2025-07-07 12:40
WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - The United States will make several trade announcements in the next 48 hours, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, ahead of a U.S. deadline on Wednesday to finalize trade pacts. "We've had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC. "So it's going to be a busy couple of days." Sign up here. President Donald Trump said the United States would start delivering tariff letters from 12:00 pm ET (1600 GMT) on Monday. The letters would not necessarily provide an ultimatum, according to Bessent. "It's just 'thank you for wanting to trade with the United States of America. We welcome you as a trading partner, and here's the rate, unless you want to come back and try to negotiate,'" he said. Bessent declined to comment on whether negotiations on new ownership of the TikTok short video app, which President Donald Trump said would start this week, would be linked to trade talks. He said he would meet with his Chinese counterpart in the next couple of weeks. "I think there are things for us to do together if the Chinese want to do it, so we will discuss whether we are able to move beyond trade into other areas," he told CNBC. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-make-several-trade-announcements-next-48-hours-treasury-secretary-says-2025-07-07/
2025-07-07 12:40
July 7 (Reuters) - CoreWeave (CRWV.O) , opens new tab will buy crypto miner Core Scientific (CORZ.O) , opens new tab in an all-stock deal valued at about $9 billion, it said on Monday, as AI infrastructure firms race to secure the energy and data center capacity needed to power surging demand. Bitcoin miners' energy-intensive sites and power contracts, built during the crypto boom, have emerged as prime targets for AI companies expanding their computing infrastructure. Sign up here. The deal will help in the immediate elimination of more than $10 billion of cumulative future lease overhead to be paid for existing contractual sites over the next 12 years, CoreWeave said. The offer values Core Scientific at $20.40 per share, representing a premium of around 66% to the stock's closing price before reports of deal talks surfaced in late June. Core Scientific's shares fell 22% in morning trading, while Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab-backed CoreWeave was last down 4.5%. Core Scientific stockholders will receive 0.1235 newly issued CoreWeave stock for each share they hold. "This acquisition accelerates our strategy to deploy AI and HPC (high-performance computing) workloads at scale," said CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, and the final price will be determined at that time. PIVOT GATHERS PACE Bitcoin miners have tapped into the AI boom to diversify beyond cryptocurrency, leasing power and data center space to meet soaring demand from AI workloads. The acquisition is expected to set the bar for bitcoin miners looking to pivot to AI, Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani told Reuters, adding that power remains the biggest constraint for AI data center expansion. "CoreWeave gets full control of Core Scientific's entire 1.3 GW power contracted and future pipeline," Chhugani said. Founded as an Ethereum-focused crypto miner in 2017, CoreWeave pivoted to AI a few years later. It shuttered its mining business after "The Merge", Ethereum's 2022 upgrade, slashed rewards for miners. CoreWeave's revenue has grown at breakneck speed, climbing more than eight-fold last year, according to its IPO prospectus. The deal also marks a turnaround for Core Scientific, which filed for bankruptcy in late 2022 following a sharp drop in bitcoin prices and soaring energy costs. The company emerged from bankruptcy in early 2024 and, like several other bitcoin miners, has looked to lean on the AI boom to power growth. Core Scientific first received an unsolicited, non-binding takeover offer from CoreWeave in June 2024. At the time, the company rejected the offer, saying it was significantly undervalued. The two companies later signed a series of 12-year contracts, including one under which Core Scientific agreed to provide CoreWeave with about 200 MW of infrastructure to power its high-performance computing services. CoreWeave, which provides access to data centers and Nvidia-powered AI chips, has a market value of about $79 billion, according to LSEG data. Goldman Sachs is CoreWeave's adviser, while Moelis and PJT Partners are the financial advisers to Core Scientific. https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/coreweave-acquire-crypto-miner-core-scientific-2025-07-07/
2025-07-07 12:19
July 7 (Reuters) - Camp Mystic said on Monday that 27 campers and counselors died in catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River in central Texas. "Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River," the camp said in a statement. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/camp-mystic-says-27-campers-counselors-dead-texas-flooding-2025-07-07/
2025-07-07 12:00
LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 7 (Reuters) - Two questions stand out after the decision by OPEC+ to accelerate increases in crude oil output: who is going to buy the extra crude, and will the group actually export the additional barrels they say they are going to produce? OPEC+ agreed at a weekend meeting to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, up from the 411,000 bpd the group had approved for May, June and July, and 138,000 bpd for April. Sign up here. The production boost will come from eight members of the group - Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Algeria. The increase for August means that the eight will have unwound 1.919 million bpd of the voluntary 2.2 million bpd they had imposed last year in a bid to support crude prices. OPEC+ cited what it called "steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals" in the statement announcing the increased August output, sticking to a theme from its recent communiques that the oil market is in fine shape. However, the reality may not be quite as rosy as OPEC+ paints, with tepid demand growth in major consumers such as China, the world's top oil importer. China's crude imports barely rose in the first five months of the year, with official data showing a gain of 0.3%, or 28,500 bpd, to 11.1 million bpd. The growth rate will likely tick up when June data is released next week, with LSEG Oil Research expecting imports of 11.96 million bpd for the month, up from the customs number of 11.30 million bpd for June 2024. While China's imports are likely to have been strong in June, the reason why is not quite so bullish. It is likely that refiners were buying more crude than they intended to process because prices were lower at the time when June-arriving cargoes were arranged. Global