drive to deliver our clean power mission," energy minister Ed Miliband said in the statement. The planned changes, which his department says will bring down energy bills, will see the government take on more responsibility for planning the system. As part of a drive to "rewire Britain and upgrade the country's outdated infrastructure", it is also seeking to reduce the amount it has to pay in constraint payments - compensation paid to electricity generators when they are required to reduce output due to grid limitations. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) estimates that up to 4 billion pounds ($5.4 billion) in constraint payments could be avoided by 2030, if upgrades are completed, the statement said. ($1 = 0.7349 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/uk-retains-single-national-wholesale-energy-prices-2025-07-10/
2025-07-10 06:55
ALMATY, July 10 (Reuters) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told U.S. President Donald Trump in a letter that he was ready for constructive dialogue on trade issues after Trump slapped fresh 25% reciprocal tariffs on the Central Asian country. Trump launched a new global trade war this week, imposing higher tariff rates on a slew of countries as he continues his "America First" policies. Sign up here. Beginning August 1, goods exported from Kazakhstan to the United States will face a 25% reciprocal tariff. Most of the oil-rich country's exports will continue to be supplied without the new duties. Its key exports - oil, uranium, silver, ferroalloys, tantalum and titanium - are exempted from tariffs, according to the Kazakh trade ministry. Tokayev said in a letter to Trump that the country was ready to continue dialogue with the White House to reach a rational solution to trade issues. "Tokayev expressed confidence in reaching a compromise on the trade issue," the presidential press service said in a statement. The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the U.S. in 2024 amounted to $4.2 billion, which is 4% higher than in 2023. Kazakhstan's main export commodity to the U.S. is crude oil, which accounts for 56.2% of total supplies, uranium - 16.4%, silver - 12.2%, ferroalloys - 9.5%, tantalum and products made from it - 0.89%. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/kazakhstans-leader-tells-trump-that-he-hopes-compromise-new-us-tariffs-2025-07-10/
2025-07-10 06:52
July 10 (Reuters) - Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut (BARN.S) , opens new tab cut its volume guidance for the third time this year on Thursday due to what it described as unprecedented market conditions in the cocoa bean market, as it reported nine-month results in line with market expectations. The world's biggest chocolatier, which supplies key food producers such as KitKat maker Nestle (NESN.S) , opens new tab, expects its sales volume to fall by 7% in the year ending on August 31. Sign up here. It had previously said it expected the cocoa sales volume to fall by a mid-single-digit percentage due to volatility in cocoa bean prices that trade in London at around 5,455 pounds per metric ton . Its shares were down 2.8% at 0618 GMT in premarket, with analysts flagging concerns that the management's low visibility and another profit warning could hurt the investment case and fail to reassure investors on the difficult environment. The low visibility "could also raise question about the company's management information system", analyst Matteo Lindauer from Vontobel said. Despite London cocoa futures falling to an eight-month low on Monday on expectations of a rise in production in South America, industry sources told Reuters that the key West African cocoa producing region was likely to see a 10% decline in the upcoming 2025/26 season. Barry Callebaut also lowered its operating earnings target, saying they would rise by a mid to high single-digit percentage in constant currency this year. In April, it had guided for a double-digit rise. Its sales volume was 1.6 million tonnes in the nine months to the end of May, meeting analysts' average forecast in a company-provided poll, even as they fell 9.5% year-on-year in the third quarter of the financial year. Despite this, revenue increased by a half during the nine-month period, as the chocolatier passed on raw material costs to its customers. (This story has been corrected to say the company has cut its guidance three, not two, times this year, in paragraph 1) https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/barry-callebaut-lowers-volume-guidance-raw-material-prices-2025-07-10/