benchmark Brent futures hit a four-year low of $58.50 a barrel on May 5 and had been trending lower since early April, the time period when June-arriving cargoes would have been bought. The weakness in prices has seen oil imports by Asia, which buys about 60% of seaborne crude, rise in June, with LSEG estimating arrivals of 28.65 million bpd, the most since January 2023. The higher June imports lifted Asia's arrivals for the first half of 2025 to 27.36 million bpd, up 620,000 bpd for the same period last year. Coincidentally this is largely in line with the demand growth forecasts for the region by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, with the group's June monthly report forecasting demand growth of 630,000 bpd for non-OECD Asia in 2025. PRICES KEY The question is whether the second half will see higher imports in Asia, or if the momentum seen in June will dissipate. Much will depend on prices, as history suggests that when prices rise importers such as China and India tend to trim imports and use up stockpiles. The brief surge in prices in mid-June sparked by Israel's attacks on Iran, later joined by the United States, will probably be enough to see China lower imports in August and perhaps September. For imports to rise in the fourth quarter, it will likely take lower oil prices to encourage buying and inventory builds. In that case the ball is largely in OPEC+'s court. If the group starts producing what their quotas allow, and furthermore actually exports this oil, then it's likely that prices will continue to soften, thereby encouraging buying. So far, it appears that actual output has lagged the higher quotas, with the five OPEC members of OPEC+ raising output by 267,000 bpd in June, short of the 313,000 bpd allowed, according to a Reuters survey released on July 4. Much will depend on what Saudi Arabia does, given that OPEC+'s largest exporter is the producer with the most spare capacity and the most ability to raise output. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X , opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/opec-is-pumping-more-oil-is-it-needed-what-price-2025-07-07/
2025-07-07 11:53
July 7 (Reuters) - Dow (DOW.N) , opens new tab will shut down three upstream plants in Europe and cut around 800 jobs in response to structural challenges in the region, the chemicals company said on Monday, sending its shares down 2.5% in morning trade. The company said the shutdowns will remove higher-cost, energy-intensive portions of Dow's portfolio in Europe. Sign up here. Global chemical companies are feeling the pressure to reassess strategies, with the European Union's increasing production costs, lackluster demand and stringent environmental regulations. Last year, Dow had said that it had started a review of some of its European assets. An Ethylene cracker in Böhlen, Germany, Chlor-alkali & vinyl assets in Schkopau, Germany and a Basics siloxanes plant in Barry, UK will be shut in the next two years, the chemicals company said on Monday. The Midland, Michigan-based company said the 800 impacted jobs is in addition to the reduction of about 1,500 Dow roles globally, announced in January as part of a $1 billion cost savings plan. The company had nearly 36,000 employees as of September 2024. "While this decision is costly and will take some time to play out, we see this as positive for Dow given the run-rate EBITDA and free cash flow improvement," said TPH Energy Research analyst Matthew Blair. Such actions should improve the balance between supply and demand in the commodity chemical market, Blair added. Dow will record charges ranging from $630 million to $790 million, for items including disposal of assets and severance. The shutdown is expected to begin in mid-2026 and is estimated to be complete by the end of 2027, with potential decommissioning and demolition to stretch into 2029 as needed, the company added. In April, Dow had said it expects extended pressure on earnings due to uncertainty from U.S. President Donald Trump's shifting trade policies. https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/dow-close-three-european-chemical-plants-cut-800-jobs-2025-07-07/
2025-07-07 11:41
Universities plan to upgrade dorms with air conditioning One staff member died after 'physical distress' Concerns over China's readiness for extreme heat BEIJING, July 7 (Reuters) - Universities in eastern China scrambled to upgrade their dorms with air conditioning, and one let students sleep in cooler libraries, after near record temperatures raised concerns about the health of students and staff. One student at Qingdao University in Shandong suffered from heat stroke, and the school would upgrade its student accommodation over the summer break, Jimu News, an arm of state-run Hubei Daily, reported. Sign up here. One member of staff there died on Sunday morning after showing signs of "physical distress", the university said, without saying whether that was linked to the heatwave. The staff member was a dormitory supervisor, Jimu News said. A total of 28 locations across central Henan and eastern Shandong provinces issued their most severe alerts for extreme heat on Monday. Parts of the coastal city of Qingdao saw temperatures soar to 40.5 degrees Celsius (104.9 degrees Fahrenheit) over the weekend, just 0.5C below the highest recorded there since records began in 1961, according to the official Qingdao Daily. Qingdao University, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters, was one of at least six colleges in Shandong to announce plans to upgrade student accommodation in recent days. Yantai Nanshan University, also in Shandong, said on Monday it would let students stay overnight in libraries as it prepared to work on the student halls. Video footage posted by Jimu News showed scores of students sitting on the floor in air-conditioned supermarkets to escape the heat. The heatwave has piled pressure onto China's power grid. The national electricity load surged to a record 1.47 billion kilowatts on Friday as demand for air conditioning spiked, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The announcements will fuel concerns over Chinese institutions' preparedness for extreme weather events, which scientists say are exacerbated by global warming. In 2022, China was hit by the worst heatwaves since 1961, with many parts enduring a 79-day hot spell from mid-June to late August. According a 2023 report published in the medical journal The Lancet, there were about 50,900 heatwave-related deaths in China that year. No official death toll was disclosed at the time. China does not provide regular tallies of heat-related deaths. (This story has been corrected to clarify the source in paragraph 2) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/students-shelter-libraries-heatwave-hits-eastern-china-2025-07-07/
